Latest news with #Madad
Mint
4 days ago
- Mint
Homeless in a shelter: Indian student in US left with no money, no documents: ‘Just want to get home'
An Indian student, identified as A on Reddit, seeks urgent help. His family abandoned him, and his brother abused him physically and mentally. The poster from Arkansas escaped but is now homeless in a shelter. At the same time, he claims to have lost his passport. Despite filing a police report and repeatedly contacting the Indian Consulate in Houston, he says he has received no response. 'I have no money, no documents, and no way to leave the country legally unless the Indian consulate helps me. I've also contacted the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, submitted a complaint on Madad, and even involved my university's international office—but still no action,' the user wrote. The Reddit user urgently requests guidance to return home with dignity safely. 'If anyone here knows how I can get help from: • Indian consular officials • Human rights groups • Journalists • Indian community organisations • Immigration lawyers • NGOs I would be grateful for any direction or support. I just want to get home safely and with my dignity,' the Reddit user added. Reddit users advised him while trying to guide him through the right routes. 'If you are a student or were a student, reach out to the international student services, they can help with a few immediate resources while you get the emergency certificate to fly back home… I'm so sorry that you're in this situation. I hope things become better for you soon,' one of them wrote. 'I'm so sorry for your condition. Please start a GoFundMe. Attaching all your documents. Save any and all documents that you have in hand. Including your mark cards from India. See if there's a social worker based out of Houston that might be able to consider your plea in the embassy,' wrote another user. Another user suggested, 'Contact your local mosque. They should have the resources to help you. They might even be able to put you in touch with a lawyer.' 'I'm in Houston - if you want I can try going to the Indian embassy for you Monday morning and ask. I'm a regular Joe but if I can do anything to help, happy to,' came from another.
Arab News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Syrian artists explore themes of forgiveness in Damascus exhibition
DAMASCUS: In a city battered by years of conflict, a quiet revolution was unfolding earlier this month inside an unfinished concrete shell. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ 'The Path,' a two-week exhibition curated by the Madad Art Foundation and staged in the once-abandoned skeletal Massar Rose Building in Damascus, confronted Syria's pain, but, curator Marwan Tayara stressed: 'This is not about politics. It's about healing.' Tayara — who co-founded Madad alongside the late Buthayna Ali, a fine arts professor whose vision of a show on forgiveness inspired 'The Path' — continued: 'For us, the artist is a patriot. The bakery feeds the body, and art feeds the soul. The soldier fights for his country, and so does the artist — but with ideas, with beauty.' Ali, who died in September, had envisioned a show that would offer something softer than some of Madad's previous exhibitions around topics including war and disaster. 'She wanted to make an exhibition about forgiveness but never had the chance,' artist Rala Tarabishi told Arab News. 'We decided to do it as a gift for her — and for Syria.' Even the venue was part of the show's message. 'This is a construction site,' said Tayara. 'It's symbolic. Syria is unfinished. But we're building. Art has to be part of that process — not just rebuilding walls, but rebuilding identity.' Tarabishi's installation, 'Embed,' was a forest of resin swords frozen mid-fall, through which visitors could walk. 'When I embed my sword into the earth during a fight, I'm putting an end to it — in the most peaceful way,' she said. But none of the swords in 'Embed' had yet reached that point. 'The closer the sword is to the ground, the closer I am to forgetting, or forgiving,' Tarabishi explained. 'Some things are harder to let go of.' For viewers, she hoped, it would be 'as if the swords are memories or people who caused them pain. I wanted them to lean more into forgiveness, so they could live a more peaceful life.' But for Tarabishi, forgiveness is anything but simple. 'It's very hard. Some things feel too big for us to truly forgive, so we just coexist with our pain instead.' Eyad Dayoub's installation, 'Crossing,' was equally visceral. Suspended black and red wires hung like fishing nets. 'Each level represents a period in Syria — full of darkness and blood,' Dayoub said. 'The material looks like something that traps fish. I feel like I've been hunted by my country. I'm stuck — I can't leave it, and I can't love it either.' Creating the piece was part-therapy, part-confrontation. 'Our dreams were lost. But I'm trying to find love again between me and my country,' he continued, adding that some visitors wept when he explained the symbolism of the piece. 'People are ready to feel again. After war, we became numb. But I see us becoming sensitive again.' If Dayoub's wires evoked entrapment, Judi Chakhachirou's work addressed instability. Her installation featured a trembling platform — a metaphor for emotional imbalance. 'When someone hasn't forgiven you — or you haven't forgiven them — you feel unstable. You don't know what's wrong, but you're not OK,' she said. Her piece was a message to the living: 'Take your chances now. Don't leave people in your life hurt. Forgive — or at least try. Because one day, it'll be too late.' The war has buried so much in silence, she added, that emotions — even tears — feel like progress. 'Some people cried when they saw it. Others said it made them feel calm, like they finally understood what was bothering them,' she said. 'I hope my next work will be more hopeful.' For Mariam Al-Fawal, forgiveness is less emotional and more philosophical. Her interactive installation, 'A Delicate Balance,' draws on Karl Popper's formulation of the paradox of tolerance. Visitors can rearrange its colored puzzle pieces on wooden stands to construct a final, diverse pattern. 'If you tolerate all ideologies — including the intolerant — you destroy tolerance itself,' Al-Fawal explained. 'Without exclusion, there can be no true inclusion. To see the full picture, you have to flip the pieces, adjust them. That's how people work too. You can't have one color, one shape; you have to embrace difference.' Al-Fawal's puzzle asks viewers to build balance. 'People interacted with it differently,' she said, 'But most walked away with a shifted perspective. That's why I made it interactive: the process carries the message.' Lamia Saida contributed 'To Memory, Once More,' which consisted of a set of blood-red, burned and shredded canvases suspended like raw meat. 'I thought if I wanted to express these memories visually, it had to be meat,' she explained. 'That's what they feel like. That's why they hang. That's why they bleed.' Syria's trauma, for Saida, is not abstract —it is textured, fleshy, and inescapable. And yet, through art, it is manageable. 'Art is more than therapy,' she continued. 'When I make something honest, I feel like I forgive people. I find stability.' Her final painting is a single, steady line. 'It's the calm I reached after expressing everything else,' she said. More than 400 visitors visited the exhibition daily, according to the organizers. Some brought questions. Some brought grief. Others brought quiet. 'Even political officials came,' Tayara said. 'Not to control. Just to understand.' What started as a tribute to a beloved teacher has become a mirror for the country. 'All Syrians have this memory of grief,' said Tarabishi. 'Whether from war or daily life — it's what binds us.' Madad hopes to bring 'The Path' to other cities too. 'We believe in the power of art,' said Tayara. 'It won't rebuild Syria alone. But it might rebuild the spirit. That's where everything begins.'
Jordan Times
21-03-2025
- Health
- Jordan Times
Health Ministry concludes EU-funded project to boost immunisation
The Ministry of Health on Thursday concludesthe EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, known as "Madad," a five-year project supported by the EU (Petra photo) AMMAN — The Ministry of Health on Thursday concluded the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, known as "Madad," a five-year project supported by the EU. During the closing ceremony, the project's significant achievements were highlighted, underscoring its vital role in strengthening Jordan's healthcare system, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Health Minister Firas Hawari, who presided over the event, highlighted the project's impact on improving the Kingdom's healthcare infrastructure and ensuring access to high-quality medical services for all residents, including both Jordanians and Syrian refugees. In the presence of government representatives, health sector officials, civil society organisations, and international agencies operating in Jordan, Hawari noted that the project played a crucial role in expanding national immunization programs. He highlighted the distribution of millions of vaccine doses to children, the establishment of a modern regional vaccine warehouse in Irbid, and the upgrading of storage capacities at the national vaccine warehouse, enhancing Jordan's ability to introduce new vaccines in the future. Additionally, the project trained and qualified more than 2,000 healthcare providers and facilitated the transition to a strategic vaccine procurement system in cooperation with the Government Procurement Department and the Jordan Food and Drug Administration, helping secure high-quality vaccines at optimal prices. Hawari also stressed that the project had significantly strengthened the resilience of Jordan's healthcare system in responding to emergencies and crises, particularly in supporting the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also pointed to the project's contribution to enhancing national pharmaceutical security through the establishment of a strategic medical warehouse in Yajouz, Zarqa Governorate, ensuring an emergency stockpile sufficient for an additional four months. EU Ambassador to Jordan Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas highlighted the project's considerable success and lasting impact, particularly in expanding immunisation coverage across the Kingdom, including underserved areas and communities hosting Syrian refugees. He also noted that the project improved the medical supply chain by rehabilitating 10 regional warehouses and constructing four new facilities to store medicines and vaccines, a key step towards Jordan's goal of achieving universal health coverage. With a total budget of 43 million euros, the project successfully met its objectives of strengthening primary healthcare, improving vaccine access for Syrian refugees and host communities, and enhancing healthcare quality within an integrated governance system. Among its key achievements were the establishment of a regional vaccination centre in Irbid, the installation of solar power at the national vaccine warehouse, and the purchase of four cold rooms and 380 vaccine refrigerators, enhancing the efficiency and capacity of the national immunisation programme. Page 2
