“Wathiqat Watan” Foundation holds a dialogue meeting in Homs and Hama on its Award “This is my Story 2023” 

“Wathiqat Watan” (Homeland Document) Foundation, in cooperation with the Directorates of Culture in Homs and Hama, held a dialogue session on “This is my Story” award for the year 2023.

The dialogue meeting included the presentation of a short introductory film about the work of the Foundation, its activities, and its “This is My Story” award. The dialogue also included speaking about the experience of a previous winner.

Dr. Mayassa Deeb, Projects Officer at the “Wathiqat Watan” stated that this award was launched about five years ago, and every year the percentage of participants increases, as it is directed to Syrians of all ages, from ten years to over 45 years old.

In her turn, the assistant director of the foundation’s projects, Dr. Nermin Al-Nafra, explained that the meeting is part of a promotional tour in all governorates to introduce this award, based on the vision of Wathiqat Watan Foundation and its goals of spreading awareness of the importance of people’s participation in writing their history with their own hands.

The Director of Culture in Hama Sami Taha confirmed that the meeting aims to document the Syrian events orally, explaining that the “This is my Story” award focuses on those who were heroes in the event, whether a story of success, challenge or a story from the earthquake, with a focus on the author of the story speaking with absolute transparency.

The real estate judge Muhammad Shahoud, from Homs governorate, presented a summary of his story, which won the foundation’s gold award for the year 2019.

It is noteworthy that the “Wathiqat Watan” is a non-governmental and non-profit organization founded in Damascus in 2016. It is concerned with preserving and documenting memory in various aspects of life according to the oral history approach. It is working on preparing an archive of testimonies and narrations recorded directly by their owners.

Inas Abdulkareem