Category: Mutual Aid
Mutual Aid is a volunteer-led initiative / project where groups of people in a particular area, or from a particular community join together to support one another, meeting vital community needs without the help of state institutions or NGOs. It is, by definition, a horizontal mode of organising, in which all individuals are equally powerful. Mutual Aid, in simpler words, is co-operation for the common good.
Mutual Aid – in all of its forms and varieties – is a universal practice, rather than a catch-all term, or definition. It is an evolutionary factor as old as life on Earth.
Read more about the history and current practices of Mutual Aid around the world today at our sister project: www.mutualaid.coop
The articles below are about Mutual Aid practices in both North and East Syria (Rojava / West Kurdistan) and southeastern Turkey / North Kurdistan (Bakur). You can also search for article on Mutual Aid according to region.
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Neighborhood commissions established by earthquake survivors in Semsûr
The earthquake survivors in Semsûr have established neighborhood commissions to support and be in solidarity with each other. The aim of the commissions is to build a communal life.
Syria and Rojava after Maras-centered earthquake
The Maras-centered earthquakes destroyed more than a hundred buildings in Syria and Rojava. 3,581 people lost their lives and 5,348 were injured. Thousands are still under the rubble in the Turkish-occupied areas as the death toll is not disclosed.
Earthquake in Turkey: the state versus the people
The HDP’s strength lies in its ability to mobilise and organise its large network of supporters and sympathisers and like-minded community organisations. As soon as they heard about the earthquake, the party dropped all other plans, set up a central coordination centre, and dispatched leading members to the affected area. Local election centres were transformed into coordination centres, while the youth organisation concentrated on rescue work. They put out calls for solidarity and for people with shelter and food to share with those without, and they helped create a framework to allow people’s natural solidarity to find direction.
Statement by ecology movements in Turkey- demands for immediate action
Immediately after the February 6 earthquake, one of the biggest in the history of Turkey, a broad meeting of Ecology Organizations in Turkey published this statement.
Women revive life in Teanê
Women revive life in the Teanê village of Shahba by having a communal life.
Ecology Discussions and Practices in the Kurdish Freedom Struggle
Ecology is one of the three pillars of the paradigm of Democratic Confederalism, the political-theoretical concept of the Kurdish Freedom Movement. Besides democracy and gender liberation, ecology has been mentioned explicitly as a dimension in this concept since 2005. However to date, ecology is less discussed and practiced than the two other pillars.
Women in NE Syria provide free meals to orphans, poor families
Metbexa El-Firdews (El-Firdews’s Kitchen), a charity organization, has provided free meals to orphans and poor families since its foundation. The organization distributes free meals to anyone in need during Ramadan.
Jineology: Knowledge, experience, and science of women
Jineology literally means “women’s science or the science of women”. The word derives from jin, woman in Kurdish. Jineology is a critique of the approaches of positivist social sciences, which uphold the structures of states, patriarchy, and capital. Jineology is also defined as the “science of life” and “the science that reveals the knowledge structures based on democratic modernity.” With Jineology, women discover their knowledge and experience, and rewrite history while researching the history of women. In the first article of our article series, we give information about Jineology works in Northern and Eastern Syria.
[Video] Voices from Jinwar
This short video is an introduction to the idea behind Jinwar, its meaning, and how it has been lived so far.
First women’s village of 21st century: Jinwar
Jinwar village, which opened on November 25, 2018, is an all-women village. Women building a common life have built a small model of the Democratic Nation in this village. Stating that this village strengthens women, Ruken Rojda says the door of the village is open for all women.
“Women must defend women!”
Women Defend Rojava interviewed Naima Mehmud, co-chair of the Mala Jin (Women’s House) in the canton of Heseke. They talked with her about the work of Mala Jin and how it is influenced by the current Turkish state’s invasion and war and the recent Covid-19 pandemic.
