“Natural medicine is more than just herbs. We want to defend the health of society,” says the healing and health centre in women’s village Jinwar in northern Syria.
Jinwar is a village in northern Syria that emerged from the goddess Ishtar as referenced by Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan in his defense, and the reality of self sufficient women.
Before construction began, the people who launched the effort met with various engineers and women’s organizations and asked their views on how the village would be built. Based on the discussions, they decided to build all 30 houses with clay. Construction for the village, set to have a communal life, started on November 25, 2016. After feasibility reports and preparations, construction for the houses started in 2017. Families of persons martyred while fighting for Northern Syria’s freedom have priority. Widows and women without any family can also apply to the Kongreya Star or Women’s House administrations to settle in the village.
The village prioritizes agriculture and husbandry so it can be self-sufficient. Villagers are also able to meet their needs with the shop and bakery built in the village. Jinwar is based on self sufficiency, but aims to also provide for nearby villagers in time. There is also a stable for the villagers to house their animals in.
A healing and health centre named ‘Şîfa Jin’ was opened in Jinwar in March 2020 as part of the action week to mark the International Women’s Day of Struggle. ‘Şîfa Jin’ was part of the Jinwar project from the very beginning. With the opening, an important step has been taken.
‘Şîfa Jin’ [Women’s Healing] is a healing and health centre for women and children of Jinwar and the surrounding area. In addition to treatments based on naturopathic and modern medicine, the centre produces its own medicines from medicinal plants. The basic philosophy of ‘Şîfa Jin’ is that health is a mirror of the way of life, relationships with society and the environment, and thus reflects the history of oppression and resistance.
What does it mean to have built up a women’s natural healing centre? Why is it important to develop this knowledge? The wise women of Jinwar explain their goals in the video below which can be watched with subtitles in English, Spanish and Arabic.
