Refugee Women's Fitness

We continue to meet three times a week to exercise with a group of Syrian Refugee women. Exercising provides them with an opportunity to not just become more fit and healthy physically, but also provides an opportunity to step away from the stress of living in a Refugee Camp.

After class, the women often sit down together and share something from their lives, with our staff asking them questions.

One time the question was: “What are you most worried about in life?” Many ladies responded and shared how they worry about their children, schooling, work, finances and their relatives affected by the security situation in Syria. At the end our project coordinator was able to encourage people not to worry about things they cannot change. They all felt better, even just by being able to share and to hear from each other.

Another time they were asked “Who in your life are you most grateful for?”. Going around in a circle everyone shared the name of a person or people that they are thankful for and why. Often these were parents or other family members, but the women also named fellow participants who have become friends as well as the fitness instructors for being there for them. Our staff encouraged everyone to reach out to the people they named and actually tell them how thankful they are for them.

In addition to exercise, practicing thankfulness and letting go of worry really make an impact on people’s emotional wellbeing and the level of anxiety they experience.

What was your weakest moment in life?

“When my father died. There’s this saying, that the father is the rock, the strong tower and support of the family. I realized, that’s true.”
“Being and feeling foreign in a foreign land. You don’t belong. You feel lost.”
“When I saw my mother crying.”
“When I wasn’t able to help.”
“When I wasn’t able to catch up at school.”

Since a few months we started to have small gatherings after our fitness classes, to talk about one deep question and sharing each other’s pain and joy. The fitness trainers wanted to give it a try and then we were all surprised, how from the first moment the women poured out their hearts, being really honest, with quite often tears running down their faces, comforting and encouraging each other. “I need to go to the fitness classes, in order to have a place where I can really open up my heart and let go.” That’s what we get as a feedback quite frequently. And one lady just recently shared at a visit, that she was angry and upset at home, being stressed and shouting at her kids. So her little boy eventually said: “Mom, please go to fitness! Every time when you return from fitness, you are nicer and less angry with us.” She started to laugh and she confirmed to us: “That’s what’s happening in the classes. You get help for your body, your soul and your mind.”