Many Syrians who have lived through the six years of the Syrian civil war have been forced to change their work, study or specialty fields as they have been displaced from their hometowns.
Some young Syrians have been highly innovative and displayed excellence in their new fields. One young man, a sports coach, put his knowledge of the human body to use in an entirely new way for him. Ghazal Hilal from Tal Rifaat, north of Aleppo, now makes and fits artificial limbs for victims of the aerial and ground bombardments of Syrian and Russian forces.
In addition to being a coach, Hilal is an international referee in kickboxing. He has won several national and international championships. He is also a coach and referee in the Chinese martial art of wushu kung fu, and in bocce for people with special needs. He holds a black belt in taekwondo and organized and participated in many tournaments in Syria from 1994 to 2012. He once participated in the General Sports Federation in Syria, which is affiliated with the Arab Socialist Baath Party, but left to join the General Authority for Sports and Youth in Syria, a civil sports organization. He is now a member of the executive office in that sports body.
Al-Monitor met Hilal in Kilis, Turkey, near the Syrian border. Two weeks earlier he had finished a workshop with Handicap International, based in Lyon, France, which helps people who have been injured or disabled during wars. Al-Monitor asked him about his humanitarian medical work. He said, "A dentist and I, along with prominent residents of my town [Tal Rifaat], have established in the northern Aleppo countryside a center for people with special needs such as people with Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, who are mute, or who have special educational, physical and psychological needs, in cooperation with specialists in these areas."
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