On International Youth Day, an inspiring example of Syrian Youth

August 12, 2021 - "I got attached to this field, I felt there was something beautiful about the idea of ​​change, the idea of benefiting the community and the people of the city. To not just be a viewer, but to be the one actually making the change."

This was 22-year-old Kahtan Al-Huwaidi’s answer when we asked him why he worked  in the field of civil society.

Kahtan started working with civil society groups at a young age, attending several trainings on law and citizenship in Turkey before returning to his city, Raqqa, to continue his education and training.

After those initial trainings, Kahtan attended all the workshops and trainings carried out by Nasamat Al-Furat, a Syrian civil society organization working in Raqqa; this included workshops on dialogue and debate, citizenship, and sessions on the Syrian political reality.

Kahtan’s dedication prompted him to volunteer volunteered with the team as a technician, becoming responsible for the office's electronics, Zoom sessions, and the maintenance and insurance of computers and equipment.

When Nasamat Al-Furat Organization received a grant from Baytna, at the beginning of this year, the organization appointed Kahtan as Communications Officer, following his noted passion towards this work and his aptitude for communicating. Since then, he has been coordinating the organization’s relations with beneficiaries regarding trainings and trainers, and he organizes training sessions and workshops in the organization’s headquarters. He has already coordinated four substantive trainings, including on data collection, initiative design, team formation, and scientific computer and conversational training in English for the youth group in the city of Raqqa.

“My awareness about the concept of civil society has increased, especially since the city started to relapse after 2013; but after work began in the field of civil society, the city flourished thanks to the growing institutions, and to the increasing number of young men and women who work and are active in it.” Kahtan believes civil society also has a role to play in wider areas: “My knowledge about civil political activity has also grown. This is about how to take actions that actually benefit people and not only remain written on paper - actions that bring benefit through real change, the most important of which is raising people’s awareness about rights and responsibilities, about human rights in general and women's in particular, given what they suffer until today.”

For Kahtan, spreading awareness about all freedoms is important, especially people’s freedom of choice and decision. “People need to be aware of what they can do, to raise the level of their city, and their life."