Hoda is a 17-year-old Syrian girl who came to Egypt with her family when she was younger. A year ago, Hoda joined Sanad Safe Spaces with one of her colleagues in school. While it was not initially clear what drove Hoda to join Sanad Safe Spaces and engage in its theatrical activities, it started to become apparent that behind the positive emotions, happiness, and laughter that Hoda has been showing, she used to withdraw into herself and cry alone without allowing others to know her emotions or what she has been going through.
However, Hoda broke the silence when she asked to let her father attend one of the theatrical performances that were performed in Sanad. This request gave insight that Hoda may be having issues regarding her domestic life with her parents as she needed her father’s help, which she believed the performance would at least give her the chance to seek. Therefore, Sanad’s coordinators contacted her father to explain to him the topic of the performance and invite him to attend the show. Simultaneously, Hoda started attending Dance Therapy and one-to-one counseling sessions in Sanad. In addition, Hoda expressed how her father did not give her space at home to express herself, and instead, he forced his own understanding and perspective on her in the form of coercive orders or behaviors. Thus, her father’s authoritarian way made her feel that she is not “present” and has no “value”. Eventually, Hoda mentioned the difference between how she felt at home and how Sanad made her feel existing in a community in which she expresses herself through different activities.
The courage that Hoda required to share this information and express herself took a year of constant communication, psychological follow-up, artistic activities, and support. Now, Hoda feels how gratitude she is to have such a journey in Sanad spaces, in which she had the opportunity to feel visible, existing, and more positively contacted with her father. It seems easy to express these feelings but many people find it difficult due to many social and psychological factors and that is why Sanad is here to provide people with needed Safe Spaces.