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The White Helmets: Beacons of Hope in the Midst of War

    A child is rescued from rubble by the White Helmets

    The work of the White Helmets is neither easy nor simple. Interviews with volunteers recount numerous encounters with death. Volunteers frequently find members of their communities trapped under rubble, injured, and on the brink of death. Across Syria, 252 White Helmets have themselves perished while responding to airstrikes. Yet, in the face of bleak circumstances, they persevere. The volunteers are acutely aware of their role in a war-torn society: their sacrifice provides hope. As one volunteer stated, ‘this job is sacred’. Their presence in the aftermath of intense trauma gives communities a unique sense of safety and the knowledge that there are people out there who care about them. The White Helmets’ heroic dedication to keeping hope alive in their communities plays a central role in the mindsets of the volunteers and stands in contrast to other violent portrayals of heroism in conflict. Their awareness of the importance of hope for themselves and the people they serve is at the forefront of their work and integral to saving lives.

    “Without hope, what good is life? Without hope, people die.”

    White Helmet Volunteer

    Image: The White Helmets tunneling on a search and rescue mission

    Scenes of hope also bring to mind familial imagery for many volunteers. The White Helmets aim to provide hope for everyone, almost as if the whole community, no matter which side they are on, are a family. One volunteer recalled in an interview a situation which perfectly demonstrates this familial bond among the White Helmets and those they save. One night, after an airstrike had reduced a building to a pile of rubble and dust, the White Helmets’ rescue operation went underway to save an infant buried among the rubble. Their imaging devices identified his breathing, and the crew spent the entire night digging and removing rubble until they finally reached the child, his head emerging from a small gap between bricks. The child was carefully lifted out and met with cheers and relief from the entire community. The White Helmet describing this scene said that throughout the long and arduous night, he kept searching because he imagined what he might do if his own son, an infant of similar age, had been the one lost amid the destruction. Another volunteer echoed this sentiment, telling interviewers, ‘I consider them all to be my family’.

    Where the White Helmets operate is oftentimes bleak and frightening, but the group is in a unique position to return a semblance of peace to their communities. Through their efforts, people’s lives are saved and changed for the better through the hope and strength modelled by the White Helmets. To date, they have saved over 100,000 people, holding true to their motto: ‘to save a life is to save all of humanity’.

    What do you think?

    • Do governments have an obligation to be peacebuilders? Who else has that obligation? Do we all?
    • Do you think of the White Helmets as peacebuilders – and if so, what kinds of peace do they help to build?
    • Hope implies a longing for something better, so what does hope mean for peace? Can hope only exist in the absence of peace?
    • How important are families in building peace? What different forms can the idea of family take? Created communities, friends, etc…
    • How are peace and heroism connected in film? Think about war movies, documentaries, or other movies that show everyday peace and the ‘heroes’ that help to make it.

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    References

    Non-Hyperlinked information taken from The White Helmets, 2019.

    Von Einsiedel, Orlando. The White Helmets. Netflix, Grain Media and Violet Films. 2019.

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