In its issue of today, Al Akhbar newspaper brought to light the work being done by the women of Syrian Deir ez-Zor who, with the supervision of UN agencies, are raising the rubble from their demolished area in an attempt to revive it. Speaking to the newspaper, Mona, one of these women, said “cleaning the wreck is not dirty work or a sin, it is a job like any other job.” Ghada, in turn, indicated that she never tires of removing the debris from the destroyed buildings. “I have 10 children,” she noted, adding, “I cook in the evenings and head to work early in the morning. My children encourage me in this.” She went on to say, Deir ez-Zor women take pride in our work, stressing, “we need to work together with men to restore the charm the city once had.” On the other hand, Hassan Faraj, pointed out that, after the first visit to his neighborhood, he lost hope in returning. However, after the good work of Deir ez-Zor ladies, I regained hope, and began small repairs to my house, as he mentioned. For his part, Mohammad Hussein, another city resident, said, “just fancying the fact that women in our neighborhood are involved in these projects is something big,” adding, they have proven that restoring life to the shattered city is not exclusive to males. (Al Akhbar, March 29, 2019)