News

News and moments from the life of our community over the years.

2014-04-04

LArche in Syria helping families displaced by the conflict

The conflict in Syria has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis across the country. To help displaced and impoverished fami…

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2014-03-04

A Skype appointment with Jean

On the 14th of January 2014, the whole community got together in Al-safina house for a very important and big event … a meeting wi…

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2014-02-12

Letter of Jean Vanier for Christmas 2013

Here in France we live Christmas in peace, but there are so many who are living Christmas in war and suffering. I send you this le…

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Formation in Taanayel from the 3rd to the 6th of December
2014-01-01

Formation in Taanayel from the 3rd to the 6th of December

For the first time All Al-Safina assistants, the Community Council and the Comity travelled together to Taanayel Convent in Lebano…

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Open Doors
2013-12-14

Open Doors

True to its tradition, Al-Safina braved the fear caused by the current situation in Damascus, and opened its doors to its faithful…

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Back again
2013-12-02

Back again

Al-Safina workshops « Al-Mina », reopened its doors after the summer vacations on the 17th of September. Each and every one was gl…

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The end of summer vacation
2013-11-25

The end of summer vacation

Al-Safina decided to start its year, following, on the 7 th of September , the same day His Holiness decreed as a day of prayer an…

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Summer Vacation (from the 1st of August to the 1st of September)
2013-11-25

Summer Vacation (from the 1st of August to the 1st of September)

On Wednesday the 31st of July all the community members gathered to celebrate the last day at Al-Safina, before the summer vacatio…

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Birthdays
2013-11-25

Birthdays

On the 27 th of July the community celebrated many birthdays

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changes in Al-Safina house
2013-11-25

changes in Al-Safina house

Unfortunately we had to say "farewell" to Kaes who used to be an assistant in the house. Kaess presence was very appreciated, and…

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Syrian Villages Forum
2013-11-12

Syrian Villages Forum

On the 8 th and 9 th of July 2013 Al-Safina participated in the Syrian Villages Forum, held at Tekyye Sleimanieh in Damascus, unde…

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Dwelaa project
2013-11-10

Dwelaa project

Despite all the difficulties we have in Damascus these days, we were able to go on with our Dwelaa p roject with the Syrian Scouts…

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Al-Safinas participation to the "Together in life" encounter from the 4th to the 7th of June 2013-07
2013-11-10

Al-Safinas participation to the "Together in life" encounter from the 4th to the 7th of June 2013-07

Al-Fulk community in Egypt in partnership with a group of people working with the weakest persons, organized an encounter entitled…

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Community Breakfast
2013-11-09

Community Breakfast

On the 25th of May 2013 we had a very nice brunch for the whole community. And as usual there was lots of fun, happiness and love…

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The Green Bees Team activity
2013-11-09

The Green Bees Team activity

This is a group of volunteers from the Damascus University, young people aiming for social development. On the 5 th of April this…

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The mother always unifies the family
2013-11-09

The mother always unifies the family

Mothers day in Syria is celebrated on the 21 st of March…. On the 16 th of March 2013 there was a special celebration and expositi…

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Formation in Poland from the 8th to the 10th February 2013
2013-11-09

Formation in Poland from the 8th to the 10th February 2013

Rima Absi, President of lArche in Damascus and Ghada Touma, responsible of Al-Safina Community participated at the "workshops fund…

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Celebrating Christmas
2012-12-22

Celebrating Christmas

Christmas 2012 On Saturday the 22 nd of December, the whole community gathered to celebrate Christmas! After the mess, we shared a…

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Stans last visit
2012-12-11

Stans last visit

Stans last visit was with Widad in Taanael/Lebanon with members from the Board of Directors and the Community Council. It was very…

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Al-safina workshops - Nov 2012
2012-11-16

Al-safina workshops - Nov 2012

Despite the actual situation in Syria, Al-safina workshops insisted on having our annual Open Doors which was this year in a hotel…

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17th anniversary of the foundation of Al-Safina
2012-10-11

17th anniversary of the foundation of Al-Safina

In October we celebrated the 17 th anniversary of the foundation of Al-Safina. This was an occasion for us to go backward and see…

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We are still here in our beautiful house
2012-09-15

We are still here in our beautiful house

We are still here in our beautiful house surrounded by our loving neighbors. We still go everyday to our workshops in Beit-el-Sala…

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The participation of Al-Safina at the General Assembly of l’Arche International Federation
2012-06-05

The participation of Al-Safina at the General Assembly of l’Arche International Federation

Ghada, Lina and Randa participated at the General Assembly of International Federation of l’Arche from the 1st to the 10th of June…

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3rd parents meeting for Al-Mina workshops
2012-04-05

3rd parents meeting for Al-Mina workshops

On The 11th of April 2012 we had our 3rd parents meeting for Al-Mina workshops. The main subject of this meeting was talking about…

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3 days in Taanail monastery
2012-03-05

3 days in Taanail monastery

In January 2012 a group of 7 Al-Safina assistants gathered for 3 days in Taanail monastery in Lebanon. This encounter was animated…

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Info Date
2012-02-24

Info Date

On the 17th of December the community happily celebrated Christmas mass with father Nawrass with the participation of the members…

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Meetings In Egypt
2012-02-24

Meetings In Egypt

In November Ghada and Marie went to Egypt to for a few days to participate in a series of meetings with other organizations involv…

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Open Doors
2012-02-24

Open Doors

On the 22nd and the 23rd of October we had our yearly “Open Doors” which is an occasion to get together and renew relations with a…

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new workshop responsible
2012-02-24

new workshop responsible

Yamen, the workshop responsible, left Al-Safina in September for another line of work.

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Birthday
2012-02-24

Birthday

Oussama Touma the 2nd of Sept – Christine Azar the 27th Oct – Jacqueline Kandalaft the 7th of Nov

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‏New Supportive Workshop
2011-11-01

‏New Supportive Workshop

‏During the past year Al Mina assistants noticed that the workshop participants were too busy to receive any special education bas…

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Holiday in Kafarsetta this summer
2011-11-01

Holiday in Kafarsetta this summer

As usual we went on holiday to Kafarsetta. We had to take the bus to arrive there. The community loved the sea.

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2011-11-01

Birthdays

Ousama Touma, September 2: The community wishes you a happy birthday and good health...

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2011-11-01

Info-dates

Rita Salameh, Assistant in the home and Yamen Al-Nakoula, responsible for Al-Mina workshops have left the community at the beginni…

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Activities in Dwelaa
2011-07-24

Activities in Dwelaa

Our Activities in Dwelaa came to an end for this year, with the Kermes organized by Foursan Al-mahaba scouts ( from the church of…

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Danielle Danielle
2011-07-24

Danielle Danielle

On the 15 th of December 2010 Dany arrived from Mar Moussa to Al-Safina to live the Arche experience as a volunteer.

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‏Community breakfast
2011-06-26

‏Community breakfast

‏On Saturday the 11th of June, Al-Safina took the opportunity of the weekly meeting of the entire community to welcome Bouthayna

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Rihab’s departure
2011-06-26

Rihab’s departure

In May, Rihab, the house leader for the last 2 years, left Al-Safina to get married….

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2011-06-26

Yamen’s wedding

On the 27th of April, we celebrated the wedding of Yamen, the head of the workshops at Al-Safina, and Roudayna at Mar Youssef’s ch…

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2011-06-26

Training on Non-Violent Communication

From March 26 to April 1, 2011: training on non-violent communication . Ms. Widad Bicher took some time away frum her community in…

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2011-03-25

Small Embassy Projects

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Damascus was kind enough to include Al-Safina (L’Arche in Syria) in its plans for…

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2011-03-19

Al-Safina’s Special Outing

On Saturday, March 19 the entire community (43 people) took part in a trip to Marouneh, a town half an hour from Damascus, to spen…

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Meeting the Parents
2011-03-18

Meeting the Parents

On March 18, the parents of 24 of the persons with handicaps participating at Al Mina Workshop were invited to meet with the assis…

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2011-03-17

Family support

The Dwelaa activities continu, giving great joy to all the persons from Dwelaa as well as participants from the foyer and Al-Safin…

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2011-03-16

A Time to Celebrate

During the past three months, the community celebrated the following friends’ birthdays: - Ghada Touma- Rawiya Kabalan - Gaby Makd…

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Al-Safina Celebrates 15 Years
2010-11-12

Al-Safina Celebrates 15 Years

For fifteen years Al-Safina has hosted people with disabilities, the first being Ghassan and Youssef from the psychiatric hospital…

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2010-11-11

A day with Stan

What does it mean to be a member of L’Arche?

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2010-11-06

Open Doors

Friday and Saturday, 5 th and 6 th , Al-Safina opened the doors of its workshop "Al-Mina" to display the years work. Many people c…

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2010-10-29

kermes

Young Scouts (Sanabel Al-Mahaba) held a fair at Al-Safina. Everyone contributed to the success of this delightful afternoon. There…

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Rima Moussalli visite Alsafina
2010-10-22

Rima Moussalli visite Alsafina

On October 2nd Rima Moussalli, the founder of Al Safina, visited the community during a trip to Damascus. During her visit she par…

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Congratulations to Suzann and Fares
2010-08-15

Congratulations to Suzann and Fares

Suzanne Al-Ashkar and Farès Al-Kāshī, two former assistants of Al Safina celebrated their engagement at Michrefeh with parents and…

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Syrian & American artists
2010-08-14

Syrian & American artists

Syrian & American artists, musicians, and youth with disabilities engage in groundbreaking dialogues & collaboration efforts

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LIVE THE HOLIDAYS!!
2010-08-12

LIVE THE HOLIDAYS!!

From August 2 to 8 the community of Al-Safina with former assistants and friends fled the heat of Damascus to go diving in the wat…

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Recent events Al-Safina
2010-06-12

Recent events Al-Safina

We also have some “social events” to share with you , Yamen got engaged and 3 birthdays were celebrated (Gaby, Wafaa and Samer).

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The new coordinator and formation
2010-03-17

The new coordinator and formation

Also in February, the Community had the pleasure to receive the new coordinator, Stan Dubourg, who is due to visit us periodically…

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The family outreach program
2010-03-11

The family outreach program

During the month of April, the Community gathered around our Rev. Bishop Joseph Nazzaro (Head of the Latin church in Syria); after…

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2010-02-17

The workshops and internet

Yamen, the new assistant in charge of the workshops, brought new ideas for the production workshop and created new models that see…

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Christine et Gladis
2010-02-15

Christine et Gladis

Christine and Gladis (two twin sisters of 22 years old) have joined the Community. They had already spent a trial week at Al-Safin…

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