STORY: After the devastating earthquake about a month ago, Salam al-Mahmoud was at the forefront and tried to rescue victims of the disaster alive in Syria. According to the 24-year-old, her only thought was how to save people who were buried under the rubble, especially the children buried under the rubble. However, not everyone welcomed her assignment in the province of Idlib in the north-west of the country. “When we first arrived at the site of the destruction, we as women were criticized a lot and it was said that we shouldn’t have come. But these negative comments quickly turned into positive ones. We rescued as many people as possible, lived up to expectations of the people and answered the women and children who lay under the rubble and called for the civil defense. They did not call for mother, father or brother, but they all put their hope in the civil defense.” The young woman volunteers to be part of these bringers of hope, the so-called White Helmets. Around 300 of their approximately 3,000 supporters are female. Since the start of the civil war almost 12 years ago, the mission of the Syrian civil protection organization, which operates in parts of the country not controlled by the government, has also included the rescue of people buried after bombardments. As a civilian protector, Salam al-Mahmoud takes care of basic health care for women, among other things, a commitment that has now lasted around five years. After the first day in the earthquake area, she said she couldn’t sleep at night and worried about the many other women and children under the rubble. This mission will be remembered forever, she says. “I will never forget those days and moments. I never thought that as a woman I would work and dig with the men.”