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Women Around the World: Dr. Amani Ballour · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stephane.
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  Speaker 1: Never told you protection for I Heart Radio, and today
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  Speaker 1: is Tuesday, so that means women around the world. Do
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  Speaker 1: you like that jingle? Yeah? Oh you had it that
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  Speaker 1: had an accompaniment that was yes, and we've got this.
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  Speaker 1: And as per usual, we wanted to talk about an
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  Speaker 1: amazing woman who has been a hero for her country
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  Speaker 1: and for her people, and we want to celebrate all
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  Speaker 1: the things that she has done. And yes, we are
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  Speaker 1: talking about Dr Amani Blore, who was documented for her
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  Speaker 1: time as the director of a subterranean hospital and then
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  Speaker 1: the Oscar nominated film The Caves released in twenty nineteen
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  Speaker 1: by Ferris Fajard, who also had another documentary previously that
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  Speaker 1: also was a Belief nominated about out Syria. UM and
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  Speaker 1: we wanted to talk about her because obviously she is
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  Speaker 1: a hero, and um I was able to after finding
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  Speaker 1: her name in my many hours of research and trying
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  Speaker 1: to find the perfect woman to highlight. I did see
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  Speaker 1: that the movie was streaming on Hulu and stayed up
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  Speaker 1: all night one night watching it in tears. So if
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  Speaker 1: you haven't been able to check it out, you really should.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Amani Blore is a thirty three year old pediatrician
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  Speaker 1: that helped lead an underground secret hospital known as the
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  Speaker 1: Cave during the attacks, including the chemical attack in Eastern Guta,
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  Speaker 1: which is the suburb of Damascus. Dr Armani was raised
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  Speaker 1: in the area she later would serve as the youngest
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  Speaker 1: of six. She had two brothers and three sisters, and
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  Speaker 1: as she became a teenager, she, unlike her sisters, insisted
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  Speaker 1: on continuing her education and moving on to college. Originally,
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  Speaker 1: dr Emani wanted to be an engineer, but because her
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  Speaker 1: family refused to support her in this, as engineering the
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  Speaker 1: scene as a man's job, she moved on to study
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  Speaker 1: medicine and focused on being a pediatrician. It wasn't long
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  Speaker 1: after she graduated that she started volunteering at a hospital
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  Speaker 1: in Eastern Guta, but the hospital, which at the time
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  Speaker 1: was currently under construction, was attacked and seized, which forced
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  Speaker 1: the small staff to be moved to an underground, unfinished
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  Speaker 1: building later known as the Cave. We are referring to
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  Speaker 1: her as Doctor Our Money because that's what she's referred
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  Speaker 1: to throughout all the documentaries as well as any other reports,
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  Speaker 1: So if you're wondering that's why so. She started her
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  Speaker 1: career during the Syrian Civil War, which has been ongoing
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  Speaker 1: for over ten years and yes ongoing, it's still happening.
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  Speaker 1: The war has reached havoc and tragedy throughout the country,
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  Speaker 1: killing over three hundred eighty thousand people, while two hundred
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  Speaker 1: five thousand, three hundred people are missing or presumed dead.
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  Speaker 1: At least of Syrians have been displaced since two thousand eleven,
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  Speaker 1: and as one, at least thirteen point four million people
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  Speaker 1: inside of Syria needed some sort of humanitarian assistance, including
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  Speaker 1: more than twelve million who were struggling for food and
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  Speaker 1: from malnourishment, include half a million children. And though medical
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  Speaker 1: facilities are supposed to be under protect the status, there
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  Speaker 1: have been at least five hundred attacks on three hundred
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  Speaker 1: fifty different facilities which resulted in deaths of at least
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  Speaker 1: nine hundred twenty three medical personnel and one who was
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  Speaker 1: actually featured on the documentary as well and had left
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  Speaker 1: only half of the medical facilities operational. Uh then this
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  Speaker 1: is all according to the Physicians of Human Rights. During
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  Speaker 1: her time in the Cave, Dr Monny was voted to
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  Speaker 1: be the manager our lead of the hospital in twenty sixteen,
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  Speaker 1: which made her the first woman and only woman to
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  Speaker 1: lead and manage the hospital. She supervised the ins and
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  Speaker 1: outs at the hospital and the constant chaos of a
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  Speaker 1: hospital that was often low on supply and staff and
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  Speaker 1: even treatment options. She spoke about how she had to
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  Speaker 1: make the tough choices in which person to treat and
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  Speaker 1: who to use what resources on quote, all of them
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  Speaker 1: have the same symptoms, all of them are suffocating, but
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  Speaker 1: I had to choose I will work with this child
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  Speaker 1: and the other die. I always think about that. I
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  Speaker 1: feel I am guilty, right, And if you do watch
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  Speaker 1: the documentary, there's so much within the conflict and just
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  Speaker 1: the emotional trauma on her and the rest of the
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  Speaker 1: staff literally having to pick and choose who might survive,
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  Speaker 1: who can be treated, and who isn't treated uma, And
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  Speaker 1: during the filming of the documentary, you can see the
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  Speaker 1: continued conflict of trying to remain calm during those situations
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  Speaker 1: of continued life and death and being under constant threat
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  Speaker 1: of being bombed. And you do see people being traumatized
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  Speaker 1: and suffering from severe PTSD as events happen, and of course,
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  Speaker 1: as a woman trying to navigate through a really sexist society.
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  Speaker 1: As a lead of the medical facility, it's interesting to
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  Speaker 1: see how she handles herself. At one point in the film,
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  Speaker 1: she is confronted by a man who insists she gives
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  Speaker 1: the medication and it or prescribes in the right medication
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  Speaker 1: that they don't have and they can't find, and demands
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  Speaker 1: to see a male manager, stating a male manager would
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  Speaker 1: quote do a better job, and that quote women should
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  Speaker 1: stay home, not work um and when not relent until
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  Speaker 1: a male coworker who came and defended her, she pretty
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  Speaker 1: much says she's the one who's leading. We voted for her.
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  Speaker 1: She can do this, and you find the left it
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  Speaker 1: was just the whole thing. And she stays about being
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  Speaker 1: a woman leader. Quote men in our community they say, no,
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  Speaker 1: you should be at home, or you can work in
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  Speaker 1: your clinic, but not to be a manager of the hospital.
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  Speaker 1: I insist, and I want to challenge them and prove
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  Speaker 1: that a woman can. I have to support women because
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  Speaker 1: if I succeed, all women will be supported. That will
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  Speaker 1: make men think that of course women can succeed and
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  Speaker 1: they can do that. And again in the film, they
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  Speaker 1: have interlude where she's getting messages from our parents, and
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  Speaker 1: they're like, come home, come home. You're bringing shame because
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  Speaker 1: you're working and you should be home with us. And
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  Speaker 1: of course it's just all low to worry about what
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  Speaker 1: she's doing. But she's out here actually try to give
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  Speaker 1: women jobs so they can provide for their families. At
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  Speaker 1: one point, she goes out and visits the village people
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  Speaker 1: and tries to give a woman a job and she
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  Speaker 1: says she can't because she's a woman and she has
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  Speaker 1: a stay home. And it was a really sad situation.
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  Speaker 1: But this is her post. She's like, I will bring
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  Speaker 1: as many women to work here as possible. She continued
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  Speaker 1: the operations of the hospital until she was forced to
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  Speaker 1: leave in after she and her career were told by
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  Speaker 1: leaders of the Russian army quote, you should leave by
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  Speaker 1: buses or we will kill all of you, and she
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  Speaker 1: continued stating, I cried a lot when we left in
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  Speaker 1: al Guta are our memories are dreams. I was born
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  Speaker 1: in al Guta and grew up there, and I like
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  Speaker 1: the hospital, I like the cave. I can't find words
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  Speaker 1: to describe what I felt at the time. She soon
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  Speaker 1: was able to get refugee status in Turkey and moved
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  Speaker 1: to Germany and has since married a Syrian man and
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  Speaker 1: at one point wanted to move to Canada. Yeah. And actually,
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  Speaker 1: if you remember, and this was one of those contentions
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  Speaker 1: when during the Trump administration and they had banned all
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  Speaker 1: travel from Muslims, essentially Muslim countries and uh, even though
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  Speaker 1: they don't want admit it, it was a Muslim band,
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  Speaker 1: and she and the filmmaker were having a hard time
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  Speaker 1: getting a visa trying to attend the Oscars which they
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  Speaker 1: were nominated for. Uh. And I remember it was a
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  Speaker 1: huge debate, huge conversation, and finally they were able to
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  Speaker 1: work it out. I think is what they would they
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  Speaker 1: would say it and attend, and I'm really glad they
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  Speaker 1: were able to. But of course it just shows once
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  Speaker 1: again how misinformation and fearmongering just does such harmful things.
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  Speaker 1: Because this film was a good, amazing and I think
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  Speaker 1: is everyone should see it. But she is currently trying
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  Speaker 1: to establish a foundation to help other women and children
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  Speaker 1: in conflict, partnering with the Belgian King Budeau Foundation, stating quote,
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  Speaker 1: we aim to help and empower women in conflict zones,
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  Speaker 1: to support women leaders and to support the children also,
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  Speaker 1: And apparently she has decided as of I believe twenty
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  Speaker 1: that she was stepping back away from being a pediatrician
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  Speaker 1: because it's just too hard for her to work with children.
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  Speaker 1: I completely completely get that in the sense of not
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  Speaker 1: as much trauma as she saw, but even in my
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  Speaker 1: small point of view with the children that I lost,
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  Speaker 1: it's hard and it was detrimental to her. She talked
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  Speaker 1: about just still thinking on it, think about how many
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  Speaker 1: things that she wasn't able to do. It was definitely
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  Speaker 1: a conflict for her, and I'd really good for her
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  Speaker 1: for being able to move on from doing that for
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  Speaker 1: her own health, insanity and improvement. But of course she
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  Speaker 1: has been recognized for her tireless and fearless work in Syria.
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  Speaker 1: Here's a quote from a Deadline article. For her work,
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  Speaker 1: she was recently awarded the Council of Europe's Raoul Wallenberg Prize,
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  Speaker 1: named for the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews
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  Speaker 1: during World War Two. Dr Emani Bellour is a shining
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  Speaker 1: example of the empathy, virtue, and honor that can flourish
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  Speaker 1: even in the worst circumstances the midst of war and suffering.
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  Speaker 1: The Council of Europe Secretary General noted she risked her
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  Speaker 1: own safety and security to help those in the greatest need.
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  Speaker 1: And she has also been awarded the Voices of Courage
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  Speaker 1: Award from the Women's Refugee Commission, and I'm sure she's
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  Speaker 1: gonna get many more accolades and awards, especially with the
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  Speaker 1: foundation that she's trying to established and being able to
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  Speaker 1: talk about, I know, one of the big things where
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  Speaker 1: as they were leaving Syria, as they were trying to flee,
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  Speaker 1: she did talk about being sad, not being able to
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  Speaker 1: be with her family, being able to see what was happening,
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  Speaker 1: to finish her work, and feeling like at one point,
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  Speaker 1: I think she felt like she was giving up again
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  Speaker 1: because she loved what she was doing. But the side
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  Speaker 1: of the matter is it was something that she had
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  Speaker 1: to consider for herself and her staff about the safety
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  Speaker 1: and the needs for themselves and having to flee. It's
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  Speaker 1: not easy. And uh, for a little more in depth
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  Speaker 1: conversation about what's happening in Syria, there's definitely a lot
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  Speaker 1: of documentaries out there that you can look into. BBC
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  Speaker 1: has a really good article kind of rundown in the
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  Speaker 1: timeline of what's been happening, which is where We got
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  Speaker 1: a lot of the statistics on here, and it is
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  Speaker 1: it's really sad what's been happening and the amount of
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  Speaker 1: damage that has happened. I know, at one point there's
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  Speaker 1: a historical society who's trying to keep track of all
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  Speaker 1: of the buildings that are just being decimated, UM, and
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  Speaker 1: all of their history and their culture being decimated by
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  Speaker 1: the air strikes, continued air strikes and wars that's happening,
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  Speaker 1: and whether or not who's going to intervene. I know
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  Speaker 1: there's a big conversation within the u N about what's
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  Speaker 1: happening in Syria, and there's so many things happening around
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  Speaker 1: the world that is heartbreaking, UM, and we want to
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  Speaker 1: acknowledge that as well. For the things that are happening
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  Speaker 1: in Palestine and the people who are being displaced and
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  Speaker 1: murdered and just going through all this tragedy. We're thinking
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  Speaker 1: about all of y'all, the people who are affected, the
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  Speaker 1: families who are seeing this sort of afar. Yeah, please
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  Speaker 1: know that we are sending love. I don't know what
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  Speaker 1: else to say to that, is that seems so trivial
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  Speaker 1: in comparison to what people are experiencing right now. Yeah, Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: but certainly certainly on our mind and uh something we're
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  Speaker 1: thinking about. As always, listeners, if you have a woman
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  Speaker 1: that we should be highlighting in these segments, please email us.
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  Speaker 1: You can do that at Stuff Media, mom Stuff at
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  Speaker 1: ihar media dot com. You can find us on Instagram
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: at Stuff I've Never Told You are on Twitter at
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: mom Stuff Podcast. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, and thanks to you for listening. Stuff Onely
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Never Told You the production of I Heart Radio. For
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: more podcast from I Heeart Radio, vis at the iHeart
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