Sisters' Stories: How Boxing helped Ghazalah get her life back on track

Trigger warning: contains suicide references

Ghazalah is one of the participants in our latest Boxing Sisters programme, kindly supported by Medica Mondiale.

Aged just 11 when ISIS attacked her region of Sinjar, she and her family were forced to flee their home, and they ended up at Rwanga displacement camp. Like so many victims of the conflict, Ghazalah experienced severe mental health challenges over the years, which in her case led her to question the point of life. Heartbreakingly, she says: “I once believed only suicide could offer relief from the terrifying obsessions I endured.”

But after struggling with recurring suicidal tendencies and overwhelming fear and uncertainty as a young woman, Ghazalah’s participation in our boxing course has resulted in huge improvements in her wellbeing.

The skills acquired during the training sessions have given her new inner strength and calm, while our trainer Nathifa has provided her with vital psychological support.

As the participants of Boxing Sisters usually find, the sessions also improve their fitness, confidence and self-belief, while enabling them to begin processing the complex emotions that are linked to past trauma.

Many of the girls have experienced unimaginable suffering while living through conflict and displacement, and being able to express their pent-up anger and grief in such a safe and supportive space is key to unlocking their recovery.

Ghazalah now feels much more optimistic about her future – and would like to become a boxing trainer herself in the future. Her story is just one of so many that show how this programme helps empower girls and bring them together for communal healing…