Meet our Boxing Sisters trainer Nathifa

As an integral part of the Lotus Flower team, we’re so pleased for you to know more about Nathifa, our Boxing Sisters trainer.

She has been displaced for a decade, and was forced to flee her hometown of Khanasor during the ISIS conflict. “We left everything behind and came here without having anything to eat,” she says.

After finding herself at Rwanga displacement camp, Nathifa began volunteering with the Lotus Flower in 2016, which she did for more than a year. She then began providing yoga and boxing sessions for other women and girls in the camp.

As a certified boxing trainer, she now runs our hugely popular Boxing Sisters programme at Rwanga, which is currently being supported by Medica Mondiale.

Speaking of her role in teaching participants boxing, Nathifa says: “Self-defence skills are essential in our daily lives, and I enjoy knowing that my coaching and training builds positive thinking and shows girls how to manage daily stress and gain muscle.

“I have a close relationship with all the girls inside the camp and try to help them when they’re having a tough time.”

Nathifa recalls another incident where she has personally made a real difference to a woman’s life, saying: “One survivor refused to leave her house. She had two children, and one day in my lunch break I visited her, but she still refused to leave. I kept visiting her until I convinced her to attend our literacy and sport classes.

“She was living in very poor conditions, and only had one blanket to cover herself and her kids. I tried to help her through donations here from the camp management, and asked other humanitarian NGOs to help. She now lives in an apartment provided for her, and keeps thanking me for what I did.”

Nathifa says having such a positive impact on other survivors brings her real benefits, too. “My work with the Lotus Flower enhances my own mental health, because my skills make a change in other people’s lives.”

in her day-to-day role, Nathifa values being part of the Lotus Flower family, adding: “All of my colleagues are very cooperative, and the management team are just like friends. We don’t hesitate to ask for help, because everyone is so supportive.”

In future, she hopes to get her international boxing qualification, as well as more advanced kit and equipment to benefit those she teaches. We’ll certainly do everything we can to make sure that happens!

Watch this Instagram video about our Boxing Sisters…

Sisters' Stories: “Boxing has made me braver”

Entisar is an 18-year-old woman who was living happily with her family and cousins in Sinjar before conflict broke out in the Kurdistan region in 2014.

Like other children her age, she loved going to school, learning and playing with her classmates in their small village. But when ISIS attacked, the family were forced to flee, leaving everything they knew and loved behind.

They spent many terrible days trapped on Mount Sinjar with thousands of other innocent families, and despite being just a child, Entisar witnessed the deaths of many women and children due to hunger and thirst. Tragically, in the chaos of the war, she also became separated from her siblings – and even today she and her parents have no idea what happened to them.

They have been living at Essyan camp ever since, and Entisar says: “Our life is so difficult here, but we are coping, and it is getting better.”

However, the situation in camp meant Entisar had to stop her education, which had many negative effects on her wellbeing. “I’ve had so many mental health symptoms such as anger and aggression, and I began having bad thoughts which affected my health.”

When she heard about our boxing and literacy project with Medica Mondiale, she decided to sign up. “I had wanted to learn boxing for some time, but until then I was not aware were people who could teach me,” she says. “When I started the classes I was able to control myself and I became calmer. Now I am looking at life positively.

“Another benefit I’ve gained from boxing is that it’s made me braver. I know I have skills to defend myself when needed, and also to express myself even without talking.”

In future, Entisar even wants to participate in boxing championships – as well as completing her studies.

We’re so glad this project has given her the confidence and self-belief she had lost…

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Global influencer Mama Bee visits Lotus Flower centres

 The Lotus Flower team was thrilled to welcome YouTube sensation Rosana Burgos to Kurdistan recently, where she saw for herself the life-changing achievements of our women and girl ISIS survivors.

During the trip, Rosana – known to her millions of followers as Mama Bee – visited all of our women’s centres at camps in Domiz, Essayan and Rwanga. She was so moved by the women’s heartbreaking stories and acts of strength that she generously donated $20,000 of her own money to the Lotus cause, saying: “It feels right in my heart.” An active One Young World Counsellor, Uruguayan-born Rosana said of her visit: “I will never forget any of these women, nor this experience.” Her kind donation will go towards funding the Lotus Flower’s fourth centre, offering another safe retreat where displaced women and girls can heal together and take part in income-generating training courses.

After flying in to Erbil in Kurdistan from her family home in Toronto, Rosana assisted with the launch of the Lotus Flower’s Boxing Sisters programme. The pioneering scheme trains girl survivors in boxing and self-defence, improving their wellbeing, mental health and helping them recover from the unimaginable ordeals inflicted upon them by ISIS. “I know a thing or two about boxing,” said Rosana, who gave the excited girls a masterclass in sparring moves and punches.

During her time at the three centres, Rosana also supported an empowering graduation ceremony for many of the women and girls who have completed Lotus Flower skills and training projects to date. In addition, she invited the women to a special lunch, which was expertly prepared by a chef at one of the centres. In addition, she was able to experience a flavour of true Kurdish culture, visiting sites such as the UNESCO Citadel.

A short film of Rosana’s visit shows the world that Kurdistan is now a safe haven for women and girls, and also that we have not forgotten their plight. As Rosana herself says: “I wanted to make them stronger, to know that there are women on the other side of the world who love and support them.”