Nabil Antaki winner of the “Volunteer of the South” award
Dr. Nabil Antaki of the Blue Marists of Aleppo in Syria has been awarded the “Volunteer of the South” prize at the 27th FOCSIV International Volunteer Award on 5 December, on the occasion of International Volunteer Day.
The reason for the award is: “To Nabil, for not having betrayed the man and his own Hippocratic oath, for the sake of the land and the Syrian people. For being faithful to his mission of saving lives and bringing hope with the living witness of one’s own life and generosity”.
During the online award, Dr. Nabil welcomed the award and said: “I consider it as a recognition of the wonderful work done by the 150 Marist Blue Association volunteers. Since the beginning of the war, together with my collaborators, we have tried to help the most vulnerable people, to help them live, to put a smile on the faces of children, to bring hope to the elderly and to sow peace in the region. We are not a charitable association, we are an association of solidarity. We want to live with the poor and the displaced in order to alleviate their suffering and to develop humanity and hope. This is our goal. To sow hope. To help people to live and to stay in their country. At the conclusion of his address, Nabil thanked FMSI and the Marist Brothers for their support. See the award ceremony here.
Dr Nabil’s candidacy was presented by the Marist Foundation for International Solidarity (FMSI), an NGO of the General Administration, which is a member of FOCSIV, a federation of Christian organisations of international voluntary service, composed of 87 organisations.
Every year, on Volunteer Day, FOCSIV promotes the International Volunteerism Award. This year, together with Dr. Nabil, 5 other people were awarded (see the list here).
Nabil Antaki “Volunteer of the South”
Nabil Antaki Nabil Antaki is a doctor. In parallel to a very rich professional career, he founded, in 1986, with his wife Leyla and brother Georges Sabé, the association “The Ear of God”, a project that would involve him in solidarity with the most needy people in his city. In 2012, with the war, “The Ear of God” became the “Blue Marists”. Currently the group in Aleppo, Syria, has 150 volunteers who work helping the displaced and refugees of Aleppo, promoting and encouraging care and health service programmes, labour, educational and social projects, and also distributing food packages and hygiene kits, distributing food plates and visiting the most vulnerable people.