Dr. Rola Hallam is a punk rock doctor. She is the founder of CanDo; a crowdfunding platform that puts resources in the hands of the frontline healthcare workers in war-affected communities. 

In 2011, when war first broke out in her home country Syria, Hallam became involved in the humanitarian response. Working with various Syrian-led NGOs, she played an integral part in building 7 hospitals in Syria including the first ever crowdfunded hospital. 

To address the issues she had found within the aid system, she established CanDo, a not-for-profit social enterprise and crowdfunding platform for local humanitarian organizations. She ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2016 called People's Convoy, which raised money to build a Hope Hospital for children after the last children's hospital in Aleppo was destroyed having been bombed for the 6th time. She and the Convoy drove the entire provision of medical equipment for the hospital from London to the Turkey-Syria border in December 2016. She says, “Hope Hospital was built because thousands of people came together from around the world and said: It is not acceptable to bomb hospitals, it is not ok to bomb children. And we will rebuild.”

March 15, 2021 is the 10-year anniversary of the ongoing war in Syria. Hallam is now fundraising to help protect children who are being targeted in schools. Go to SaveSyriasSchools.org to help purchase early-warning systems for 150 schools. 

DONATE NOW - Save Syria's Schools

SaveSyriasSchools.org 

‘Saving Syria’s Children’ documentary

https://vimeo.com/140567469

TED Talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/rola_hallam_the_doctors_nurses_and_aid_workers_rebuilding_syria/up-next

‘Open letter: let us treat patients in Syria’

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)61938-8/fulltext

The People’s Caravan

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-38528360

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Dr. Rola Hallam: The Fuckery of Philanthropy

Entry for Amanda Palmer's Sunday Songwriting Contest regarding the blackout in NYC this past weekend.

“Power Restored”
Music and Lyrics by Carissa Johnson

Saturday night, the midsummer lights should be blindingly bright
Traffic signs below a west side glow
Crowded lines above a timeworn road of hope

Mechanical failure now the power's been drowned
And the marquees are saying that the show can’t go on
Stores emptied out, dizzying sounds of

Civilians and millions of dreams
Strong despite the siren screams
Broadway’s still brilliant ‘cause we are resilient
Darkness can’t stop our hearts from gleaming

“Fend for yourself” they said
The blackout is stretching from
72nd street to west and beyond
You better carry the light
Because it comes from inside
You know it’s only been hiding
Here’s it’s chance to shine

Here in the middle of the city of dreams
Strong despite the dimming, so eerie
Subway cars and elevators stopped
In a swath at the center of the world

“This is not the time” they said
The blackout is stretching from
72nd street to west and beyond
You better carry the light
Because it comes from inside
You know it’s only been hiding
Here’s it’s chance to shine

Saturday night, the midsummer lights are still blindingly bright
If you close your eyes you’ll hear the cheers ring out
Dizzying sounds along the timeworn road of hope

“No light for miles” they said
The blackout is stretching from
72nd street to west and beyond
You better carry the light
Because it comes from inside
You know it’s only been hiding
Here’s it’s chance to shine

Oh can’t you see it so clearly now
The light from inside out
Power restored because darling,
You held the power all along x2
Power restored because darling,
We held the power all along x2

Power Restored

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Dr. Rola Hallam: The Fuckery of Philanthropy

Amanda Palmer

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