 | This article'sfactual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(July 2016) |
Adopt a Revolution was aninitiative that allowed individuals and civil society groups outsideSyria to "adopt" a Syrian activist group of their choice and help it survive and succeed in theSyrian revolution.
Donations were used by theLocal Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of groups that organized the protests, documented the uprising, and disseminated that information and visuals around the world. These committees funneled medical supplies, food, and telecommunication equipment such as satellitemodems to activists inside Syria to "keep their cause alive" as the military of PresidentBashar al-Assad bombed their cities with artillery.[1][2]
Since the program launched in late 2011, the website showed[when?] that two dozen LCCs in Syria had reached their funding goals. The website listed the name of the committee, information about the town and its situation, and the detailed financial need. Activists said that funding for Internet and phone communication was crucial because communications infrastructure had been destroyed in cities and towns coming under intensified shelling, such asHoms. International media had been barred from entering Syria, so the outside world depended on the LCCs for information from the country. "Media coverage is highly important, and it is one of the only weapons activists have", said Elias Perabo, one of the founders. "The main task is people documenting and getting footage out of the country to get a glimpse of what is happening on the ground and to show the world what the brutality is like. We are trying to smuggle in stuff like cameras before the army comes steaming into a city, so people can film and document".[1][2]
Adopt a Revolution stated that it did not accept government money and worked through the LCCs, theSyrian Revolution General Commission, a coalition of 40 opposition groups, and the Assembly of theSyrian Kurdish Youths Abroad.[1][2]
Since Adopt a Revolution could not make directelectronic funds transfers to the committees, supporters smuggled the money into the country in small amounts of cash. Committees sometimes received $900 a month, sometimes $1200. Apart from one courier, who was killed en route, everything appeared to be going fairly smoothly. The committees sent back reports, as their "foster parents" wanted to know what was happening with their money.[3]
