Five years ago, on May 23, 2017, the ISIS-affiliated Maute group attacked the city of Marawi. The fighting between the government forces and the Maute group, which lasted for five months, caused serious devastation, destroying the physical, biological, and environmental components of the whole city. The violence resulted in the loss of lives of innocent people, damaged properties, and displaced and traumatized thousands of civilians. Marawi is the capital of Lanao del Sur and home to the Maranao people, one of the Muslim groups of Mindanao in the Southern Philippines and now part of the newly established Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The ruins of the Marawi siege left a lifetime of trauma, scars, and wounds that will not easily mend. Mending broken relationships between the Muslim and Christian populace is one of the tasks taken on by Silsilah Dialogue Movement through the Silsilah Forum Marawi with its Muslim Coordinator Ms Asrifah Paudac with the guidance of Silsilah Forum Lanao Coordinator Ms Jamila-Aisha P. Sanguila and her organization Women Empowered to Act for Dialogue and Peace (WE Act). This Marawi-based small organization started its work after the crisis. A network of friends, volunteers, and donations made it possible for WE Act to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) still living in temporary shelters. Silsilah Forum Marawi and WE Act work together in uplifting the lives of displaced families by providing women economic opportunities and training to build bridges of understanding and peace in the community. It also supports multiple efforts to empower women affected by the armed conflict and prioritizes the need for building the capacities of these women through seminars and training workshops. Please see the links inside the ground zero and a special interview with the Bishop of Marawi, Most Rev. Edwin deal Pena. https://web.facebook.com/jamilaaishas/videos/459082165766489 and an interview with Imam Macapado Saber of the Masjid in Brgy Datu Saber https://web.facebook.com/jamilaaishas/videos/495613428736785/  

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