It’s Refugee Week 2016, which is taking place from 19-26 June. Now while tweeting about how terrible the refugee crisis is may change the opinion of one of your followers, there is more you can do to actually help the refugees. Therefore, here is a list of the few things you can do to help Refugees during this week.
1. Donate –
1.1 Money
Now this is the most obvious one, however, many people tend to overlook it. If you don’t have that much money to begin with, any small donation really makes a difference. Plan where you want to send your money wisely and donate to the organisations responsible for people in that area. While there is a lot of talk about Germany, Turkey currently hosts the largest amount of refugees, followed by Lebanon and Jordan. Here is a list of websites you can donate money through including respectable organisations such as UNICEF and Oxfam.
1.2 Donate Things You Don’t Need or Use
Donations don’t always come in money. You can donate blankets, pillows clothes, books and a lot more. Remember that these refugees have close to nothing and the money their fosters have can only buy their absolute necessities most of the time, so donating actual objects would be a great help to the refugees.
2. Raise Awareness (and money) –
My friends and I would host regular bake sales at school during our senior year to raise money for a refugee camp of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. At one point we raised $1,500 from just two bake sales. There is such a satisfying feeling knowing that after all our hard work, a family won’t die from the cold or hunger. Or a child will get some sort of education that was stripped away from him or her. The bake sales behind raising money, they raised awareness among my school that had a fairly large student body. We talked to people about the refugee’s conditions and how important it is to help them and we left a legacy because now each senior year is responsible to do the same as we did.
3. Go Out and Help –
This one is for the ones who live in countries that foster refugees or have the ability to travel to one. If you can, I urge you to volunteer to physically help the refugees. Go to their camp and hear them our, cook for them, teach them. If you know a doctor who can come with you, or you are one, check on them and make sure they are not ill or are getting proper treatment for the diseases. If you are unable for whatever reason to do this, please urge your friends and family who can to do it. The refugees need to know how many people actually care and want to help them.
There are other actions you can take such as protesting and boycotting, but these are extreme and not many people can do them, or at least do them safely and without getting into trouble. What matters is that there are ways you can help refugees. You can help find them a home again since theirs was ripped away from them. You can help the world view them as human beings again rather than just numbers and a burden.
Think your options over, share this with your friends and family, and I hope it’ll be a happy Refugee Week this year.
