I’m sure by now you will be familiar with the story of the young Syrian Kurd Alan Kurdi. The image of Alan’s body, washed up on a Turkish beach as his family tried to reach the Greek island of Kos, has gone viral on social media and featured in many national newspapers.
Of course Alan wasn’t the only one to die when this family tried in desperation to flee the civil war in Syria. His brother Galip and mother Rehan also passed away in the same tragedy.
It’s just one of many awful stories I’ve heard that’s left me keen to do something, anything, to help desperate people escaping their homelands and seeking refuge elsewhere. I’ve long been a member of Amnesty International and the stories coming from Kos, Budapest, Calais and elsewhere of people fleeing Syria, Libya, Eretria and so on have made for difficult reading, but come as no surprise.
While it isn’t much, I can at least use this blog to raise awareness of the #SaveSyriasChildren appeal. The campaign has been organised by a group of bloggers who were touched by Alan’s story. The aim of the campaign is simple; to encourage as many people as possible to donate to Save the Children’s Syria Appeal.
Participating in the campaign is very simple. Simply text 70008 and the word SYRIA to donate £5 (terms and conditions can be found here). Alternatively, you can donate online by following this link.
Save the Children is working in Syria, The Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt with refugee children from Syria and their families. These individuals are being provided with food, drinking water, shelter, safe places to play and other assistance.
If you wish to support the social media campaign, take a black and white picture of you/your child(ren) holding a sign with the message ‘It could have been me’ and the hashtag #SaveSyriasChildren. Upload the picture to as many social media sites as you can. All of us taking part hope this will go viral. If you have a moment, watch the video below which is made up of many bloggers’ images.
I can’t claim to have knowingly met any Syrian refugees, but I have seen what’s happening in Calais first hand. During the Easter break my family and I visited the port city and, quite by accident, ended up driving right past the informal refugee camp that has sprung up there.
We returned this summer. The camp, which is on a grim piece of windswept land next to a major road junction, had grown in size several times over. I was very shocked to see what had happened. In the distance I could see what appeared to be a make-shift church that I’d read about in the papers. Apparently it had been made by Ethiopian refugees, keen to have a place of worship. A major police operation was in progress, seemingly a containment exercise as I couldn’t see them in the camp or anyone being arrested. Despite the efforts of the police I could see people discreetly walking along the side of the road away from the police and towards the massive port, presumably hoping for a new future elsewhere.
It was depressing to see how bad things had got in just a few short months. These guys had successfully got to Calais. It just makes you wonder how many Alan, Galip and Rehan’s have failed along the way.
Please donate to the campaign. Even the smallest donation will help.
7 thoughts on “Will you help #SaveSyriasChildren ?”
That must have been so hard to see! I can’t imagine I’d deal with that very well at all myself, so awful. Hopefully we can make a small difference with post such as this 🙂 xx
Thanks for commenting Ally. I hope all of us that have written posts can have some impact. I just wish the world was a more peaceful place.
I have also seen refugees in Calais and how desperate they are. We have such an easy, cushioned life compared to many.
I think those pictures of little Aylan had a big impact on many of us. I know I donated and signed lots of petitions that very evening. We are so lucky to be born in this country. It’s easy to forget it and I try not to take it for granted. Good on you for doing what you can to help the refugees.
I’m with you, I think we can all be guilty of forgetting how lucky we are to be born in a nation state like the UK. I just hope the campaign has achieved something.
I’ve donated and I think the campaign has really had an impact. It must make it feel very real seeing a refugee camp in the flesh as it were. I remember seeing the outskirts of Soweto in Cape Town back in the early nineties and it really is a shock to see that kind of poverty when you live in the first world with every privelege. Thanks for linking up to #thetruthabout John
I can but imagine what the sight of Sowetto townships musty have been like. That must have been tough. Here’s hoping the campaign has had a genuine impact.