Yes - my first formal attempt at a crisis fundraiser has brought warmth on many levels. With the purchase of 840 blankets, 151 winter hats, 100 pairs of gloves, and >250 winter scarves and making sure they make their way safely to the Austrian Slovenian border, warmth has been brought to some of the human souls awaiting westbound passage. Buying the donations, loading a transporter and driving to the border was the easy part, but being treated like criminals by government officials for simply wanting to bring donations inside a refugee camp and distributing them was a whole different story. So, when we finally met a solo Slovenian volunteer who has managed to use personal relationships to get access to Sentilj, the camp at the Slovenian side of the border, and she happily took our donations and started to "sneak" them into the camp and distribute to those in most dire need, I realized a whole new meaning for warmth. I cannot thank this amazing lady enough for the warmth she brought to our hearts. Perhaps knowing that such beautiful people exist in the world has been a driver to keep us going strong, even while struggling for physical warmth sleeping in the back of our transporter after being told that we should leave Spielfeld, the Austrian side of the border, in the middle of the night as our help was basically "not needed".
There were other moments, however, when this warmth turned into heat. For instance, while participating in the BBC radio show "World Have Your Say" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0372cp4), we met this young Syrian boy whose best friend had just drowned on the boat from Turkey to Greece a day earlier. A while later, we talked to a volunteer who was breaking down from having to hand refugees blankets covered with blood and sh*t because they had not been washed for months and new donations were not allowed into camps. I hope that we at least helped to alleviate the latter with our donations and finding someone to sneak them in, but with the former - no words or actions can suffice.
The 3-day journey to Spielfeld and Sentilj was nothing short of an intense emotional roller coaster. However, coming back to Germany on Friday, November 13th, to hear news of the Paris attacks and the immediate security escalations in refugee camps and borders and increased complications in providing aid for refugees, has ignited nothing but more fire to keep going. Therefore, the decision has been made to head to Greece in early/mid December for an extended stay and provide front-line support at the mouth of the crisis. This will take place after another mission to Croatia scheduled for next week.
Thank you all for making "Warmth for Refugees" a successful fundraiser. Now it is time for a larger-scale fundraising operation to enable our work in Greece to be successful. As of this moment, the "Warmth for Refugees" campaign has been terminated, and the "Hands for Refugees" campaign is launched.
To view the "Warmth for Refugees" campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/rs73q9vm
To view the "Hands for Refugees" campaign: https://www.crowdrise.com/handsforrefugees/fundraiser/hands-for-refugees
Your continued support, solidarity, and love is much appreciated..
There were other moments, however, when this warmth turned into heat. For instance, while participating in the BBC radio show "World Have Your Say" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0372cp4), we met this young Syrian boy whose best friend had just drowned on the boat from Turkey to Greece a day earlier. A while later, we talked to a volunteer who was breaking down from having to hand refugees blankets covered with blood and sh*t because they had not been washed for months and new donations were not allowed into camps. I hope that we at least helped to alleviate the latter with our donations and finding someone to sneak them in, but with the former - no words or actions can suffice.
The 3-day journey to Spielfeld and Sentilj was nothing short of an intense emotional roller coaster. However, coming back to Germany on Friday, November 13th, to hear news of the Paris attacks and the immediate security escalations in refugee camps and borders and increased complications in providing aid for refugees, has ignited nothing but more fire to keep going. Therefore, the decision has been made to head to Greece in early/mid December for an extended stay and provide front-line support at the mouth of the crisis. This will take place after another mission to Croatia scheduled for next week.
Thank you all for making "Warmth for Refugees" a successful fundraiser. Now it is time for a larger-scale fundraising operation to enable our work in Greece to be successful. As of this moment, the "Warmth for Refugees" campaign has been terminated, and the "Hands for Refugees" campaign is launched.
To view the "Warmth for Refugees" campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/rs73q9vm
To view the "Hands for Refugees" campaign: https://www.crowdrise.com/handsforrefugees/fundraiser/hands-for-refugees
Your continued support, solidarity, and love is much appreciated..
