Rohingya people are facing challenges that can seem impossible. So, we thought, they could really use the doable. To kick things off, we're turning our attention to an incredible group of women, many of whom lost their husbands in the conflict. They're now living together as a group of 35, lifting each other and helping each other survive. In talking with the women, we realized that one huge daily stressor was something seemingly simple - getting firewood. It was consuming their lives, emotions, and making them feel physically ill from being overwhelmed. The area around them has seen extreme forestation, so people need to walk long distances to gather firewood. And, it can be incredibly dangerous – especially for women. So today, we're doing something about it. In order to help ease their daily worry for just a small amount of time, we decided to give each family enough firewood to last one month. Our hope is this would allow for them to breathe just a little … [Read more...] about Friends in Need
Archives for April 2018
In the Spotlight
The Youth Center is a place where former refugees can get reconnected to the rhythms and ways of life back home. One of the activities at the Youth Center is a performing arts group, open to anyone who wants to get up on stage and perform. They practice lots of traditional Somali dances – but they were missing one key ingredient to pull the whole things together... Costumes! Colorful, vibrant cloth is a big part of what makes traditional Somali dancing traditional. So to go along with their big night out from Day 90, we got them some costumes to make them really shine. As the girls of the group jumped on stage, wrapped in their brand new red and orange outfits, their confidence levels were through the roof. And this was no small thing, considering just a few short months ago they were so unsure of what this new world would bring. “This is amazing to see,” said Zaila from the ARC team. “It makes me so happy to see them so confident, doing their thing. These costumes … [Read more...] about In the Spotlight