Your share could raise $30
Before you go, did you know that simply by sharing this campaign, you could help it raise $30? It's an effective way to support the cause.
No thanks- Pin it
- SubscribeUnsubscribe
- Embed
Mohamed El Dahshan hasn't added a story.
Think about this for just a second:
How horrible would it feel to live without glasses when you direly need, but can’t afford them?
If you needed basic baby supplies for your newborn but couldn't afford them?
And how worried would you be if you ran out of your life-saving meds and didn’t know how you’re going to obtain the next round of treatment?
My name is Mohamed. I'm this guy on | social | media. I'm from Cairo, and I currently live in Oxford, UK, where I run a small company that attempts to improve the way the international community develops policies in fragile and conflict states.
But this campaign is related to my volunteer work - and how I think we can further its impact, and how I need your help to do it!
During my relief and rescue trips in refugee camps in Greece over the past couple of years, I spent a lot of time attempting to answer those needs. I drove back and forth from refugee camps to opticians, fixing people’s glasses. I scoured pharmacies for specific heart or neo-natal medications. [shout-out to the wonderful opticians and pharmacists of Greece who constantly gave us discounts for the refugees!]
The reason I had to do that is that the needs are immense, and relief organisations, severely underfunded but manned by fantastic women and men, barely manage to cover the very basic needs: food. Shelter. Kind people donate their old clothes and clothes. Refugees are dry, and (sort-of) warm. But there’s a good chance those organisations don’t have your heart meds on hand, nor can they offer a little space heater when you have a baby and temperatures drop to 0 degrees at night.
This is where we step in.
Remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? At the very bottom is survival needs. Food, shelter, rest.
But what kind of a life is it, if that’s all you’ve got?
We believe that “Step One” of the pyramid does not a life make. People who have been forced to leave their homes and have embarked on the unbelievably arduous journey deserve a bit more than to queue for their evening soup - for years on end. More than ill-fitting hand-me-downs.
And this is what this fundraiser is about:
- Talking to people and listening attentively. No "queue" or "one-size-fits-all" approach: each person we'll serve will inevitably have different needs and we'll do our best to find the best way to help. This is hyper targeted assistance.
- Identifying pressing, emergency needs that we can reasonably resolve with limited funds.
- And hopefully, making their lives a little bit better. Or a little less tough..
There are 65.8 million displaced people around the world. 22.5 million are refugees who fled their country, while 40.3 million are displaced within their own countries. And while the refugee crisis in Europe may attract less media attention these days, the needs are still immense – in Europe, in Bangladesh, in East Africa, just to name a few. Far too many people live in terrible conditions.
Meet Layla*.
Layla is a Syrian refugee who has spent the past three years going from camps to shelters. She has five children, including a toddler. She is legally blind and has a degenerative (and hereditary) optical nerve condition which has been rapidly deterioriating, and needs very strong glasses – but she hasn’t had any in three years. THREE YEARS.
We paid for her medical test; we now know what she needs – a combination of glasses and contacts. And we cannot find an organization in her current Southern European city that covers these needs. One has paid for glasses for two of her kids. Nobody seems willing to pay for hers.
Nabila*, too, has a crisis of her own.
Her only child is now three. And she’s a heck of a survivor. She was born in Turkey, where Nabila and her husband remained for a year, working informally to afford the passage to Europe. Nabila and her husband now live in a temporary shelter in Athens, awaiting a decision on their asylum case there, after they were to be resettled in France – but France refused them.
Nabila can’t afford a space heater to keep her child warm in the winter, when temperatures are in the single digit. For the past two winters, they requested from the NGO following-up on them; they were told they had ‘run out’.
These are the kind of needs we wish to cover; the list is much longer.
And we simply cannot afford to do it without you.
To our shame, there are very few systems for this type of ad-hoc needs, especially ones that are slightly more expensive than the basic option. Refugee support organisations everywhere are doing their best, are overstretched and their resources limited; so they are forced to operate within narrow distribution systems.
This is the nucleus of a project titled the “Step2 Fund”. As it grows, as we hope, it will be further formalized into a sustainable support vehicle.
Your money will serve to pay for those ad-hoc services. People who volunteer in refugee camps will be able to reach out for funding and it will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
I hold myself personally responsible for every cent and dime and piastre that you will donate. I will bear the transaction costs to get the money to recipients, and pledge to stretch your dollars as far as humanly possible. The good news is, everyone on this chain – from me and other volunteers upstream, to the people who work with refugees wherever they may be, to the recipient themselves, put their time, effort, money, and love to ensure needs are best served.
Please consider contributing to the campaign. We chose Fundrazr rather than other websites because there is no obligatory fee from the website. (so hopefully you'll consider donating more. ;)
Note that the Paypal link allows you to donate directly with your credit card, without creating a Paypal account.
Every dollar helps! And please share it widely on social media!
THANK YOU!
*Names have been changed.
** Photos are mine, from Greek refugee camps, but do not represent the people described above.
Highlights
See all activity23Activity
Delete media item?
Delete this item from the media gallery? It will also be deleted from any related story update.
Set as ?
The campaign video will appear in social media and email.
The campaign cover picture will appear in social media and email.
The will appear at the top of your campaign page and in social media and email.
Reset ?
It will be removed from the top of your campaign and won't be used as default in social media and email. The will remain in the media gallery.
Embed
Share a link
Delete update
Delete this story update?
Any pictures or videos will remain in the campaign's media gallery.
Report campaign
Report submitted
Thank you. We take reports like yours very seriously. Our goal is to keep the community safe.
Please know that we may contact you for more information, but that we won't notify you personally of our decision. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Thank you. We've already received your previous report. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Tell us about the problem. Please fill in both fields below.
Record a video
Upload a video
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Take a minute or two to record one now. Record a short video message of support. Or upload one from your device. You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Upload a short video message of support. Upload a short video message of support. Or record one right now.
- Most effective video length: about a minute.
- Maximum length: 5 min.
- You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Heads up! The existing video will be replaced.
Email your friends
Join our team
Tell people why our cause matters to you. Your personal message will encourage others to help. Easy, effective, optional.
Say it in video
Short personal videos by supporters like you are incredibly powerful. Record one right now and you'll help us raise more money. Easy, optional, effective.
Add a personal goal
Set a personal fundraising goal. You'll encourage more contributions if you do. And rest easy. There's no obligation to achieve your goal or bad consequences if you don't. Easy, optional, effective.
We have a video!
Video thumbnail
We'd love to show you our campaign video. Want to take a look?
, you're already on the team.