What is your worst nightmare?
Waking up to the news that your country is being invaded? What if famine, violence, and other horrors suddenly arrive at your doorstep? What if, in an instant, everything you know and love is gone? Your family, your home, your job — and your security.
This nightmare is real for a refugee.
Right now, thousands of men, women, and children are living life on the run. They are packed into refugee camps, struggling to survive on scraps of food and spotty rations of supplies. Parents strive to keep their children from getting sick as diseases run rampant through the camps. Refugees are frantic for help, desperate for someone to hear and see them. And right now, you can help give emergency supplies to one refugee for just $35.
After all, these refugees were once like you.
They had a home that they had made their own, with rooms full of memories and mementos. They worked hard at a job they loved and had trained for — a job that provided for their children’s education, a job that allowed them to stay well-fed and well-dressed. Like you, they had built a life they treasured, surrounded by family and friends.
But in the blink of an eye, it was all ripped away.
If you woke up tomorrow and were forced to flee, what would you take with you? What would be your priority? What would you leave behind?
Here are some things refugees are forced to abandon:
1. Personal belongings
When a refugee leaves his home, there is little time to prepare; most families flee with only the things they can carry. With an uncertain future ahead, they must bring items that will help them survive
That means personal items such as photo albums, books, and heirloom furniture get left behind. A refugee is never sure if he will be able to return home … or if his home will be there to return to. For many refugees in the Middle East, their homes and belonging are reduced to rubble by air assaults and bombs. In just a short time, the items that tell their story and tie them to family are lost.
2. Careers
Whether they were a farmer, a teacher, a doctor, or a business owner, when a person becomes a refugee, he leaves his profession behind. Most find it difficult to find jobs outside of the refugee camps, particularly in a country that’s not their home. Many, like the Zin family, must survive by gathering trash or scraps of bread to sell.
Can you imagine being a successful lawyer one day, only to stand in line for hours the next day to receive food rations at a refugee camp?
3. Family members
In the wake of an economic crisis, many refugees, like those from Venezuela, have been forced to cross the border into surrounding countries, hoping to find work and food. Countless men and women have left family members behind, unsure if they will ever return or see their loved ones again.
In South Sudan, violence has driven thousands to find shelter in refugee camps in northern Uganda. In the rush to leave, families are often separated from one another. Many children arrive at the refugee camp with no family, no friends, and no idea if their parents are even still alive.
Can you imagine leaving behind the people you love … or your child having to survive on his own?
There are so many horrors and losses a refugee endures that no one can make right. But you can help them survive. You can make sure the sacrifices they made were not in vain. You can show them they are not forgotten and help restore their hope for a better future by meeting their most basic needs.
Regardless of where they live or why they ran, refugees have a lot in common. They need nutritious meals, clean water, and basic medical assistance in order to survive. Most refugee camps are filled with too many people and not enough supplies — meaning there is never enough food, medicine, or water to go around.
But for just $35, you can help rescue one refugee. Your gift will be combined with corporate donations and grants so it will multiply 5X to provide $189 worth of lifesaving aid!
You will help save the life of a refugee.