Next to creating awareness about the dire situation in some of the countries we pass (Such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India…), we also want to get involved with a few local charities by means of volunteering and creating a fundraiser to financially support them. And that’s where your support is vital.
We’ve selected two charities we truly believe in. We will visit them personally and we will also be volunteering in Turkey. The funds will be split even among both charities. We will post pictures of the visits and the amount given.
Imece Initiative (Turkey)
Since the closing of the EU borders in mid-March, many families, mainly from Syria, but also Afghanistan as well as Iraq, have been left stranded in Turkey. The number of refugees has passed the 3 million mark by now. Many of them are children, the rest are in large part women and elderly people. They are forced to survive, already for over a year, in rural tent villages without access to water or bathroom facilities, and there is no end to this situation in sight.
The Imece Initiative currently provide food, hygiene and baby essentials to those in need within a 200 km radius of Izmir on a weekly basis. There are a total of 650 families present, whose only source of help are the weekly rations provided by Imece. By now, the costs of this kind of aid adds up to roughly 24,000 euros per month, and it is all and only achieved by the donations they recieve.
They also started providing jobs for refugee women in the cities (manufacturing bags). As well as a mobile education program.
We will be volunteering with Imece for one month in August.
Kerakachar (India)
Despite the economic growth in India, many rural areas still lack proper facilities for education and healthcare. Also more basic needs like running water are missing in some villages. Children have to walk for days to reach the nearest school and healthcare is very hard to obtain because of the remoteness.
Under the banner of “Kerakachar” (the name of the village of their first schooling project) our good friend Jacques has successfully funded many projects over the last decade: building schools (with boarding), hospitals, waterpipes and reservoirs and even the first computer classes.
The same has been done in many other remote areas, but much remains to be done. We will be helping in Dhanwar (so remote you won’t even find it on a map), close to Ambikapur. Here we will be meeting sister Jocelyne. It’s inspiring what she has accomplished with so little means. By the use of plant medicine she has successfully combated Malaria to a point where it is no longer a main issue. Now she is running projects that help empower women by educating them in reading and writing, but also in directly applicable skills like knitting, weaving, agriculture, hygiene and plant medicine. And what is really incredible is that even an computer class is starting as of now.
