As the end of Ramadan approaches, SCM has been busy distributing food, supplies, clothing and toys to local refugee families and to those in Jordan and Lebanon. Thank you to all who have donated and to our teams in Lebanon and Jordan. Our teams organize and conduct the distributions so SCM can help as many people as possible. It’s not too late to donate for Ramada, so please visit our Donation page.

Here are just a few photos from the various distributions.

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SCM is going to help refugees in Jordan get face masks to protect them from the coronavirus. In doing so, we will also be helping a women’s cooperative near Madaba of seamstresses made up of Syrian refugees and low income Jordanian women.

Jordan has done a great job of locking down the virus but until there is a vaccine in widespread global use, everyone will need to remain vigilant to keep the virus at bay. Refugees are especially vulnerable as they often live in situations with extended family and it is hard to social distance. Living conditions can make rigorous hygiene challenging. We have been sending and purchasing hygiene supplies but have not, so far, been distributing masks. With your help, we will begin distributing reusable, washable cloth masks in our regular distributions of other humanitarian supplies. For $5 we can provide a mask and help the refugees stay safe from the coronavirus and help the seamstresses earn an income to help their families.

Donate here to send masks to refugees.

 

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On another note, Eid al-Adha is coming in just a few days on July 31, 2020. It is the end of the Hajj and is a 4 day celebration. Because of the virus, families won’t be able to celebrate as they usually would, but we want to help the refugee families struggling financially to at least be able to give gifts to the children and have a nice meal. We are collecting new toys for 75 children, ages 1-13 years old, gender neutral. We are also collecting gift cards for local grocery stores so the families can purchase food for a holiday meal. Both items can be sent or dropped off at our office at 3806 Whitman Ave N, Seattle WA 98103. If you are coming by, please call Rita to make sure she is there to meet you.

You can also donate here and we will purchase the food gift cards.

 

Learn more about the Eid in this article from a UK news outlet.

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Our reach is far and wide. We recently helped a Syrian-Palestinian family start a new business in Ecuador, where they had emigrated to because of the war. They had been working but recently lost their jobs due to the pandemic, so they decided to open an Arab restaurant. They are bringing Arab food and culture to their south-American community and we are proud we could help them get back on their feet with their new business.

SCM has been very busy the last month! Thanks to your ongoing support we have been able to do a lot for the month of Ramadan including the following: Food distribution in Jordan, food distribution in Aleppo in partnership with three other organizations, distribution of Eid gifts to refugees in Jordan, distribution of humanitarian goods here and in Jordan, and Eid presents sent to Spokane, Tri-Cities, Tukwila for the refugees resettled there.

We also took the local refugee families to Woodland Park Zoo for the end of Ramadan celebration on Sunday. We are grateful for all the support and contributions we have received over the last month. Don’t forget, though, that the end of Ramadan does not signal the end of the need for food and aid to the Syrian refugees, and we must keep this going. We thank you for your dedication to this mission!

On my last day in Greece, it was a day of celebration for the refugees. It was time to have a party for Eid al Adha, and our partner Swiss Cross had planned a party in what they affectionately call the Blue Elephant – the blue warehouse next door to the Karamanlis refugee camp. Music, sweets, watermelon, falafel, gifts for the children, and more were all getting under way by mid-afternoon.n SCM helped to purchase a few of the supplies for the party.

What was also getting under way was an art installation to bring attention to the men in the refugee camp. I spoke with the photographer, Gwen Versluis, who created the project, and she told me she was inspired to do something after having spent time volunteering on Lesbos to help the refugees there. She wanted to do more for them but she was not able to spend months and months in Greece so she began looking for another way to put what resources she had available to work to raise awareness. She noticed that the stories of the men were very underrepresented, that they tended to get a negative image in the media, and that everyone wants to help the women and children, but rarely the men. She hopes her project will change that.

Versluis had heard of a project called Inside Out – The People’s Art Project, started by the artist JR, who had won a TED prize for his work. She decided to apply for a grant to bring her idea to fruition and was accepted. She spent time in Karamanlis Camp taking portraits and interviewing the men, and on September 14 she and some volunteers began putting the portraits on the outside wall of the Blue Elephant. She wanted the portraits to be displayed where the people could see them, and with the party that day, it brought plenty of attention to her project from the people in the camp and the volunteers. Only a third of the portraits had been posted, with about 40 more to come. I met one woman outside who pointed out her husband on the wall. She wanted a photo taken of her baby, with the pictures in the background, she seemed proud her husband is part of the project.

More will be available online about the project on the Inside Out page and on Facebook. I know some people will not agree with the project (met a volunteer or two who have already questioned the premise) but in one anecdote about underwear, I find that I have to agree with the artist. A young man came in to the shop to find some nicer clothes to wear for his wedding – yes weddings are still taking place – and he was able to find most of what he was hoping for except a clean undershirt and briefs. There are tons of women’s and children’s underwear, but there are no men’s underwear. SCM has been asked several times to send women’s and children’s underwear, but no one asks for anything for the men. Dignity is something that is hard to quantify, and we, as the people trying to help the refugees in the name of helping them preserve some sense of dignity, seem to overlook that men need help with that, too.