Donate to end Dependence for Refugees

Most of the projects we support continue to be productive.

The DARE Network programme on the Thai-Myanmar border has set up a Moringa production business to provide income generation for their activities. MoringAid prepares Moringa powder from the leaves of the Moringa tree and packages it up for selling. The project has the advantage of not only providing income for the DARE team but also engaging with local farmers – a valuable way to increase understanding between the refugee population and the host population.

Teachers at the Kindergarten in Lebanon continue to mix in-person teaching with online home teaching on a rota system. This has been facilitated by REI funding the provision of tablets for the teachers.

The Karenni Social Development Center classes have been affected by both COVID-19 restrictions and the continuing displacement within Myanmar creating extra challenges. They continue to teach in camp classes and recent funding has enable to re-stock and renew some facilities

We have been able to start a new cycle of Entrepreneurial training for refugees living in Nairobi, Kenya. The new programme started this month, June, and will provide for 50 refugees directly and a further 200 indirectly through family support, employment and trade.

Activities inside Karen state, Myanmar have been suspended due to the unrest there.

Your support is invaluable to ensure we continue to provide opportunities. As one beneficiary said: "the thought that someone from another country is thinking of us, gives us courage."
Thank you.

Despite the restrictions of the COVID pandemic most projects have been able to resume activities, even if in a limited way.

The activities of the kindergarten in Lebanon have been the worst hit because the whole country went into strict lockdown.

The kindergarten had been working on reduced numbers with children studying at home and in person on a rota basis, but more recently, all the children have been studying at home. This presents the usual challenges of home schooling but with the added problem that few refugees have work that can be done from home so the economic challenges are more severe.

We are pleased to say that we were able to send some funds for teachers to be provided with tablets or iPads so they can arrange online learning more effectively, easing the pressure on families a little.

We were concerned about the recent unrest in Myanmar on top of continuing displacement in parts of Karen state. However, our partners in the projects we support continue to show great strength and resilience. One partner said that “despite the uncertainty of the future, we will not stop the important education of students.” Such determination endorses our mission of empowering refugees to lead a normal life.

The DARE programme has initiated an income-generating project producing Moringa powder to sell locally and internationally. Moringa is used locally to supplement diets and known internationally as a SuperFood. We have funded the start-up which will bring a regular income to this excellent programme that addresses the addiction problems in camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Displacement continues in Karen state Myanmar so reaching the more remote villages is challenging but the local leaders keep active.

Many more of us now understand the driving force behind wishing to return to a degree of normality. Thank you for sharing with us on the road to independence for those displaced from their homes.

Restrictions for activities during the COVID-19 pandemic continue around the world but we are pleased to report that there have been no serious repercussions to the projects we fund.

Project leaders are resuming activities while following health guidelines to keep participants safe. We have been in touch with our partners in the field to learn the latest news.

In Lebanon, the kindergarten students are attending school on a rota basis, keeping classes to a minimum of 10 students. We are raising funds to purchase tablets for the students so they can follow classes together, whether in school or from home.

In Thailand, community workers are distributing hygiene kits to internally displaced communities in Myanmar, with guidance on how to stay safe and understand the precautions necessary to protect themselves against the COVID virus. While the camps on the border of Thailand and Myanmar remain in partial lock-down, supplies can be delivered to the camps and activities have resumed in the camps.

Like so many organisations we are constantly reviewing our fund-raising and your generous support will ensure we can continue to provide opportunities to those displaced from their homes.
They show such amazing resilience and are determined to keep hope for the future.

As with many organisations around the world, the activities in projects we fund have been limited due to restrictions during the COVID-19 crisis.

These restrictions are gradually easing in some camps and activities are picking up.

We have seen the benefits of our approach to funding during this time as the refugees and host communities are running the programmes and are able to continue in some way without outside support.

We have been encouraged to see the support that refugee communities around the world have been providing during the crisis as this bears out the importance of our mission to build independence and end the reliance on aid.

Some examples of refugees supporting their local communities include women refugees in camps in Jordan are making soap to distribute around the camp, Syrian refugees in Switzerland set up a shopping network for those most vulnerable, medically qualified refugees in Germany are supporting health workers.

These are all good examples of how money invested in refugee projects now can pay off in the future. Refugees show amazing resilience as they face crisis after crisis. A Syrian refugee sums this up when talking about the COVID-19 crisis: “We’ll get through it. This is one more challenge in life.”

With your support, we will resume support to projects once the restrictions allow activities to resume.

RIJ supports projects that are run by the local communities to ensure sustainability.

One participant in Uganda summed up this approach: “Thank you for walking with me, in fact I’d rather one should walk with me than merely tell me the way that is why your aid is of great meaning to me and to my people. “

As we reflect on the uncertainty and fear that people around the world experience as a result of the global concern about Covid-19, it may help to stop and think about others who experience such uncertainty, even fear, for months and years on end as refugees and internally displaced people do.

Refugees show great resilience and we can gain strength and learn from them. Just like us, wanting an end to the uncertainty, refugees seek a normal daily life without fear of the unknown. They face the future with a strength and resilience that is an example to us all.

A graduate from an RIJ-funded training program on the Thai-Myanmar border said: “I have seen violence and found safety in the refugee camp. Now, with support from my fellow students I am ready to face the future with strength.”

Another beneficiary in a project for returnees in Uganda said: “the effort of this project has made happiness for us and has lifted us up above ourselves.”

Remember and support others while still caring for ourselves.