Gift Handwritten Letters to 10000 Refugee Children

Dear friend,

I hope you're doing alright in these strange times.

It has been an incredibly tough but truly heart-warming time at Letters and I'm here, using this report as an excuse to write a letter of love to you :)

I had read somewhere that, 'Sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts'. These last few months have shown me how and yes, you are a part of it :)

With the advent of the pandemic, I noticed a steady depletion of the surge capacity of my team- a community made up of volunteers who dedicate that extra bit of energy in their lives after their own personal and professional responsibilities to our cause of creating a kinder world for refugee children to thrive in. However, the pandemic ruthlessly consumed that extra bit of energy and we found ourselves individually and collectively burnt out. Letters of Love team went on a wellness break to take time, energise and get back on our feet. However, amongst our larger family, a few of us who had some spirit to spare got together and decided to do something with limited resources.

The idea was to make the holiday season where warmth and mirth fills the air be just as welcoming to children who've fled from war and live in heinous conditions in host countries. So we asked 40+ unaccompaied minors and former refugee children at a community centre in Athens to make a wish. The wishlist was compiled digitally by our partner, El Sistema Greece, and given to us on an excel sheet. The column titled 'I wish for...' had a myriad of things - books, shoes, christmas hats, music instruments, perfume et al. The Letters of Love Denmark chapter headed by my amazing colleague, Sowjanya Iyer, mobilised a team of Santas within 2 days. This team then looked into procuring these gifts, packaging them, writing personal letters to each child, and eventually shipped it.

Through logistical constraints of a pandemic, its associated lockdowns and across borders, a bunch of kind people got together and made wishes of these children come true in an unpecedented year of distress, disease and uncertainlty.

Upon receiving the gifts, the kids were overjoyed. 9 year-old Ahmed said, "This is the happiest I've been all year!".

I'm here to tell you that YOU contributed to it; to Ahmed's happiness and hope and many more's.

My team and I are grateful for your support through and through.

This Christmas miracle we pulled off has ushered us into a fresh phase. We're on to great things and we want you to stay tuned with us. You make all of this happen, after all :)

Thank you once again.

Reiterating: Sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts.

Links:

• Instagram live between Pooja & Sowjanya
• Instagram live with El Sistema Greece

We have made new friends and sent a lot more letters!

Hello there!

It’s been a while and we have quite a bit to report! Last time round we signed off with our World Refugee Day digital fest and figuring out logistics to reach out to our camp partners. We are pleased to say that we have been able to meet some tiny tots and do more. Read on to find out the exciting projects we have finished and are working on.

1)   Letters of Love reached USA and Italy

If you have been following our earlier work, you know that we are working with Campaign Ambassadors around the world to scribe letters that we receive digitally to send to medical staff at the frontlines. We were finally able to get letters delivered to our hospital partners in Syracuse, USA and Cremona, Italy. On account of the hospitals being in high-risk zones, it took us longer than expected to get the letters delivered but we faced the odds and were able to safely evoke some smiles. Fun fact – the pictures of the team in Cremona, Italy by Paolo a fellow doctor at the facility inspired our entire #silvERlinings campaign to celebrate the doctors and staff. Stay tuned as we work on sorting out the logistics to more deliveries around the globe. 

2)   Fundraiser to support Lebanon

The world was shocked by the unfortunate events that unfolded in Beirut on August 4^th and all we wanted to do was champion the rebuilding efforts that were happening on-ground and around the world. So, we partnered with 26 Letters, a Lebanon - based non-profit organisation that offers free education to children to help raise funds for the facility that was destroyed and families of students who had incurred losses and needed help.

3)   Work in Palestine.

Our Operations Manager in Palestine, Daniela got in touch with a community centre to create a socially safe place for our team of volunteers to interact with children with disabilities. Given the times we are in, Letters of Love distributed care packages with goodies, masks, gloves and sanitisers to the children in addition to conducting skits and interactive session to engage with the children. We have always advocated the use of art to educate and get through to children and this project was centred around performance art to encourage the children to express and voice their thoughts. Of course, this was all beautifully wrapped up with the distribution of letters!

4)   The Merakil Project

Our DearHeroes campaign in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) reached the periphery of another team in the U.A.E. who were essentially also thanking the medical staff at hospitals digitally. It only made sense to collaborate and amplify the opportunity to collect gratitude. We partnered with The Merakil Project for the month of September to collect songs, dances, graphic art, written notes; art in all forms online that would be sent to a hospital team in Dubai, U.A.E. 

5) New Year is around the corner.

Meet Greet and Scribbles have been much-awaited events for Letters of Love followers where events are conducted in their respective cities to come together and hand-make cards that are packed and sent to  refugee camps around the world. On account of covid restrictions, we are unable to conduct our usual line-up of events. However, the letter-writing has not ceased. Clara, our delightful Student Ambassador organized a Meet Greet and Scribble at a community center in Syracuse, USA where people of all age groups came together to write and doodle some love.

This year has been a tumultuous one but amidst all the uncertainty there has been a massive surge of hope and yearning to latch onto the light. Thankfully, with your support and constant well-wishes we have been able to further our work and efforts to litter the world with joy and continue striving forward.

A LOT MORE EXCITING NEWS COMING YOUR WAY!

So till next time, stay safe and kind!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH: D