Ripples: Ways Anyone Can Support Refugees


Have you ever thrown a stone in a still pond?  You can easily get mesmerized by the ripples that radiate from the initial disruption.  Ripples came to mind many times when I worked for a week with a humanitarian trip at a refugee camp in Greece.  

I saw ripples that are hard and difficult to observe and even worse for the people themselves who experienced them.  PTSD, self-harming, and depression run rampant throughout the refugee camps.  You can see it in their eyes.  You can see it in their posture.  By the time someone has made it to a refugee camp, the initial disruption in their calm pond has already happened and it was big enough to cause waves.  

As waves radiate out, they become slightly smaller, but there nonetheless.  There will still be ripples cresting up and waning down as refugees transition to settlement and asylum in other countries, establish new careers, and build up new lives.  The ripples will be seen for years, decades, and multiple generations.  

I also saw ripples of good and while sometimes those were harder to pick up on, they were there still.  I saw ripples of good in the physical work of the NGO’s working to help meet tangible needs of the residents.  I saw ripples of good from residents who wanted to be productive and chip in to help translate, build, and care for their new neighbors around camp.  I saw it in the interest and action of friends back home and around the world who understand that love doesn’t sit idly by when they know there is a need.  

These ripples of good will radiate out too.  We’re pretty open about our trip and our experience and the things we care about most because we know that education and awareness is one of the first steps for getting involved as well.  Part of why I even considered packing a bag and flying across the world was because I learned and saw other friends do the same a year and a half ago and they shared about it.  

We can toss stones and disrupt the waters around us in many ways, I’m praying we all can do so in ways that bring more love and healing into the world, instead of hate.  


In light of the ripples you may want to help radiate out, we’ve discovered a few tangible ways to do that.  If you have any interest in supporting this particular issue, I’ve collected a bunch of these opportunities here.  If you know of others, please share those with us via comments or private messages.  

This website has a ton of items made by refugee camp residents from multiple camps.  I particularly love the rugs here because they are made by the women at Ritsona.  I got to peek in one morning into the trailer where they make them and I can’t tell you the amount of joy that was in that small little white trailer.  The women had purpose to their day and they were able to build community and friendship with each other as they built these rugs together.  Pieces of life jackets are woven into these rugs, and the gray base of them are made with the same material that their UN-provided blankets are made of. 

For an artisan feel, these candles, soaps, and other goods are made by refugee camp residents as well.  You can also buy new t-shirts and other goods that aren’t made by refugees, but all proceeds go to support the work of Preemptive Love Coalition.  I personally follow their stuff on Facebook and they are doing some amazing work literally on the ground in some pretty raw and dangerous locations.  

This organization provides a few practical resources in language classes, dental care, and a farm program.  They are making a big local impact to help provide for some basic needs for families that are often on a lower income budget (starting over in a new country often means they are taking minimum wage jobs even if they’ve been educated in their original language/country) and also providing purpose for people that have some amazing agricultural skills.  You can help out at their farm in Aurora, Colorado, chip in funding to help them execute their programs, or get involved in other specific ways as well.  


Welcome kits are a very practical need that many refugee families need once they are provided the opportunity to settle in the United States.  Funds can be raised to purchase these items, do a donation drive in your community, or do a thrifty store shopping spree to find many of these items.  It could be a really fun thing to go do with friends that has a deeper purpose.  


Pick Up and Go: (a few organizations where you can go over and serve)



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