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The Greece Refugee Crisis

Posted on | by Henry Montesano

Everyday, thousands of refugees arrive on Greek shores, fleeing from political, religious, and ideological persecution and violence. Being forcibly removed from their homes causes great psychological stress, as well as physical obstacles when trying to find a safe place to live. Right now, there are approximately 70,000 refugees residing in camps throughout Greece. 

Over the last several years refugee camps have been over-flooding with displaced people who cannot return to their homes. The camps cannot simply accommodate the millions of people fleeing to them for help and they have been forced to face jailing by crossing borders illegally or creating makeshift settlement camps outside of refugee camps.

The journey to a new land and home is extremely difficult and can seem impossible at times.  The struggle is not over once refugees reach the shores of Greece because they also have to learn how to adapt to a new country, culture, and way of life.

Luckily, through our Greece Refugee Relief Campaign, Embrace Relief is able to greet these refugees with a warm and genuine smile, happy to see that they have successfully made the journey for a better life.  Our volunteers provide them with psychological, monetary, and legal support during the asylum seeking process with pro-bono lawyers on stand-by. 

Furthermore, we are able to provide shelter, food, clean water, and translators to help their arrival go as smoothly as possible.  Right now, we are in the process of implementing virtual English speaking classes (ESL) so refugees can learn how to communicate in this new land. Many want to learn English because it is a prominent language in Europe and around the world, just in case they want or have to migrate to a different country.

You can become a part of this worldwide effort to help refugees find a new home. 

In order to support this initiative, Embrace Relief is offering two options:

OPTION 1: ADOPT A FAMILY

This option will be available for those who wish to work directly one on one with a refugee family in Greece. You will be matched with a family that fits the parameters you specify in your registration form and will be in direct contact with them. Click here to adopt a refugee family in Greece.

OPTION 2: DONATE TO CAMPAIGN

This option is available for those who want to help the cause but cannot donate the time to managing a family overseas. Your donations to the campaign will be used similarly for more than a thousand families in need in Greece as needed. You can donate below:

Donate Now to Help Refugees

First Bricks Education Project

Posted on | by Leo Wilson

Millions of refugee children worldwide are often years behind the education level they should be at for their age. This is because they often miss months—if not years—of school because they must hide with their parents to avoid conflict in their countries. And when they flee with their families, the journey and asylum process in a new country can also take months or years, which prohibits them from attending school as well. Furthermore, there is a language barrier they must overcome in order to learn in their new countries.

Hence, a devoted teacher volunteering for Embrace Relief created First Bricks in 2019. Dedicated to supplying underprivileged refugee children the education they need and deserve for free, First Bricks has grown substantially since its onset and now encompasses:

  • 400+ Volunteers—The volunteers are professionals in their areas of focus ranging from teachers and engineers to artists from all over the world. They give their time, talent, and knowledge to help students most in need across the globe.
  • 4,000+ Students—The volunteers not only teach the students a variety of courses, they teach them to give back to their communities. Giving back instills in children the idea they can make the world a better place, one small project at a time. Therefore, First Bricks students develop their academic skills as well as compassion, social awareness, relationship skills, leadership, and more.
  • 350+ Online Classes—First Bricks offers courses in math, science, reading, writing, language (including English), and more. It also offers social activities and classes such as guitar lessons and story hours. And the best part about the classes—they’re all online, especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has greatly negatively impacted refugee children’s education. Even the UN children’s refugee agency UNICEF is having difficulty funding remote education for refugee children during the pandemic.

 

First Bricks has been nothing but a resounding success since its inception and continues to grow at an impressive pace, but it can always use more volunteers and donors. Please consider volunteering or donating today to help provide refugee children the education they need and deserve, but have been stripped of through no fault of their own. Donations go toward school supplies, books, and gifts for the children, and computers for volunteer teachers so they can teach and easily connect with the students enrolled in the programs.

 

Click here to Become a Volunteer!  

Click here to Become a Student!

Donate Now!
Embrace Relief Help Children

Help Hungry Kids in Yemen

Posted on | by Leo Wilson

As Mosaic, a group of Coloradoans raised $3,124.98 against a $3,000 goal to help feed starving children and families in Yemen.

The poorest country in the Arab world, Yemen, has been experiencing numerous crises that none of us could ever imagine. 3.6 million Yemenis had to flee their homes to elsewhere in the country, scores of attacks have left half of the nation’s medical facilities in tatters, and a cholera outbreak has sickened 2.3 million Yemenis, killing nearly 4,000. As a result, The United Nations classifies nearly one-quarter of the population of 30 million as malnourished.

According to the UN, Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world! Then the coronavirus hit, and Yemen hasn’t had a functioning health system facing the pandemic. But the number could be much higher if no one helps them. According to BBC News, an estimated 2 million children are malnourished, including almost 360,000 children under five years old who are struggling to survive. With only half of the country’s 3,500 medical facilities fully functioning, almost 20 million people lack access to quality healthcare. And almost 18 million do not have enough clean water or access to the right sanitation. More than 40% of Yemeni households are estimated to have lost their primary source of income and, consequently, find it difficult to buy even the minimum amount of food, stated by The World Bank.

In partnership with a local Yemeni charity, Embrace Relief distributes much-needed food packages to alleviate hunger and combat wide-spread famine throughout the country. Each package contains 25 kg of wheat flour, 5 kg of rice, 5 kg of sugar, and 2 liters of cooking oil. Most of these packages are delivered directly to the doors of those in need, while families pick up others from our distribution center. With Mosaic’s help, Embrace Relief has been able to distribute a total of 357 food packages to Yemeni families in desperate need.

Yemen Support Child
Embrace Relief Hunger Relief Project
Embrace Relief Support Child
Hunger Relief Yemen Project
FOOD DISTRIBUTION IN YEMEN
HELP YEMENI ORPHANS
Yemen Food Relief

Share for Yemen

Posted on | by Leo Wilson

Huntington Beach Muslim Community and members of the SALAAM Islamic Center raised $3,120.14 against a $3,000 goal to help feed starving children and families in Yemen.

The poorest country in the Arab world, Yemen, has been experiencing numerous crises that none of us could ever imagine. 3.6 million Yemenis had to flee their homes to elsewhere in the country, scores of attacks have left half of the nation’s medical facilities in tatters, and a cholera outbreak has sickened 2.3 million Yemenis, killing nearly 4,000. As a result, The United Nations classifies nearly one-quarter of the population of 30 million as malnourished.

According to the UN, Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world! Then the coronavirus hit, and Yemen hasn’t had a functioning health system facing the pandemic. But the number could be much higher if no one helps them. According to BBC News, an estimated 2 million children are malnourished, including almost 360,000 children under five years old who are struggling to survive. With only half of the country’s 3,500 medical facilities fully functioning, almost 20 million people lack access to quality healthcare. And almost 18 million do not have enough clean water or access to the right sanitation. More than 40% of Yemeni households are estimated to have lost their primary source of income and, consequently, find it difficult to buy even the minimum amount of food, stated by The World Bank.

In partnership with a local Yemeni charity, Embrace Relief distributes much-needed food packages to alleviate hunger and combat wide-spread famine throughout the country. Each package contains 25 kg of wheat flour, 5 kg of rice, 5 kg of sugar, and 2 liters of cooking oil. Most of these packages are delivered directly to the doors of those in need, while families pick up others from our distribution center. With Huntington Beach Muslim Community and members of the SALAAM Islamic Center’s help, Embrace Relief has been able to distribute a total of 357 food packages to Yemeni families in desperate need.

Yemen Food Relief
Yemen Food Support Relief
Yemen Food Support and Hunger Relief
Hunger Relief Project Yemen
FOOD DISTRIBUTION IN YEMEN
HELP YEMENI ORPHANS
Yemeni Children Help

TIME TO HELP FOR YEMENI CHILDREN

Posted on | by Leo Wilson

The poorest country in the Arab world, Yemen, has been experiencing numerous crises that none of us could ever imagine. 3.6 million Yemenis had to flee their homes to elsewhere in the country, scores of attacks have left half of the nation’s medical facilities in tatters, and a cholera outbreak has sickened 2.3 million Yemenis, killing nearly 4,000. As a result, The United Nations classifies nearly one-quarter of the population of 30 million as malnourished.

According to the UN, Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world! Then the coronavirus hit, and Yemen hasn’t had a functioning health system facing the pandemic. But the number could be much higher if no one helps them. According to BBC News, an estimated 2 million children are malnourished, including almost 360,000 children under five years old who are struggling to survive. With only half of the country’s 3,500 medical facilities fully functioning, almost 20 million people lack access to quality healthcare. And almost 18 million do not have enough clean water or access to the right sanitation. More than 40% of Yemeni households are estimated to have lost their primary source of income and, consequently, find it difficult to buy even the minimum amount of food, stated by The World Bank.

In partnership with a local Yemeni charity, Embrace Relief distributes much-needed food packages to alleviate hunger and combat wide-spread famine throughout the country. Each package contains 25 kg of wheat flour, 5 kg of rice, 5 kg of sugar, and 2 liters of cooking oil. Most of these packages are delivered directly to the doors of those in need, while families pick up others from our distribution center. To date, Embrace Relief has been able to distribute a total of 357 food packages to Yemeni families in desperate need.

Yemeni Children Food
Yemen Food Helping
Embrace Relief Hunger Project
Food package giveways in Yemen
FOOD DISTRIBUTION IN YEMEN
HELP YEMENI ORPHANS

TAKE A LOOK INSIDE THE JOURNEY OF OUR VOLUNTEER DOCTOR IN AFRICA

Posted on | by Leo Wilson

Ride with her as she takes you along on her journey.

“My full name is Aydin-Gundogmus Aysana. I am an ophthalmologist from Kazakhstan, the state in Central Asia. I worked as an ophthalmologist at the central clinical hospital in Almaty. I had a wonderful opportunity to undertake an internship thanks to my professor Bagdat Omarovna Suleyeva. I express my deep gratitude for all the hard work and experiences, help and support.

On April 05, 2018, I had the opportunity to undertake an internship in Mali, West Africa, Bamako. What was the idea before my trip to Africa? Of course, I imagined this country as poor, wild, and with a low level of medicine. The country was really poor. Although more modern buildings can be found in the center, these are mainly banks and hotels. I stepped off the plane and my feet touched Bamako’s ground. At that moment I thought that I was very young and inexperienced, and I wanted to fly back home. However, there was professional loyalty and I really wanted to help people. They needed me, I know.

 On the first day, I had a tour of the clinic; it was very different from our clinics in Kazakhstan. Working day from 07:45am to 06:00pm. Depending on the number of patients, it takes 7-8 hours for examination, appointment and surgery. A huge number of patients were waiting for an appointment in the morning at 04:00am, and some slept on the floor of the clinic. The clinic had to operate on average 25-30 operations per day. There are many children with cataracts oculus uterque with overall affection and blindness. Social factors such as poverty, poor housing conditions, poor sanitation, poor nutritional status and difficulties in obtaining qualified medical care contribute to the course of many diseases. It was very difficult for me in Africa, most of the cases our doctors never dreamed of. Despite the difficulties, I felt really needed. The most that worried me was the treatment standards of local doctors. Gentamicin and dexamethasone have been prescribed for children and adults left and right. It is necessary to improve the range of antibiotics, to reduce such dangerous antibiotics. There is no sewage system or water supply throughout the country, hence the constant breakout of infectious diseases. The absence of a specialized ophthalmological service or its insufficient number, as well as the late refer of people to a doctor, also determine the frequency of severe, often incurable pathology of the organ of vision, leading to blindness. I hope there will be funds that help children!

From 2018 to 2020, I have operated on 4,752 patients, of whom 3,616 for cataracts, 851 – glaucoma, 285 – trauma, etc.

Deep gratitude to the manager of the clinic, Kemal Gunes, for his patience and support, but this was not a hindrance, he explained all the points to me, and sometimes several times. Thank you for the opportunity to visit and participate in the work of Africa. Being in Almaty, I miss Africa, the medical staff. If someday there is an offer to help those in need, then I am ready to agree again.”

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