How you can help the Syrian Refugees and make a change
by Talia Trackim
Helga Kissel wrote in a letter, “It is never easy to have to leave one’s homeland! Always remember the good times and look forward to what the future may bring. It is always difficult to adjust to living in a different country – I know! I know firsthand what it is like to lose a home and become a refugee. There was the Second World War in Europe – 1939 to 1945. I grew up in Berlin, Germany during that time. In February 1945 there were terrible Air Raids in our town. My father lost his life during a Raid and our house was also hit by a bomb and we lost everything.”
The Syrian Civil War; what began as a series of uprisings has now turned into a catastrophic battle between rebels and President Bashar al-Assad, costing the lives of over 250,000 people, according to the United Nations. In addition to the massive death toll, the Syrian Civil War has left the world with 4.5 million refugees, primarily women and children, who have flooded into Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, as well as other European countries.
The nonprofit Humanitarian organization CARE has extended help to refugees by providing food, gift cards, and emergency shelter and hygiene kits. To recognize the fifth anniversary of the Civil War, CARE spearheaded a letter-writing campaign called Special Delivery that unites former World War Two refugees with young Syrian refugees.
CARE began in 1945 as an effort to support survivors of World War Two by sending care packages. Also being the 70th anniversary of the original CARE campaign, CARE reached out to World War Two refugees who had also been benefited by CARE, in hopes that their words could connect with today’s children and let them hope for a better future.
The participants of the campaign included 87 year-old Helga Kissel, 78 year-old Gunter Nitsch, 76 year-old Renata Senter, and Joe Wernicke.
“Every time I watch the news and see refugee children, I feel sorry for them,” Nitsch told ABC News.
Members of the global community are also encouraged to write letters to young Syrian refugees to assure them that they are remembered and cared for. To view the letters and write your own, please visit CARE’s website.
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