How can we help the refugees? Starting from small things such as donations to organisations leading to big things such as organising a fundraising event in your neighbourhood or school. There is always something that we are able to do for these refugees. To gain information and inspiration continue reading...
Donations
Donations are generally always of help for organisations no matter how small the donation actually is. Vluchtelingen Werk Nederland is one very well recognised organisation when it comes to refugees in The Netherlands. Vluchtelingen Werk Nederland focuses on the protection of refugees, help during the asylum procedure, guidance with integration in the country etc. In 2014 Vluchtelingen Werk Nederland collected a total of €4,166,000 out of donations and sponsoring. Another Organisation that is engaged in the refugee crisis in Netherlands is Stichting Vluchtelingen. Stichting Vluchtelingen is one of the biggest and most experience emergency aid organisation. Stichting Vluchtelingen and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have been working together for over 30 years in many different refugee outbreaks. During a refugee outbreak stichting vluchtelingen sends a specialised emergency rescue team, they provide primary medical care, food, drink and a shelter.
Projects for Organizations
Creating projects are always a more advanced way of helping organisations and of course also the refugees. There are many different types of projects that you can do for helping these refugees together with your class, school, family, community, neighbourhood etc. Below you can see a list of example projects.
- Statiegeld Donation Box: As you might already know in Dutch Supermarkets you receive €0.25 deposit receipt for each bottle of soda handed in and you receive a €0.15 Deposit receipt for each bottle of beer. What you could do is ask your school, neighbour hood, friends etc. for these kinds of soda/beer bottles and donate the money received from the deposit receipts to a organisation like Stichting Vluchtelingen.
- Bake Sale: Another project that you might be able to do is a bake sale. You could bake cakes, cookies, etc. and sell them during your school breaks, on kings-day in The Netherlands. All the money earned in this sale is of course again donated to an organisation such as Vluchtelingen Werk Nederland or maybe to an International organisation that helps refugees all around the world so Amnesty International.
- Event Organisation: Are you musically talented, do you want to do something with your community, then organising an event would be the easiest way for you to raise money for the refugees. You can organise several different events like a High-Tea, a Musical Concert, Karaoke evening etc. Keep an entrance fee for all these events and the money raised will all go to the funds of the charity.
- Food Collection: Lack of food is a vital issue for many different refugees and something that you could make a change to. Start collecting packaged food items in your school and neighbourhood. After collecting a sufficient amount of food items contact a refugee centre and ask for permission to bring your collected food items. Finally bring your food items and give it to the refugees personally or to the staff at the refugee centre.
Projects Directly for Refugees
In the section above you saw several different projects on what you could do to help organisations that help refugees but what can you actually do that would directly affect the refugee. Below you can see several inspirational ideas on what you can do.
- Tutoring Refugees: Refugees generally have many problems with understanding and getting comfortable within their new society. They have many new things that they have to learn however have struggles learning these. One of the main things that they need to learn in a new country if they want to get settled is the language. What you could do is contact a refugee centre and ask if they can put you in contact with a refugee so that you can talk to the refugee and maybe eventually voluntarily start tutoring him Dutch. Of course there are many other different things that you can tutor the refugee in but that is completely up to you.
- Host Refugees and Asylum Seekers in your home: One of the most practical way of helping a refugee is to give them a place to live. The Refugees Welcome, is a social platform in which you sign up and get paired with a refugee who is in need of a shelter. The Refugee Welcome initiative started in Germany in November 2014 and since then it has been initiated in 19 other European Countries including the Netherlands.
Bibliography
- "Over Ons." Stichting Vluchtelingen. Stichting Vluchtelingen, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
- Costello, Jane. "Europe's Refugee Crisis: How You Can Help." Amsterdam Mamas. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
- "Wat Wij Doen Voor Vluchtelingen." Wat Wij Doen. Vluchtelingen Werk Nederland, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
- "About Us." Refugees Welcome. Refugee Welcome, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.