This picture was taken by Stanislav Krupar who earlier this month joined a group of refugees from Syria on their harrowing journey by boat across the Mediterranean to Europe. Here, we see the group stranded on a small island off the Egyptian coast waiting for the trafficker to return. They were left without food or water.
Someone asked me recently, what if these boats carried dogs, poor lost puppy dogs, would we then take them in, would we not carry them out of the water in our arms, wrap them in blankets and hold them until they felt safe again? Picture by Mashid Mohadjerin.
Thank you for bringing this day to my attention and for the videos and for the links to the photographers. I spent some time as a classroom aide helping refugees from Southeast Asia learn English in the wake of the war in Vietnam after meeting a group of women who were among the first refugees from Vietnam. That was in 1975 when I was working as an industrial sewing machine operator in a factory. There are a surprising number of refugees who have come to our county from all of the world since then.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Cambodia I met a man who had escaped to the refugee camps run by UNHCR in Thailand - he's had to crawl through a minefield to get there.
ReplyDeleteI learned from him just how much work the UNHCR do to help refugees - they recognise that sitting about helps no one, so there'a huge emphasis on education. The man I met passed this on to his children. As a result the country now has some highly motivated young people who are working their socks off to rebuild the country.
Not all lost puppy dogs have four legs and a wagging tail, do they?
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