The One Family Project
The One Family Project is a community project based in Ovens/Farran, Co. Cork, seeking to support and resettle one refugee family into our area under the Community Sponsorship Programme.
The Road from Damascus
Join our fundraiser, called the Road from Damascus, where we will cover the 5,000 kms between the sprawling refugee camps of the Middle East and our safe homes in Ovens and Farran. How many kms of our sponsored journey can you cover between the 14th and 24th May? Every km we travel and every euro we raise bring a young family closer to safety.
Sign up for this challenge by contacting us at the link below. How you do it is up to you - run, walk, swim, cycle, canoe, push a buggy - the only limit is your imagination and energy! Oh and no vehicles unless it's a vintage one!
Sponsor one of our team members as they travel just part of the journey embarked upon by refugee families in search of a better life.
Background to our Project
The One Family Project commenced in March 2021, on the 10th anniversary of the war in Syria. A decade of war has left 13 million people homeless,hungry and without hope - half of that number in refugee camps in the Middle East. The world has not seen anything like this since World War 2. Over one million children have been born in these refugee camps since the war began. Families are paying an enormous cost.
As a community here in Ovens, we wondered what we could do to help in the face of such an overwhelming problem. We have seen how communities like Midleton, Kinsale and Carrigtwohill have already provided a home and support for a Syrian family. We felt sure we could do this too.
We can! We have been approved as part of the Community Sponsorship Programme, an initiative that has been developed by the Irish Department of Justice and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This project facilitates a community - neighbours and friends - to welcome one Syrian family and to be their support system as they settle into our way of life. This small scale community method has been operating successfully in Canada for decades and is a proven way of encouraging integration for those who are coming from crisis situations.
This Community Sponsorship Programme is highly regulated and follows very stringent guidelines. The programme requires that we as a group source accommodation and fundraise to support the family for the first 2 years of their move to Ireland. A minium of €10,000 is needed before a family can be approved to come to our community. The refugee family will arrive in Ireland following selection by the UNHCR and a strict security and health vetting process overseen by the Department of Justice and the gardaí.
The Ovens/Farran parish and community has a long tradition of volunteerism and support for worthwhile causes. The One Family Project is a natural extension of this community spirit. As we continue to support our own, we also feel an obligation to assist those from other countries, as the emigrant Irish have also been supported in their times of need over many years in the UK, the US, Australia and beyond.
Get involved in the journey!
