Lifting Hands that Hang Down

This fundraiser is apolitical. We're just trying to keep people alive once they reach Lesvos, which is getting more and more difficult considering the freezing temperatures and lack of shelter. 

So why'd they leave their country in the first place? Imagine your country is in a brutal civil war. Your husband/father/brother faces being drafted into the Syrian army or terrorist groups. Your neighborhood has been destroyed. Half of your country is homeless. What would you do? Where would you go? How far would you go to protect your family? 

My name is Hayley Smith, and I'm going to Greece over Christmas break to help Syrian refugees who have faced these questions every single day since the failed Arab Spring revolution in 2011, and have no choice but to flee to Europe, many through Greece.

As of November 2015,
-Approximately 3,500 refugees have drowned trying to get to Europe in 2015 alone.
-Over 250,000 Syrian refugees have landed on Lesvos, Greece, in the past year in overcrowded "plastic boats.


-Several people -- especially babies -- have frozen to death on Lesvos from being cold and wet for days at a time. This is after arriving in Europe. 
-Big aid organizations aren't present on the island, so there is virtually no food and water, no warm clothing, no shelter.
-Once refugees land, they have to walk 60 km to the capital to even apply for refugee status, where they will wait in a line a mile long.

The beginning of a 40 mile walk. 

Think someone else is donating, or some other organization is taking care of this? Think again. This is the biggest refugee crisis since WWII, but govts and organizations alike are not responding.

It is completely up to grassroot movements like this one to solve this crisis.

Each $1 donation purchases one emergency blanket after a terrifying journey.

I am paying my own way there. 100% of your donation goes straight to refugees. 

If you know me, you know how much I love the Arab World. It is my one passion in life. Learning Arabic ten years ago pulled me out of a terrible place, and then it opened the door to living in Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan, to visiting Lebanon, Palestine, and Qatar. I even taught high school Arabic for two years and spent a summer in Amman, Jordan making films about Arab youth for classroom use. 

Arab culture is famous for its generous hospitality and instant friendship. I've personally benefitted so much from this in all my travels. I have never felt so loved, welcomed, protected, and cared for as when I'm in the Arab World. The more I tried to serve them, the more I realized that I needed to redefine my version of that word .  

Thank you. Shukran.