The ability of education to change lives is amazing. The women refugees here in the studio often share how grateful they are to have received education and healthcare from the International Rescue Committee while living in refugee camps, and what it has meant for them, their families, and especially their children.
Moo Kho says she uses the math she learned in a refugee camp every day to calculate the correct amount of fragrance to blend into wax. More importantly, Moo Kho is hopeful her four young daughters will one day go to college to pursue a master’s or doctorate’s degree and become leaders in a field of their choosing. To her, it doesn’t matter what they pursue as long as they can determine their own futures.
This vision of a brighter future originated in a refugee camp, and was made possible by education provided by international support. That’s why we are so happy that the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Sesame Workshop are partnering to bring local, culturally-relevant learning opportunities to millions of refugee children displaced from their homes in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and northern Iraq.
These children are undergoing terrible trauma from war and conflict – and being uprooted from their homes – and are deprived of that basic childhood experience of learning and playing that most of us here in the U.S. were fortunate to have. Bringing love and care to these refugee children through education is important for them to be able to cope with challenges and begin the process of healing. Because these children are still so young, a nurturing learning environment has the power to reverse the effects of traumatic stress.
A whole generation of refugee children whose future and development is at risk will now have an opportunity to follow a different path and, hopefully, grow into adults who can thrive in their communities and contribute to the world.
We feel tremendous gratitude to Sesame Workshop for supporting these young refugee children and helping bring them a brighter future. We believe that kindness and compassion are the ingredients for making the world a better place, and there is no better place to start than with children.
Read more about IRC and Sesame Workshop’s work with Syrian refugee children.
And please watch and share: great video of actor Mandy Patinkin and Sesame Street’s Grover talking about education for refugee children. It’s short and inspiring!
#nolostgeneration #standwithrefugees #achildisachild #refugeecrisis #childrenuprooted #missionforchildren #savethechildren #wakeupworld #sesamestreet
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Link/source: https://www.rescue.org/article/irc-and-sesame-workshop-bring-education-and-hope-refugee-children
Image sources: https://www.rescue.org/article/irc-sesame-workshop-rescuing-childrens-futures
Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=121&v=AFfw5MQdnTw
1 comment
Moments like these must be marketed better and put in many more people’s faces — perhaps a marketing consortium of development and relief agencies can get greater exposure by uniting their resources.