World Vision NZ CEO Chris Clarke's huge 'thank you' to the support given to refugees through the Forgotten Millions campaign. The generosity of Kiwis has ensured that the plight of millions of refugees has not gone unnoticed on this side of the world - with more than $1 million raised by New Zealanders to help. In March, the Forgotten Millions campaign, run by the Herald and World Vision, raised $436,000 for refugees.
Largest single donation, received yesterday, was from a couple — for $100,000, Vaimoana Tapaleao reports
The generosity of Kiwis has ensured that the plight of millions of refugees has not gone unnoticed on this side of the world - with more than $1 million raised by New Zealanders to help.
In March, the Forgotten Millions campaign, run by the Herald and World Vision, raised $436,000for refugees.
This month, the newspaper and charity relaunched the campaign following poignant images and stories of refugees fleeing to Europe amid the Syrian refugee crisis.
The public has since donated another $645,000 - taking the combined total of donations for refugees to more than $1 million.
World Vision chief executive Chris Clarke said the organisation was overwhelmed with the support from people who had given selflessly to the Forgotten Millions effort.
"The $1 million raised will have an incredible impact on the lives of those affected by the Syrian crisis."
Mr Clarke said the money raised in the last campaign was already providing life-saving support to more than 300,000 Syrian refugees.
"With your generous support, we are providing education for tens of thousands of kids who would otherwise be without schooling, and psychological support for more than 200,000 children who have lived through the horrors of war."
The donations have also gone towards providing clean water and safe sanitation for thousands of families currently living in camps.
"We've also been able to help provide food, hygiene and water to hundreds of refugees fleeing across Europe. With the money raised over the last two weeks, we will be able to reach even more desperate people.
"New Zealanders should be extremely proud of the lives they are changing and saving through their support of this incredible campaign."
This campaign's funds will again be used for similar projects, with the majority helping those in refugee camps in the Middle East.
Up to 13.5 million people from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Kurdish region of Iraq currently live in the camps, where only a tent or sheets shelter them from the elements.
The money will also help desperate refugees seeking safety in Europe.
The latest donations came from individuals and businesses nationwide. The single largest donation was received yesterday from a couple who pledged $100,000 to the cause.
Earlier this month, the strength of people power and mounting public pressure saw Prime Minister John Key and the Government agree to allow more Syrian refugees into New Zealand.
Many Kiwis - like so many people around the world - were touched by the story of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi, whose lifeless body was pictured swept on to a Turkish beach after a boat full of people fleeing the Syrian crisis capsized.
Journalist Rachel Smalley, who has been covering stories from refugee camps in the Middle East, said she was "enormously proud" to be a New Zealander.
"I think about all the incredibly brave people I've met this year in Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Serbia and Hungary. They trusted me to tell their stories and this is how New Zealand responded. It makes my heart sing.
"We're a little country on the other side of the world and look at how we've responded? Kiwis all across New Zealand have been incredibly supportive, kind and generous. It's just remarkable."
The campaign was still fundraising to help refugees, with a Forgotten Millions gala dinner planned next month.
Smalley is also taking a team of Kiwis to Beirut to run in the marathon there in November.
"So the Forgotten Millions appeal will carry on for some time yet."
Herald editor Murray Kirkness thanked the papers readers and said the campaign yet again illustrated how generous New Zealanders were.
"Kiwis are known for their generosity and helping each other. So to see just how much people are willing to help their fellow men on the other side of the world is a true sign of that giving spirit."
How your donations are making a difference
For every dollar raised through the Forgotten Millions campaign, World Vision has worked with its international partners to secure grant funding. This means, with the $436,000 donated by generous Herald readers in our first campaign earlier this year, World Vision is able to deliver $2.38 million in support to refugee families in the countries neighbouring Syria. These funds are supporting two key projects:
• Children's education and protection programmes across four refugee settlements in Jordan, meaning thousands of youngsters have access to education in child-friendly spaces.
• Access to safe water and basic sanitation for refugees in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, ensuring that those affected by this crisis are protected from disease, particularly vulnerable children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly.
Further projects to support refugees in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have also been made possible by the generous support of Herald readers.
Children's education and protection programmes in Jordan
Out of the 220,000 school-aged Syrian refugees in Jordan, only 130,000 are enrolled in school. There is an urgent need to provide learning opportunities and support for these children in a safe environment.
Money raised from the Forgotten Millions campaign will help fund the 12-month Makani education project to ensure these children can experience a sense of normality again while they gain the literacy, numeracy and life skills required to develop their full potential. Through child-friendly spaces, young people are given a safe place to play, participate in activities, learn about their rights to health and protection, and experience healing from trauma they have experienced.
In the programme, 80,500 children will benefit from access to education programmes and a further 203,000 vulnerable children will be given psychosocial support through child-friendly spaces.
Access to safe water and basic sanitation for refugees in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon
Lebanon now hosts 1.1 million registered Syrian refugees, the largest number of refugees in the region. Syrian refugees are living outside of official refugee camps and do not have access to safe water and basic sanitation.
Funds raised through the Forgotten Millions campaign will improve the lives of the most vulnerable families living in these refugee settlements by providing clean water that is safe for drinking, cooking and for personal hygiene. Improved septic systems will ensure hygienic living conditions and protect communities from disease.
With their partners, World Vision will be distributing thousands of individual hygiene kits, tanks for families to safely store water and water purification filters. Toilets, septic tank units and drainage will be installed across 122 informal settlements.
Children of the Syrian Crisis campaign: March - May
Donations: $436k
Photo / Jo Currie
Nasreen and her husband fled Mt Sinjar, on the the northwest of Iraq, when members of Isis attacked their village. They and many others trekked for four days with their 3-week-old daughter to safety.
Photo / Jo Currie
35-year-old Lebanese refugee Patricia Mouamar (centre) works with World Vision in Beirut. She uses her experiences to help refugees deal with their own difficult lives.
Photo / Jo Currie
Hind, a 14-year-old Lebanese refugee, fled Syria after her family's home was destroyed. "I am so lonely. If I could go back to Syria for one hour, I would. Just one hour. I miss every single grain of sand in Syria."
Photo / Jo Currie
Barin, 60, carries the names of 27 members of his family he has not seen since they fled their home in Mt Sinjar when Isis attacked.
Refugee Crisis campaign: August - September
Donations $645k
Photo / Jo Currie
Mohammed is only 18 months old but has already travelled a man's journey. The toddler and his parents trekked long distances to get to the border into Turkey after Isis attacked their home in Aleppo. Like many others, he was forced to walk in wet shoes for long periods in order to get to safety. He sits on his father's knee at the end of the railway tracks that refugees walk to reach Hungary from Serbia.
Mohammed and Ali are 6-year-old twins whose family escaped from Daraa, Syria. They both have cerebral atrophy and their mother, Khawla, acknowledges how dif?cult their journey to safety has been.
Photo / Jo Currie
Ousama, who hopes to move to Europe for a better life, is raising his two daughters, Wafa, 7, and Seema, 6, on his own. His wife was killed during an attack by Isis.
Photo / Jo Currie
Afghan refugees Zahra, 8, and brother Ilyas, 5, took about a month to reach Serbia. Their mother Rokiya says her children - who are Hazara - have no future in Afghanistan.
