Feb 2 11
Refugees United chapter 8
Hi all, A frosty Copenhagen signing in – winter seems to be announcing imminent arrival. In a nifty attempt to shun this coming coldness, I shall speed up my fingers’ crawl. Mansour, as noted earlier, trained to become a mechanic. It was in his blood to be good at this, to excel at tinkering with machines and bring motor-death back to life. He flew through school, unhindered by his good but still broken Danish, and reached last stages of his education: the work placement. A great experience of, literally, getting your hands dirty turned into be a shameful barrier to…
Feb 2 11
Refugees United chapter 7 – new beginnings
Hello world, It’s been a while since these frolicking fingers ran across the keyboard to tell tales of Refugees United’s genesis. We haven’t been lazy, not out of the loop – quite on the contrary. With the recent launch of RU at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative alongside Ericsson, UNHCR, MTN and Delta Partners, the response has simply been overwhelming. (Much more on this in later posts.) So, forgive me for for any similarities to drunk driving, we’re not forgetting our way, just slurring back on track through trails of too much to tell. So, onwards with Mansour: With…
Feb 2 11
Refugees United chapter 6 – through thoughts and thanks
Thoughts keep jabbing out, fleeing paper and seeking trails in past memories. Not sure how to much to share. We started this blog to remain focused on 20 lines, twenty seconds, and, thus, keep it fresh and full of spirit. But are we writing just half stories, orphaned reasons and decimated truths? We say so, because not reliving the moments spent traveling through the extraordinary, off the beaten path, and in the heart of all things unknown, shaped us, as brothers and founders of Refugees United, more so than anything else. Stumbling through Cambodia, or the lost nights of Sydney…
Feb 2 11
Refugees United chapter 5… A child’s tale
Well. A child’s tale? A child’s nightmare is more like it. Mansour left Afghanistan and entered Peshawar with 5 siblings and their mother. Behind them laid a past destroyed; ahead, a future unknown. But they were lucky. They made it out. Their father was already waiting for them in Peshawar, having arranged for a trafficker to send them out as a family. Towards peace. Or so they thought. On the eve of their departure the trafficker arrived at the house they were staying. Out front, he told them, waited a bus with one vacant seat. None of his buses left…
Feb 2 11
Refugees United chapter 4… Konichiwa Europe :)
Spending years in the Far East and Down Under made it a somewhat culture shock to set foot on European soil again. Beaches of Bali were suddenly concrete Copenhagen, and the masses of rain flooding the streets had turned to sleet and sleep under the winter cover of minus degrees. Working with kids in Denmark, interestingly in our old grade school, was a cool experience, getting to jostle the imaginations of kids while pushing thoughts and concepts into this world proved a great catalyst. It was while working with immigrant and refugee children at Gentofte Youth School that David met…
Feb 2 11
Next steps… RU chapter 3.
After a long stint in Australia, enjoying everything that beautiful country has to provide, a Japanese friend shared the mysteries of Yonaguni with David and I. In short, Yonaguni is an underwater monument off the southern coast of Okinawa, not far from Taiwan, debated for years by scholars as to its origins from hands of man or the capriciousness of nature. The crux of the debate rests on the fact that last time the sea level was below the 27 meters of depth Yonaguni is found on, was before the last ice age. Should this be man-made, it predates the…
Feb 2 11
How did we end up here…? RU chapter 2.
Places, places, so much to tell. Where to begin when you don’t know the end? Well, I suppose the early stages of what was to become Refugees United were sown by our parents at a young age. Both David and I are immensely proud of a set of parents who valued, even with very little money at their disposal back then, to bring their kids out into the world. To experience and taste the variety life at different latitudes had to offer. Hong Kong, Thailand, and other places, were home, as was the US east coast, where we spent childhoods…
Feb 2 11
Conversations for a Better World
David and I were recently invited to write a blog post for “Conversations for a Better World.” This is what it said: Refugees United Throughout our shared planet, more than 43 million people are currently living as refugees and internally displaced persons. Sent from a past demolished towards a future unknown, fear is the only guaranteed companion for millions of people. Every year, thousands of families are separated in the wake of conflict: mothers from children, siblings from each other, many never to meet again. Refugees United was formed to streamline the global refugee family tracing process by harnessing the…
Hundreds of families are reconnected
through our work every month, often after years of searching for their missing loved ones.
Any donation will help separated families reconnect.
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