Christmas Appeal 2021

above: Millions of refugees – like 10-year-old Nour living in Lebanon – are cold, hungry and afraid. Please help them today.

After 18 months of upheaval – lives cut short, freedom restricted, jobs and livelihoods at risk – we can finally see hope on the horizon.

But as many of us prepare for a more normal Christmas this year – perhaps sharing good food with family and friends, maybe looking forward to the future and making plans – millions of refugee children who’ve fled violent conflict are cold, hungry and afraid.

Your gift of €50 could provide refugee families with the food, clean water and shelter they desperately need to survive life in a refugee camp.

Stuck in limbo – unable to go home or move on. Haunted by what they’ve been through. Their childhoods ripped away and their futures uncertain. Packed together in temporary shelters, forced into dangerous work, often separated from family and friends, refugee children have no roadmap towards better days.

When a bomb exploded next to her home in Syria, Nour was buried alive.

10-year-old Nour fled Syria six years ago after she and her siblings were buried alive under piles of rubble. Nour’s mum thanks God her children survived, but she knows they bear the psychological scars of the blast. Even now, four years on, any loud noise still sets them shivering in fear.

Covid-19 has made a desperate situation even worse

Living as a refugee in Lebanon and with so many schools out of bounds – some closed because of Covid-19, others used as shelter for refugees – Nour was missing out on an education. It seemed her traumatic past – a whole childhood tainted by conflict – was set to shape her future too.

As part of our Covid-19 response plan, World Vision helps refugee children access education. Remote learning brings the simple joys of reading, drawing and sharing ideas that no child should be without. Engaging with their teachers and peers, even online, helps them heal and recover. Remote learning gives them a chance to escape – not just in the moment, through play and learning – but for life. Using new skills and understanding to build a better future. We’ve helped Nour learn and grow with a project like this, providing online lessons and all the stationery she needed. “I am learning the alphabets, numbers, colours and shapes”, she explains proudly.

Nour’s favourite subject is maths. “I want to learn to become strong,” she says. “My dream is to become a maths teacher when I grow up.”

Your gift of €50 could provide children like Nour with homeschooling packs to help them learn, grow and create a brighter future.

Covid-19 adds another layer of urgency now. Restrictions, rising cases and a slower vaccine rollout have made it even harder for refugee children to stay safe or go to school. Cases of abuse, assault and child marriage in refugee camps are rising too.

World Vision works with the most vulnerable children worldwide to support their most immediate and pressing needs. As well as the essentials refugees need to survive – such as food, clean water, soap, shelter materials and blankets – we offer psychosocial support to refugee children and child protection training for parents. Our remote learning activities prepare refugee children to return to formal education when they can and empowers them to move on from a life haunted by conflict.

Please help protect and empower children like Nour by donating today. Your gift €50 could protect refugee children from violence and abuse. Essential workshops for parents, teachers and faith leaders could help keep vulnerable children safe.

We couldn’t help children like Nour without you.

Your gift this Christmas could protect refugee children and help them fulfil their God-given potential.

Despite the challenging circumstances Nour has endured her whole life, being able to learn remotely is opening up her world. With World Vision’s support she’s working towards her dream of becoming a maths teacher when she grows up. But there are so many vulnerable refugee children who still urgently need help.

Your gift this Christmas could help refugee children stay safe and rebuild their lives.