It's been nearly six weeks since the powerful image of Aylan Kurdi made the news. This incredible image showed his small lifeless body, which had been washed up on a beach in Turkey. It was an image that stopped us all in our tracks.
This heart wrenching image tells a tragic story. His parents, who had fled from the conflict in their home in Syria, had been struggling to make ends meet in Turkey. They decided to risk everything to give their children a better chance at life. They took their two young sons on a midnight dinghy ride from Turkey to Greece. But the powerful waves were too strong and swamped the boat, tossing its passengers into the sea a mile offshore. Aylan, his brother, his mother, all lost their lives that night.
Their story is not a new one. More than 3,000 refugees have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe already this year. Many have drowned. Some of been crushed by stampedes, others asphyxiated by boat engine fumes. And this has been going on for years. And for years the media have published photos of Syrian refugees - dead, wounded, and distressed. But none of them have moved us the way this one has. This photo broke through the clutter - and it hit people not in the head - but in the heart. It is impossible to say why this one photo has had such an impact - it is not the first image of an innocent young victim of this crisis - but it is an image that has changed the world.
In the wake of this photo, the world is reacting. The New York times is reporting that in America donations for refugees are surging, and nations are demanding more from their leaders. More financial support, but also by opening their boarders to accept more refugees. Donations in the UK have been pouring in, when at the end of August it was being reported that trust in charity was at an 8 year low.
As a sector - its our job to bring these real stories to the world. It is our responsibility to tell the stories of individuals, like Aylan, and so many others, and to give people the opportunity to respond. While the impact of this photo seems unrepeatable, I don't believe that it is. I have been incredibly moved by the stories of refugees that have been shared over the past few weeks not by the news, not by charities supporting refugees, but by Brandon, the amazing photographer who is Humans of New York. Humans of New York went to Europe to see the Refugee Crisis firsthand, and the stories and images he shared are some of the most powerful I have ever seen.
Please - if your cause works with refugees - share the stories of the victims of this crisis. The real, horrible stories. The ones that once herd, people can't forget. The ones that disrupt someone's day. The ones that will inspire action.
And no matter what cause you fundraise for - remember the impact of a single image, and the powerful way a photo can tell a complex story.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
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