Syrians love their children too...

Photo credits to Open Doors UK

I remember discussing the Cold War with my Dad a while back when I was studying it in History at school, I asked if he remembered much about it and how it affected him. He told me about how the song 'Russians' by Sting drastically altered his whole perspective about the conflict. The lyric which had particularly stuck in his mind and that he repeated to me in that moment was 'the Russians love their children too'. My Dad told me how this simple phrase broke any power the words of the media - which showed the war to be very 'black and white', with all the West being the 'good guys' and all Russians being the 'bad guys' - could have on him. It humanised the Russian people.
Despite this song having been written back in 1985, I feel that with a few tweaks to tthe names mentioned, it is painfully relevant to the current situation of our world.
Find the lyrics here

A few weeks ago, one of the Syrian refugees who has been placed in my town (Witney, Oxfordshire) brought her 10 day old baby along to the baby and toddler group that I work at. I sat and spoke with her and held her baby for a while. He was fast asleep in my arms and as I looked down into his perfect, beautiful face I felt overwhelmed with emotion. I work as a childminder and most of my work at the moment is with babies/children under three years. I felt the same love and joy looking down at this little face as I do with any other baby I look after. He was so pure and innocent and it broke my heart to think of the hatred and violence this boy had been born in to. He doesn't have a clue about what has gone on in his country, no idea of the perilous journey his mother had to make whilst he was still growing inside her; in the hope that she may give birth to him in a country where he could be safe from war.
This experience affected me in a similar way to how Sting's lyrics affected my Dad those 31 years ago. I saw Syrian refugees as people, real human people who are just the same as you and me. It humanised them. Our media does the opposite of this and it is so easy to be taken in by their scaremongering. What our media seems to do is turn these people into terrifyingly huge statistics which, as we know, aren't even accurate half the time (thanks Farage and your delightful bus). I feel that the best way to tackle the refugee crisis is to instead 'zoom in' on individual families and individual people. By doing so, I think our attitude will change from 'how can we handle this situation in a way that best benefits us' to 'how can we handle this situation in a way that benefits them'.
Compassion. Love. Empathy.
It is my hope that one day the little baby boy I held in my arms can live in a world of peace.

But what can I do?

Although we may each feel small and insignificant, everyone has a part to play in making this hope a reality...

 Unless and until we have peace deep within us, we can never hope to have peace in the outer world. You and I create the world. If we can invoke peace and then offer it to somebody else, we will see how peace expands from one to two persons, and gradually to the world at large. Peace will come about in the world from the perfection of individuals. If you have peace, I have peace, he has peace, and she has peace, then automatically universal peace will dawn.” 

― Sri Chinmoy

Big change starts with us. You can:

• Fight against the dehumanising portrayal of refugees in the media by changing your own personal perceptions.
• Write to or tweet (hey, it's the modern age we live in) MPs/those in positions of influence and power, make your voice heard and do your bit to protect others like the mother and baby I met a few weeks back.
• Sign petitions such as these. This one is is campaigning to 'Stop the delay in welcoming lone refugee children' And this one is to urge the government to 'Air-drop life saving aid into the starving cities in Syria'
• Donate to charities such as The Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children, World Vision, Open Doors UK (who work with those persecuted for their religious faith in Syria), Crying Out for Calais (a charity set up in Witney which takes donated items such as sleeping bags and warm clothes to those who need them in Calais), or you can browse through and choose a different charity through Find a Charity: Help for Syria

I definitely don't have the answers to what I understand to be a very sensitive and complex issue, but I really believe these things are a good place to start. 

Over the Christmas period in particular it is so easy to be swallowed up by our consumerist society's desire and demand for more 'things'. However, the true meaning of Christmas is hope and love in a broken world, indeed baby Jesus was a refugee just like the Syrian baby I have kept referring to in this post. Let us take this opportunity to give and to love.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I hope it has been vaguely interesting and helpful! Please do comment with your opinions on this crisis, Katie's Corner is always open to discussion :)

Love,

Katie xxx