Afghanistan "How can I help?"

Some people are quick to blame Donald Trump, but I doubt , had he won last years election, that there would have been the same lack of preparation that has transpired under Joe Biden.

Instead of blaming various governments it is time to set up in this country some sort of link for refugees to access homes, schools, assistance with language courses and finding work to use their skills or retraining. We have plenty room from John O'Groats to Lands End to welcome these people into our communities. We need to set up teams of gransnetters up and down the country to co-ordinate things and use our life skills and knowledge. I am willing, are you?

Funny how Biden has reversed everything Trump did or proposed, but when it really mattered he didn’t reverse Trump on Afghanistan. I would have thought that as President he could have.

We have just returned from taking a boot load of clothing, towels, toiletries etc, generously donated by our neighbours via our 'lockdown' WhatsApp group, to a welcoming collection centre about 10 minutes drive away.
From here they will be picked up and taken to a distribution centre this afternoon and sorted and given out.

Our initial contact was with
Care4Calais
who are responding at the moment to the needs of the Afghan crisis in particular.

If you Google them, they have a national site map of where their collection points are and a contact number.
The response, in our case, was immediate.

@LondonMzFitz Couple of days ago, Pen said he thought Croatia was his best bet. That could have changed by now, of course.

There's a local synagogue that's organising a clothes and necessities (soap, children's books etc) drive for Afghan people (coats and cardigans, it's much colder here then they are used to) and I don't care whose God it is, God Bless Them! Lots of comments on Facebook to local groups.

Now is the time to step up and care - for those on their way and those left behind. It's been covered in other threads about the infrastructure, lets not let this thread become another one.

dayvidg

Some people are quick to blame Donald Trump, but I doubt , had he won last years election, that there would have been the same lack of preparation that has transpired under Joe Biden.

No-one can say Trump would have handled this better (well, he will of course).

This number can be found on your bank statement.

I've donated to Noezad because because it's humans that have caused this but animals that are suffering through no fault of theirs. The more I see and read the more I prefer animals.

Appalled to read that you have ‘politised’ this thread millbrook and animals deserve help too especially if they have been badly mistreated in the first place. Thanks to the posters who have provided useful information to help these unfortunate people which is what the OP asked about in the first place.

coastalgran

Instead of blaming various governments it is time to set up in this country some sort of link for refugees to access homes, schools, assistance with language courses and finding work to use their skills or retraining. We have plenty room from John O'Groats to Lands End to welcome these people into our communities. We need to set up teams of gransnetters up and down the country to co-ordinate things and use our life skills and knowledge. I am willing, are you?

These thing happen anyway, and have been so for a few years. Anyone would think GN are the only people that care. Considering we in poorer Northern areas get more asylum seekers sent here than the South.
www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/how-one-yorkshire-town-getting-21343698

coastalgran this is exactly what the Refugee Council does. No need to duplicate this with Gransnetters. If anyone would like to open their home to refugees, even on a temporary basis, then contact your local council. Similarly, volunteers who can offer 'survival' language lessons or assistance with school/doctor registrations and 'befriending' time can also contact their local council. Not all local councils have been able to prepare for this yet due to holidays and Covid but it's 'in the works'. Hope this helps.

dayvidg

Some people are quick to blame Donald Trump, but I doubt , had he won last years election, that there would have been the same lack of preparation that has transpired under Joe Biden.

I think you are VERY wrong here.

Thank you ixion

Thank you Chapeau. I found your post on the other thread so illuminating. I'll be checking out the Refuge Council. I'm in the process of selling my house right now but I swear there'd be beds at mine for those who'd need them otherwise.

This is an appalling situation, a real humanitarian crisis. I thought the issues facing us with Covid and Global Warming couldn't be beaten, Heavy sighs!

The Americans have stood in the gap for twenty years, an entire generation. Thanks to the rest of the world for stepping up.

UNICEF are still in Afghanistan...there was a spokesperson on BBC news ...I have contributed to them.... just for info...

Tefal courses could be offered for free in exchange for the recipient promising (say) 50 hours of language tuition for refugees. Learning English will hopefully help them integrate and become part of our country. These poor people need all the help we can offer.

I may be wrong, but I would prefer to wait and see which refugees are in need and then help, because not all of them are short of money. If they have been in employment by western governments, they will have earned a salary, and although banks are frozen, they will have money in other places.

I remember when the Haiti earthquake stuck in 2010. I was desperately sorry for them. When a baby had to have both hands amputated without anaesthetic because they were crushed I cried. There were so many amputations that I wrote to one of the well known children's charities and suggested a fund set up where prosthetics and their makers could be sent to help them. They sent me a reply saying there were far more worthy children in other parts of the world that although they raise funds at times of need, the money is not necessarily spent on one specific country. That made me think.
There was also a time a few years ago when DEC put out a request for money in another tragedy. I used to respond to them, but on one occasion - the last - I clicked on an arrow which led me straight to an Islamic bank, and I made a sharp exit.
Now most of my giving is to the Salvation Army, because they really do know who is in need in local areas, and the money gets to the people directly.

ps
One thing refugees do not want is second hand clothes. My carer, who has been with me over two years, and comes from Africa as a refugee told me ages ago that the giving of second hand clothes is upsetting.

We should give something that causes us some loss, rather than just get rid of the clothes we do not want.

Gossamerbeynon1945 Fri 20-Aug-21 12:54:28
'I signed a petition and made a donation to the charity I support in Afghanistan.

Boo'

Are you sure your charitable organisation in Afghan can actually take the money out of the bank?

Can you be sure they are not affiliated to AlQaeda/IS/Taliban?

How will money for refugees be spent in Afghan at the present time, when the banks are closed and no doubt the Taliban will take it all, regardless of whether the charity belongs to them?

Quite frankly, it beggars belief that so many posters on here are happy to send their credit card details to banks in a country being run by terrorism.

After all the warnings of fraud, stealing from pensioners via their bank accounts, people still take the risks, even though they do not know how many refugees there will be and where they will go. I doubt if they are poor, or they would not be given papers to leave. They are employees of western governments, who are bearing the cost of the exodus. Those employees are being flown out of Kabul to the neighbouring countries to be processed. They will then be flown to countries willing to take them.
Except for a few who may have slipped through without papers, there is no reason to suppose they are poor, though chances will be that the prices in the West will make them so.
I do strongly urge you all not to rush to do anything until you know what you are giving to. The number of charities which 'jump on the bandwagon' each time there is a problem like this is enormous. Every world emergency triggers all the charities to advertise, because they know hearts are soft and people want to get involved.
If they come to Britain they will likely be at their employment with the government or military, or posted elsewhere, as in other countries. They will continue their education and women and girls will not be restricted.

If anyone on here wants to get involved, then approach the local authorities. Money given to charities pay top salaries to heads and the rest is dissipated throughout large areas, or confined to one small one.

llizzie2

ps
One thing refugees do not want is second hand clothes. My carer, who has been with me over two years, and comes from Africa as a refugee told me ages ago that the giving of second hand clothes is upsetting.

We should give something that causes us some loss, rather than just get rid of the clothes we do not want.

I'm sorry but the team of volunteers to whom we handed a boot load of clothing yesterday had tears of joy in their eyes.

To say that one thing refugees do not want is second hand clothes perplexes me. Are you saying that the footage we see, sadly too often, on television of volunteers sorting donations is simply a waste of time?

Please expand, before I waste any more of my time doing the wrong thing

Hard to believe that people arriving with apparently nothing expect to be given only brand new things?

Slightly different, but one charity that I support in Africa welcomes clean second hand underwear. I can never bring myself to send pants, usually adding new packs from ASDA, but I’ve seen films of them delighting in all donations.