Putting Out A Welcome Mat

By now you’ll have seen the pictures many times, the one of a three-year-old boy called Aylan Kurdi in particular. Washed up on a Turkish beach, Aylan had drowned as his family tried to flee from Kobani to Europe.

At first, like me you may have thought he was being carried alive from the water. That’s what I wanted to see anyway and to realise the truth was shocking. Beyond shocking actually. How do you describe that? Too terrible to let your eyes linger on the image but immediately understanding the reality captured within a single camera frame.

It’s been barely a month since that picture was headline news all over the world yet there is already a shunting of the Syrian refugee stories to the middle of the news hour as the focus becomes less humanised and more about numbers. So many numbers. Highlighting, or creating, seemingly insurmountable issues that continue to block people from reaching safety.

Which brings me to Uncle Martin, who is also known as Dr Martin Reeve at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre (MRRC) in Auckland.

He’s all about helping the refugees and one of the first people to meet and greet the arrivals in New Zealand having been the on-site doctor now for almost 20 years. I know him as a wonderfully gentle, hilariously funny, caring man and having seen some of the people he has treated over the years greet him in the street I would say those attributes translate well. I can only imagine in the midst of a whole lot of newness how comforting it must be to have a kind voice behind that grey beard taking care of you.

The MRRC is a special place with all services in a centralised unit, giving refugees – who are often exhausted and traumatised – access to health care, trauma counselling, education, cultural introduction and employment guidance. There’s currently a rebuild underway, which will allow space for 190 beds.

In the past our refugees have mainly come from Myanmar, Bhutan, Iraq and Afghanistan, with only a small number from Syria in the last 12 months. This will change (finally!) and I could think of no better person to ask how to help than Martin.

Included in the links below are options for donating financially as well as providing household goods for families who often arrive with nothing more than a small suitcase.

It’s that human connection though, which the centre is always looking for.

So please, before the images that shocked you to your core only a few weeks ago become something we are familiar enough with to tidy away in the too-difficult basket, before we lose entirely that initial sense of outrage, perhaps you’d consider giving some time to help those making New Zealand their new home. Training is given through the Red Cross and is a core part of the services offered to newly arrived refugees.

Along with practical matters you’ll be a friendly face and a guide to a new family. You’ll be awesome, in other words.

As are you, Uncle Martin! Thanks for doing what you do.

And if you can think of any other ways we as a community could provide further support, to really lay out the welcome mat, do get in touch and let’s make it happen.

– Jane

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Find out how to become a refugee services volunteer here:

Donate and provide household goods to the Red Cross here:

Find out more about NZ Refugee Health Services here:

A handy collation of things you can do to help:
http://sacraparental.com/2015/09/05/the-refugee-crisis-13-things-you-can-do-to-help/

For a truly human look at the Syrian people and their stories:
http://www.humansofnewyork.com

This is well worth a watch. Melissa Fleming talks about helping refugees thrive, not just survive.
https://www.ted.com/talks/melissa_fleming_let_s_help_refugees_thrive_not_just_survive?language=en

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© The Yoga Connection 2015