My old man always said that guests are like fish--- after three days they start to smell. Have you ever been that fish? You've overstayed your welcome and have that awkward feeling of being too long in someone else’s home, feeling guilty when eating their food and bumming a bed. Focus on that knot in your stomach--that gnawing ache that whispers, 'You’re not in a familiar place'.
How do you get rid of the feeling that you are not in Kansas anymore? Just head back to the farm.
“There’s no place like home.” Ain’t it the truth? No matter if one is travelling for business, holiday or galavanting around the world to write articles about the MENA region, it’s always nice to get back to one's old stomping grounds: your own bed, same ol’ car, high school buddies still at the same bar, and dad is always there for a round of golf.
Now consider this- over 42 million people are feeling that fishy awkwardness right now. They are in permanent limbo and hate it. Today marks World Refugee Day 2012 and it is in no way a holiday. Millions and millions of people wake up each morning with that uneasy, lonely lump in their throats which tells them, ‘You are not home’.
And most of them are dealing with more than missing their old ’81 pick-up truck. From seeing loved ones starving to experiencing family members killed by extremists or their own government, these wearied travelers need the comforts of home. Now add living out of a suitcase for the rest of their lives, it is obvious that they truly deserve our care. But how?
The UN website offers many practical ideas for us to do more than just feel bad for refugees on this day. For those who don’t even want to go to the website, look at this opportunity:
Among "the estimated 15.2 million refugees in 2011, 4.8 million were Palestinian refugees’. The UN offers a tangible, safe way to give these homeless cities some care. Look at the UNRWA or The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
They provide assistance, protection and advocacy for registered Palestine refugees. UNRWA offers education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, community support, microfinance and emergency response, including in times of armed conflict."
You can go donate online here, and help those who just so happened to be born in place where they were not welcomed. It really could have been any one of us.
Remember the refugees today and let’s click our heels on their behalf ,’There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”
By Brett Weer
