(COFFEE WITH KINDNESS)
TEA TALKS
OUR
We've made a toolkit for you to help you get organized and show you how it's done.
Once you let us know it's what you want to do, we'll also answer any questions you might have and help you connect with others in your town or city.
HOST A TEA TO BETTER UNDERSTAND REFUGEES AND REFUGEE ISSUES.
Bring some friends together at a local cafe for an honest conversation about what you know, and more importantly, what you don't know about refugee issues.
HOST A TEA TO BETTER UNDERSTAND REFUGEES AND REFUGEE ISSUES.
A local cafe, in a park, or even a community center works. If you are feeling extra generous, invite people into your own home and host a tea party!
WHERE
Anytime. A Tea & Empathy event could be from 20 minutes to 2 hours.
WHEN
You know you should know more about refugee issues, but you don't quite know where to start. Reading headlines is exhausting, and you know you're probably not getting an accurate picture of who refugees are.
WHY
HOST A TEA AND EMPATHY EVENT
HOW TO
Bring your community together in a powerful way to nurture empathy, deepen connections, and build a more compassionate community. Join us in making a difference, one cup of tea at a time.
HOST A TEA AND EMPATHY EVENT IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Refugee issues and who refugees are are big subjects, and to explain everything would take much more than a single page on a website. Some of our team have spent twenty years in the field and are still learning!
You can get a solid foundation of what the matter actually entails by learning a few basic facts and ideas. That's why we made this.
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT
[Example Cause]
A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.
WHAT IS A REFUGEE?
In 2000 the world saw just over 20,000,000 people displaced. Today, due to conflict, persecution and resource scarcity, that number is over 65,600,000. Children make up 50% of this number. Due to climate change, that number is expected to grow to over 230,000,000 people in the next 30 years.
All of these people did nothing to deserve being uprooted from their homes.
WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?
You may be familiar with the fact that lots of refugees are coming from Syria, but they're also coming from all over the world: Afghanistan, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Burma, Bhutan, Eritrea, El Salvador, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Russia, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Nepal, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and more.
WHERE ARE REFUGEES COMING FROM? WHERE ARE THEY GOING?
There are 65.6 million displaced people in the world.
22.5 million are refugees
40.3 million are displaced in their own country
2.8 million are seeking asylum
Where do the refugees come from?
Syria: 5.5 million | Afghanistan: 2.5 million| South Sudan: 1.4 million and more
Who is hosting the refugees?
Turkey: 2.9 million | Pakistan: 1.4 million | Jordan: 1.4 million | Lebanon: 1 million
Iran: 979,4000 | Uganda: 940,800 | Ethiopia: 791,600
IN NUMBERS
Refugees are often escaping persecution and conflict that is caused by terrorism. Naturally, this means they sometimes come from countries that are affected severely by terrorism, and it's far easier to generalize a whole class of people than it is to recognize that people that come from places with terrorism are not the same as terrorists.
Refugees who are being resettled through government agencies go through rigorous background checks that take years to complete.
WHY ARE REFUGEES AND TERRORISM SO OFTEN IN THE SAME SENTENCE?
In the past few years, fear of the unknown has created an unwelcoming environment to those who are our future neighbors. This lack of local inclusion causes social isolation and a disconnection from society. In the most extreme cases, neglected newcomers are susceptible to more extreme views.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO REACH OUT AND ENGAGE NEW ARRIVALS?
Over half of refugees are under the age of 18. Most of them are women and children, and they are just like you — students, musicians, lawyers, etc.. In fact, some of them are Olympic athletes, famous musicians and writers. Remember Einstein? Yeah, he was a refugee.
Some organizations work to pair refugees with people who share a similar trade to help them build connections.
WHAT KINDS OF PEOPLE ARE REFUGEES ANYWAY?
If you're in the USA, you can reach out to your local resettlement agency to get involved. Here’s a list of them with contact information, made by Hello Neighbor. There are even more local resources that are searchable by state on the Office of Refugee Resettlement's site here.
If you live outside the USA and have another database that you'd like for us to list here, please email it over to xx@xx.org