Action for Ukrainian Refugees

 

By John Namkung

 

March/April 2022


 

 
 
  
March 27, 2022 
 
 
I guess the number three is my lucky number.  It was three years between the first time I went overseas in 2016 to help Syrian refugees in Greece, to the second time I went to Greece in 2019, this time to teach English to Yazidis in a refugee camp.  And here I am in Poland in 2022 to help Ukrainian refugees as they escape from a devastating war.  I say “lucky” because I probably got more out the experiences than I gave to the individuals I helped.  Where will I go next in 2025?

 

“Synchronicity” is defined as “the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.”  I firmly believe that synchronous events occur in this world that go beyond mere coincidence. Consider these examples from my three overseas events to help struggling refugees.

 

In 2016, on my way to Greece to work with Syrian refugees, I bought a bottle of iced tea and on the inside of the bottle cap was this quote from Helen Keller: “The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” Of the hundreds of thousands of bottles of iced tea on the shelves of markets throughout the US, what were the odds that I would pick the bottle with that message, just as I was joining thousands of volunteers from around the world?

 



In 2019, a week before going to Greece to help Yazidi refugees, I opened a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant and it said, “Travel with an open heart and positive expectations.”

 

 

Two days ago, on the way to the airport to fly to Poland, President Biden came on the news from a small city in Poland (Rzeszow), right near where I will be working (Przemysl) and acknowledged the hard work of all the humanitarian workers assisting Ukrainian refugees. 

 

All three events occurred immediately prior to going overseas to support refugees. Coincidence or synchronicity?  You make the call.  I know what I believe.

Comments

  1. ShandiApril 13, 2022 at 1:59 PM

    What if we don't label it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. 101April 14, 2022 at 3:33 AM

    I was very moved reading of your volunteer experience with Ukrainian refugees. You committed to an urgent humanitarian need and exposed yourself to great potential harm to do good. Bless you.
    I volunteered in Greece 2016 to help the thousands of refugees arriving there from Syria, Pakistan, Africa and Afghanistan. I’m struck by the difference in how these refugees are treated compared to the refugees you cared for. Those that arrived in Greece, also escaping war as well as poverty and other violence, were immediately locked up in detention camps if not returned “back to where they came from.” They are still suffering inhumane conditions in detention camps or left to survive on the streets with no hope or justice. My hope is that one day all who need care are treated equally.

    In Peace,
    Sallie Latch

    ReplyDelete

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