H is for......send Help. #AtoZChallenge2016

Send Help!  
Texting -  the new "message in a bottle".

(ovedue post from Saturday 9th April)

On the way home in the car last Friday night, I heard this story about Ahmed, a seven year old Afghan boy, who texted for help whilst in a sealed lorry saying he was suffocating. He sent this text to Liz Clegg of the unofficial Women and Children’s Centre in Calais.

(Image from twitter @HelpRefugeesUK)

Liz had been a volunteer at "The Jungle" refugee camp in Calaisand had given Ahmed a mobile phone. Liz was in New York at the time and contacted the Help Refugees Charity for whom she was volunteering when she first met Ahmed. The police in the UK were alterted to the situation and 15 migrants were rescued from the sealed container lorry. Ahmed was traveling with his older brother.

The charity Help Refugees is doing great work on the ground in camps all over Europe and keeps us up to date with the news and issues. The website describes how they started with one lorry going over to Calais last September, and how from that they found that "suddenly they couldn't walk away." This is from their website:

"We help the most vulnerable people currently reaching Europe's shore by supporting local groups, charities and volunteers who are at the front lines, carrying out life changing work in difficult circumstances. We are working everywhere where Governments and NGOs cannot be. Unconstrained by red tape, politics and bureaucracy, we act fast to change lives. Your donations go directly to the people who need it most."

 This link takes you to the website's page which lists the latest needs and you can easily send a sleeping bag or other needed items through a link to a company the charity is working with. This link takes you their page which descibes how you can help in other ways including volunteering, fundraising or by donating money.