Providing Much-Needed Supplies to Refugees in France, Italy, Serbia and Croatia

By France Relief Team (Originally in Chinese) 

Helping the Refugees at the Border of France and Italy

In September 2015, Supreme Master Ching Hai contributed EUR 10,000 and lovingly reminded our Centers in France to help the refugees in the neighboring areas. Our relief team visited an organization by the border of France and Italy to find out its needs. The organization usually has about 100 refugees staying there and are taken care of by about 15 volunteers, with most of them being enthusiastic young people from Italy. They work with the refugees to cook, maintain order and offer legal advice. During the day, they also arrange a language class and other classes for the refugees. The volunteers listed the supplies needed, which included backpacks, blankets, sleeping bags, shoes, socks and underwear. Another volunteer mentioned that although they have plenty of canned noodles, they have not tasted any fresh vegetables and fruits for a few months. When we delivered all the required supplies, the volunteers were overjoyed and kept giving surprising cheers and expressing thanks. We replied that these are the loving gifts from our dear Master.

We also visited another refugee camp by Ventimiglia train station in Italy, which is taken care of by the Red Cross. Upon learning that they desperately needed 80 warm blankets, we immediately purchased and delivered them to the camp. The Red Cross staff was extremely happy because the weather was turning cold at that time.

Sending Stationery to Africans Staying in a Refugee Camp in Italy

A camp in Genova is accommodating many young refugees from Africa. In November, when we heard that they needed stationery for 150 people, such as white boards, bulletin boards, pens, notebooks, post-its, highlighters, staplers and hole punchers, we quickly delivered all the listed supplies to the camp. The teachers working in the camp were so surprised that they were speechless. They were very touched that our Association sent them the most needed stationery, because the refugees had nothing to study with in an empty room. 

Shipping Tents to Refugees in Serbia and Croatia

Upon learning that the refugees in Preshevë, Serbia, were in need of tents, our relief team purchased a total of 80 tents able to accommodate two to three people each. We shipped 43 of them via DHL mail services to Serbia on November 12 and the remaining 37 tents will be shipped to Croatia soon.

Expenditures by The Supreme Master Ching Hai for Refugee Relief Work in France, September and November 2015