In our last email, Maya talked about how she turned her life around after fleeing the conflict in Syria and arriving in the UK. She taught herself a new language and got herself into a school. But it was when she started helping a charity, that she really turned the corner.
"That was my turning point. I felt I could make a difference and make a change. Now I try and do that for other people."
Reaching out to help and support others has become a cornerstone of Maya’s life.
"Whether it’s women or refugees or anyone who feels any less of themselves. I want them to feel that all their hard work is going to pay off – the way mine has."
Right now in Niger, the refugee communities I work with are also finding that the best way to support themselves is to support each other. They are at risk from coronavirus, just as you and I are. Perhaps even more so, as many of them are living in crowded camps with little or no medical provision.
But together with me and my team, they have decided to give back to the country of Niger.
We have decided to transform ourselves into soap makers. The soap we make together will provide a vital line of defence against the virus that is undoubtedly coming. A defence we can share throughout our community.
And that’s just the start. We’re also going to make bricks. When some of our refugees fall sick and need a safe place to self-isolate, our bricks will build it.
This solidarity and kindness in the refugees I work with is both humbling and inspiring.
These are people who have lost everything and endured the most unimaginable suffering, -often seeing their villages burned to the ground by armed and masked men. Now, like the rest of us, they’re facing a new threat. The threat of coronavirus. And yet all their focus is on helping each other. On protecting their neighbours and rebuilding their community.
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