Cook a dish from another country. Do a quiz on refugees. Invite a refugee for tea.
22nd June 2011: Rushing to the office? On a tram taking you to college? Or simply shopping? Tarry a little! Say “hi” to the “foreigner" next to you in his native language.
It’s not tough! It will make your friendly neighbourhood foreigners happy! And, will promote better understanding.
In case you are wondering why you are being coaxed to break the ice with the stranger by your side, the reason is not tough to realise.
The on-going Refugee Week celebrations include `Refugee Week Simple Acts campaign’. It urges members of the public to choose an action such as learning to say hello in someone’s native language to promote better understanding.
You can cook a dish from another country. Tell a child a story from another country. Do a quiz on refugees. Invite a refugee for tea. Play a game of football with refugees. Share your sweets. Share a song. Watch a movie about refugees. Smile.
The Refugee Week organisers assert: “We believe that if everyone does at least one of these simple actions, we could make a big change to the way refugees are perceived in the UK”.
They add: “Simple Acts is about inspiring individuals to use small, everyday actions to change perceptions of refugees.
“It consists of 20 actions that can be done by anyone and that encourage us to learn and do more with refugees. With every person who joins in on the idea and does a small thing with and for refugees, we get a little closer to removing barriers between communities and to creating the kind of world we all want to live in….
“Back in March 2008, we asked everyone we knew to ask everyone they knew one question: Have you got one tiny idea for one simple action that would make a huge difference to the way we see refugees?
“The result was around 400 serious, silly and plain stupid ideas for simple actions sent in by all sorts of people from across the UK. From sending an email to your MP, to organising a speed dating event to wearing wellies on Wednesdays. The response and imagination was inspiring!
“We understand that choosing from 400 actions is a bit overwhelming, so we asked a panel of experts to choose 20 of their favourite ideas for us.
Refugee Week is a unique opportunity to discover and celebrate the contributions refugees bring to the UK.
During Refugee Week loads of events take place across the UK, all of which explore refugee experiences. Whatever you’re into – be it arts, music, food or just meeting people in your local area – Refugee Week will have an event for you.
Monika