The tent in Newroz, a refugee camp in northern Syria, looks homey, its span of canvas divided into small “rooms” for living and sleeping. A soft-spoken Yazidi couple, Suleiman Khalf Kajo and his wife, Khabshe, have lived here with their family since fleeing ISIS in August 2014.

Each year the IRC in San Diego resettles approximately 1,000 refugees with the majority coming from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia in recent years. By September 30, we expect as many as 500 individuals, mostly Syrian, to reach their new homes in San Diego.

“I call the children one by one to see what it is inside the box,” explains Amer,* an educator with the International Rescue Committee. “I explain to them that they will find the picture of a very important person inside the box, someone who set up his or her goals and achieved them.” Amer is one of IRC's educators who provide street and working children in Beirut, including Syrian refugees fleeing from war, with psychosocial support, recreational activities and basic literacy and numeracy classes. Educators facilitate a number of games, such as the mirror box, to help children improve confidence, creativity and thinking skills.

Education with Nigerian refugees

Among the vast crowds rallying in downtown Seattle on the evening of Jan. 29 were Emtisal and Ahmed Bazara, refugees from Syria. Their two older children had been barred from entering the United States because of an executive order issued by President Trump two days earlier.

Zoe Daniels, the International Rescue Committee’s Roving Country Director, will take part in this year’s Virgin London Marathon to raise funds for our work supporting refugees and displaced people. With 100,000 runners expected to participate, Zoe’s inspirational efforts will be followed closely by her friends, family and IRC work colleagues.

The humanitarian visited devastated communities to speak with residents who have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods.