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| UN Goodwill Envoy Khaled Hosseini visits with refugee children at the Kounoungou camp in Guereda, Chad.
© UNHCR/T.Irwin
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Khaled
Hosseini, author of the best-selling novel The Kite Runner
and a UNHCR Goodwill Envoy, recently visited camps in Chad
for refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan. There are 240,000
Sudanese refugees being hosted in Chad, and the process of ensuring
peace and stability to those whose lives were damaged by the
humanitarian crisis in Darfur is far from over. As Hosseini
explains, UNHCR refugee camps are vitally important in ensuring
that refugees are protected from violence, as well as for providing
basic necessities to displaced families, from food and shelter
to vocational training.
UNHCR
is offering a free DVD highlighting this event that explores
living conditions in the camp and provides first-hand accounts
of the situation in Darfur.
Learn
more about the situation in South Sudan
2. World Refugee Day
Every
year on June 20 the world honors the courage, resilience, and
strength of refugees. This years World Refugee Day theme is
"A New Home, A New Life" celebrating the US' proud
tradition of welcoming refugees and the contributions that resettled
refugees bring to their new communities. UNHCR is hosting events
in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Chicago, including cultural
performances and displays at the National Geographic Museum
in Washington, DC which are open to the public and will provide
fun and entertainment to those interested in learning about
refugees, their struggles, and their courage.
Learn
more World Refugee Day 2007.
3.
News to use in the classroom
Washington,
DC: Jordanian
brings resettled refugee children together on the soccer pitch
In 2004 Luma Mufleh started the Fugees, a soccer team for young
refugees in Clarkston, Georgia. Mufleh, who is a Jordanian-born
immigrant herself, has coached the team for six seasons, drawing
together children and their families from countries like Afghanistan,
Bosnia, Burundi, Congo, Gambia, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia
and Sudan to play in an organized league.
Learn more about the
Fugees.
The
North Pole: Britons
reach North POle in bid to raise funds for UNHCR
In
an effort to raise money for the UN Rfugee Agency, a former
UNHCR staffer and a teacher have won the Polar Race 2007,
a foot race to the North Pole. The team will donate their proceeds
to a special fund for UNHCR, which will help fund important
measures such as emergency medical evacuation for refugee children.
Learn
more about Team Refuge.
Thailand:
Business
leaders find innovative ways to help refugees in Thailand
To
better understand the educational needs of students in the Tham
Him refugee camp, members of UNHCR's Council of Business Leaders
traveled to Thailand to meet students interested in pursuing
educational opportunities at home and in other countries. The
representatives looked at the camp's facilities to see how new
computers and internet access could help the camp's educational
facilities.
Learn
more about Team Refuge.
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