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Launching the Community Humanitarian Leaders Programme

August 1, 2023

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings and welcome to our August Newsletter! We sincerely hope that you had a wonderful summer, regardless of the weather conditions. We have some thrilling news to share with you this month. RBB has been diligently developing our latest initiative, the ‘Community Humanitarian Leaders Programme (CHLP).’

This program aims to empower people with experience of lived displacement and give them the tools and transferable skills needed for employment in the NGO field, whether that be with RBB or with other organizations.

One of RBB’s main values is ’empowerment’ and we strongly believe in empowerment of the community we support! We have always worked closely with the community and those from the community who volunteer with RBB.

RBB’s rigorous selection process has led us to choose three exceptional individuals for our Community Humanitarian Leaders Programme. We are confident that these candidates will make a significant impact in their communities and inspire others to do the same.

For almost eight years now, RBB has been providing emergency humanitarian aid with great generosity. Our focus has mainly been on Greece, including the city of Athens and the island of Chios, as well as other locations throughout Europe.

It’s heart-wrenching to see the struggles faced by those who have been forced to leave their homes. Specifically, people who refugees in Greece face immense challenges when it comes to finding stable employment even after being granted refugee status. This leaves them in a very vulnerable position, exposed to poverty, exploitation and unsafe working conditions, while also lacking a sense of security in their lives. Consequently, they may experience severe mental and physical health issues such as depression and anxiety, which only exacerbates their already difficult situation.

It’s disheartening to learn that people who are refugees in Greece are facing a shortage of educational and training opportunities. Regrettably, many of these services require payment, which makes them unattainable for those living in poverty. Even something as fundamental as driving lessons can be a significant financial burden, making it extremely difficult for them to avail of these critical services.

We have observed that individuals who have experienced displacement are not well-represented in global humanitarian leadership positions. This is particularly true for young people from the community who may be overlooked due to a lack of formal education or work experience. Many displaced individuals are unable to access education due to financial barriers, language barriers, or issues with their documentation. At RBB, we aim to address this disparity.

How you can help

As you know from our previous newsletter, we are in the midst of a funding crisis. RBB is a grassroots organisation, meaning that our funding is all donation based. In order for us to be able to provide programmes and aid for the community and those who are displaced we require funding from generous people such as yourselves, and other organisations. Without your help we would not be able to create programmes such as the Community Humanitarian Leaders Programme.

Every bit of money that is donated towards this programme changes someone’s life for the better, and your donation will be making sure that each ‘community humanitarian leader,’ is equipped with the tools, skills and necessities needed to progress with working for RBB or other humanitarian organisations. So far, due to generous donations we have been able to provide laptops and phones for each community humanitarian leader as well as, supplies for learning, such as, notebooks, folders, pens, highlighters and pencils!

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