Motivation Monday is a weekly series on YBC® where we'll unveil that week's podcast episode of Namaslay® with YogaByCandace®, a few inspirational uplifting or interesting bits from around the web, and new books, finds and other goodies our team is loving. This week, instead of sharing finds from the web, we’re sharing a story of service and ways you can help.
In today’s podcast we are speaking with my longtime friend Bethany Snow, former U.S. Army Linguist, who has volunteered multiple times in Lesvos, Greece to help thousands of refugees. Bethany and I went back and forth about this podcast before recording it because it is a really dire situation and there isn’t much good news coming out of the camp. In fact, the night before we recorded, one of the main warehouses that stores clean, dry clothes and shoes for the refugees was burned to the ground by far right extremists. (Remember, there are hundreds of refugees arriving daily, often wet and cold from the frigid Aegean Sea.) It’s a really tough situation, but we believe knowledge is power, and since there isn’t much from the region that mainstream media is reporting, we thought it would be helpful to share, and hopefully to inspire our community to be a little gentler, a little more kind, and perhaps offer help to those in their community who may need it. After all, yoga means union, and we’re in this together. Here are some photos from Bethany, and below you’ll find the links we reference in the show notes. This podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts. Or, you can also listen here. And if you have a second, would you mind taking this survey? We just want to get some demographics about who's listening to the podcast. Thanks!
If you want to support the efforts of groups working directly with refugee and asylum-seekers, these are incredible organizations. It’s important to remember how many moving parts there are to this crisis - From the rescue boats that pull them from the water, to the groups providing clothing and food, to the medical and trauma care, to the teachers who are committed to making sure the children are able to continue their education. It really does take a village.
https://www.donate4refugees.org/
http://www.refugeerescue.co.uk/
http://www.asterias-starfish.org/en/
https://bootvluchteling.nl/en/
Articles that give some background on the crisis/ongoing news:
The Atlantic - Greece's Moria Refugee Camp
The Guardian - Moria Refugee Camp
Are You Syrious - (Are You Syrious is an invaluable resource for up to date news from the frontlines of the crisis.)
To learn more about volunteering, here is a great resource to see available opportunities and provide information about the organizations and where they operate.
