“WHEN REFUGEES ARE fleeing from trauma, war, conflict or natural disaster, they leave with whatever they have in their hands and on their back and on their feet. Sometimes even their family members get left behind because they are not together, especially if a conflict or an emergency disaster happens suddenly.”

Having worked with Irish humanitarian organisation Concern Worldwide as a logistics coordinator for several years, Gillian Boyle has seen first-hand the devastation faced by refugees in some of the poorest and most troubled places on earth. 

“One quarter of the population of Lebanon is people who have fled from Syria,” she says. “While I was working there, I met families who were constantly on the move, who had nothing, absolutely nothing.

“Not a bar of soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste or even a hairbrush. Concern will buy them items and put them in a kit so that they have a way of keeping themselves clean and maintaining their dignity.

 Now more than ever, refugees and displaced people need our support.

Vital funds

Concern’s work is crucial to refugees all over the world, and can only continue with the support of the public. That’s why, this June during Refugee Week, they’re asking you to Step In Their Shoes. The challenge is to walk 10,000 steps every day from June 14th-20th to help raise vital funds for vulnerable refugees who desperately need it. 

“The Step In Their Shoes event is a way for people to experience a little bit of what the refugees who we work with feel when they have to flee from the home,” says Gillian. “It’s a way for people to show solidarity with refugees and to raise much needed funds.”

The funds raised from the campaign will help provide refugees with essential items like hygiene kits, plastic sheeting for building shelters, food and cooking materials.

“Generally they need food, shelter and sometimes medicine. If it’s a conflict, some people might be injured or, depending on the areas that they have walked, people would be gashed from climbing mountains or rough terrain. 

“Some people arrive at camps being assaulted, either sexually or physically, and need urgent medical attention. We then turn to shelter, we have to find somewhere for refugees to stay, to recover, to feel safe and then rebuild their lives.”

 ‘She didn’t even have water to wash the baby’

Gillian recalls one case which really hit home for her.

“When I was in Lebanon, the team received a call to say that a family had moved across the border. We went out to meet them, and they were by a piece of concrete in an area where other refugees lived. This family wanted to live there, so we provided them tarpaulin and blankets in an essential home kit package. 

As I was talking to the lady, I discovered she had only given birth six days ago.

“This was the start of this new baby’s life. A slab of concrete with just plastic sheeting held up with wooden poles as a new home. It was heartbreaking to see that when you see children at home [in Ireland] in their lovely warm homes and nice blankets. And this woman didn’t even have water to wash her baby, to wash herself or even for drinking.

Gillian and the team went on to help this family, and says the experience was “heart wrenching”. “I couldn’t believe that somebody’s life was to start by going to live in a piece of concrete,” she says. “It does hit home.”

Gillian and the team went to get large bottles of water for the family, and says they were so grateful for the help they received.

“The whole family were so grateful that they hugged some of the team. They were so grateful that they got even just the water from us and the tarpaulin and blankets so that they could put them on the ground and sit on them.”

Gillian says it’s “amazing” how simple things can make such a difference to someone’s life. “We take a lot of things for granted. Refugees don’t have even something as simple as a hairbrush. We wouldn’t even think twice about lifting the hairbrush. To see a woman who had walked for three weeks to be given a hairbrush to be able to get some of her dignity back and be able to do that for herself, it’s incredible.

Simple things, simple gestures, can mean a huge amount.

With almost 80 million people displaced worldwide by conflict or disaster, funds raised from events like Step In Their Shoes are more important than ever. “No matter what challenge we go through in life, we would appreciate knowing that there are other people there behind us, supporting us and helping us no matter what challenge we come across,” says Gillian.

“The Step In Their Shoes event is a way of people getting a little bit of insight into what refugees are encountering every day, but also to show them that we can support them in small little ways by walking 10,000 steps a day for seven days and fundraising.”

People who sign up for the Step In Their Shoes event will get access to recently recorded interviews with Syrian refugees being supported by Concern in Lebanon.

“The money you raise when you sign to the event will support some of the most vulnerable people in the world.I’ve seen the difference it can make.”

Sign up to Step In Their Shoes from 14th-20th June and walk 10,000 steps a day for seven days. Whether we’re walking side by side or world’s apart, we can all take a step toward hope. Sign up today.