Baytna à Vous: Our Home For You
The number of refugees escaping Syria has reached beyond four million; and in France alone, François Hollande has pledged to welcome over 30,000 refugees in the coming years, stating, "Our country has the duty to respect this commitment." News about the refugee crisis has touched every conceivable corner of our media, emphasized by the publicity of the drowned Syrian boy last September. Even still, many people are unaware of how to contribute or help the transition refugees face living in Europe, but students at AUP have taken it upon themselves to actively participate in this humanitarian duty.
Baytna à Vous (or BV Syria) has set up charity campaigns in association with CODSSY and Souria Houria. Last semester, BV Syria raised funds from the donation drive on Thanksgiving at the American Church which contributed to CODSSY's Alphabet project, focusing on education for Syrian kids. More recently, BV Syria collected donations for the Valentine's day Candygram campaign where funds were donated to a project that concerns emergency education in Syria from schools that reached out for aid as a result of being heavily shelled for the past two years. Because of the help from AUP students, CODSSY was able to provide additional food, medical, and school supplies.
Over the course of just the past year, Baytna à Vous has provided upwards of €1200 in aid to refugees.
BV Syria has more up-and-coming events geared towards raising more for these programs.
Currently, Baytna à Vous (with the help of the SGA) is organizing a concert by Naissam Jalal and the Rhythms of Resistance for charity week at AUP. The concert will be on Tuesday, April 5th at the American Church at 19h00 and will be catered by Le Bistro Syrien.
Image Credit: AUP SGA
Everyone is welcome and the proceeds will go to BV Syria's continuing mission of aiding refugees. Tickets will not be sold at the door and can only be bought online here. If you would like to contribute to Baytna à Vous and their charity campaigns, you are welcome to attend their meetings which are held every Thursday at 17h00 in room C-101.
