How can my child’s school participate?
Contact us and ask. We want you to participate, and we will make it as easy as we can for your school to connect with Syrian children. We have exercises that teaches can use. We arrange for your drawings to go to refugee children, and to have them respond. We will ask you to contribute to the costs of mailing the art and, if possible, to contribute to buying art supplies for the refugee children.
How much does it cost to participate?
Because everyone is volunteering time right now, our biggest “hard” cost is shipping artwork to and from the Middle East. The slow method (3-6 weeks) is about $15 USD from the USA. The fast method from the USA (1 week) costs between $50 and $100, depending on weight and size of the package.
If your school can contribute to the cost of art supplies for the refugee children, we have found that $100 will cover supplies for up to three classes. We hope we can offer the teachers some payment, too. They are refugees, struggling to pay for the basics, and even $100 would be a great help.
Could we show an exhibition of pictures in our city?
Absolutely. We would love to show pictures and drawings, and we can help find speakers. Contact us to work out the details.
I don’t have money to give, but I do have expertise in crisis situations and working with children. What can I do?
We are building a list of potential partners for future projects. Use the contact form to send us your name, your skills, and a little about yourself.
How can I donate directly to a family or children in camps or schools?
At the moment, Artivism is not accepting money. Instead, we will have you contribute to other, established non-profit organizations.
First, we recommend working through Solinfo. They have established connections to many schools and camps, in Turkey and Syria. Tell them how you’d like your donation to be used and see if they can accommodate your request.
We can’t help you with direct donations to families or children, and the camps in Turkey are supported by the Turkish government, so you can’t donate to them.
The truth is, giving money directly to people is complicated. If we did it, we would be seen as a source of money instead of a project for advocacy, healing and help.
There are many foundations and organizations, and some are better than others. Be careful. We believe Solinfo is a good one. We also can recommend a German non-profit organization to aid Syrian refugees, called Bildung International, founded by a journalist friend of ours. Contact Anne-Beatrice Clasmann for more information at anne-beatrice.clasmann@web.de.
If you want to donate directly to the Free Syria school, you can try to write them (in Arabic) via their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/FreeSyriaSchool.
You can donate to the Torches of Freedom school in Kahramanmaras directly:
Attn: Sanabl Marandi
Akif Inan Mah.
Murat Apt. Kat 3 No 7
Merkez/Kahramanmaras, Turkey
For donations in EURO:
IBAN TR 45 0020 5000 0083 8185 3001 02
Swift Code: KTEFTRISXXX
For donations in Turkish Lira:
IBAN TR 56 0020 5000 0083 8185 3000 01
For donations in US Dollars:
IBAN TR 72 0020 5000 0083 8185 3001
