insideKENT Magazine Issue 31 - October 2014 | Page 151

CHARITY

HAVE A HEART THIS HALLOWEEN
World Vision, the world’s largest
international children’s charity, is
asking the public to remember the
vulnerable children of Syria this
Halloween by ditching the scary
face on their pumpkin and carving
a heart instead.
As children UK-wide prepare to
head out for a night of ‘fun’ fear on
31st October, scared of what
ghosts and ghouls might await,
there sadly will be over 1.5 million
Syrian children who live in real fear
every night of the year.
World Vision’s annual Night of Hope
campaign aims to help children
living in the world’s poorest
countries, and this year, the charity
has pledged to help the children of
Syria; a country uprooted by civil
war and living in fear of hunger,
disease, violence, conflict and
exploitation.
Children like eight-year-old Hani,
who has been forced to grow up
fast after his home was destroyed

and he witnessed his uncle and
cousins being killed.
Hani now lives as a refugee in
Lebanon with his parents and two
younger siblings; they share a small
sleeping area and kitchen with three
other families. His parents say he
is traumatised and his schoolwork
has suffered. They hope that Hani
can have a better education so that
he can live a better life than the one
they’ve had – more so, one without
fear.
This Halloween you can turn a night
of fear into a night of hope. All you
need to do is carve a heart in your
pumpkin as a symbol of hope and
share a picture of it with us on social
media so that we can show these
families that they haven’t been
forgotten.
Then, text ‘HOPE’ to 70060 to
donate £5. Money raised will help
to fund vital schooling for Syrian
children who have had their
education disrupted and their future
ripped away.

Background
Three years after civil war erupted in Syria, over nine million people have
been forced from their homes. Many refugees have fled to neighbouring
countries including Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. Syrian families
find themselves in a hopeless situation; as well as suffering overcrowding,
they aren't allowed to work so are desperately running out of money for
basics such as medicine. About half of the refugees are children who
often find it difficult to get schooling and show signs of trauma. Sadly,
some of the girls are forced to marry men much older than them because
their desperate families can no longer support them.
About World Vision
World Vision, a Christian organisation, is the largest international children's
charity. It has a continued presence in almost 100 countries, whi