Warning: This post might make you sad! But please read anyway.
Some of you may know that exactly one year ago this month, I received my PhD in Criminology & Justice Policy. My dissertation work is not for the faint of heart. I wrote about sexual violence in genocide, and focused largely on the experiences of women and children. In particular, I studied two historic cases of massive human rights violations — the Armenian and Rwandan genocides. This work required me to read hundreds of survivor interviews from these cases, and they were absolutely heartbreaking. I became pregnant with my oldest son during the early stages of my dissertation writing, and perhaps for that reason, the struggles of mothers in those conflicts have stuck with me over time. One theme that I coded repeatedly was the “choiceless choice”, situations in which individuals were forced to make decisions, but none of the options had desirable outcomes. This idea was first identified in Holocaust research, but undoubtedly applies across cases, although it may be manifested in different ways. In particular, I recall stories of parents, especially women, who could no longer physically carry their children. They were forced to make choices that no parent should ever have to make. They were forced to give their children to strangers in hopes that they would survive and that someone would take care of them. They were forced to choose among their children — who could they physically take with them? who was strong enough to walk? strong enough to survive? light enough to be carried the distance? And, in too many cases, they were forced to leave their children behind. I cannot even imagine the pain of not being able to physically carry my child away from danger. I cannot imagine the strength that these parents must have had, how they pushed themselves to their absolute limits for their children.
Although I am not currently active in the research world, these stories haunt me. Today, I have two beautiful babies who collectively weigh 50 pounds. Babywearing has been a saving grace for me as a mother. I wore my first son and walked laps around the house to try to get him to sleep. At 2 1/2, I still wear him sometimes when he doesn’t feel well or when he is too tired to keep up. I currently wear my little one every single day. Every. Day. It is how I manage to love my baby and keep up with my toddler at the same time, how I manage to grocery shop, and cook dinner, and squeeze in naps. I can only imagine how helpful babywearing could be for a refugee fleeing a conflict zone with his/her family.
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Because both human rights and baby wearing are dear to my heart, I am getting involved with Carry the Future, an organization delivering baby carriers to Syrian refugees who have made it to Europe. Although the refugees receiving these carriers have made it to European soil, they still have hundreds of miles to travel, usually by foot. Carry the Future’s first trip to deliver baby carriers was to Greece, and they are researching other locations for action. Their next trip is scheduled for February 2016. If you have questions about the refugee crisis and how baby carriers might be helpful, feel free to check out some of the links at the bottom of this post.
If you would like to donate, there are a couple of ways to help.
- If you are NOT local to Gainesville, you can ship a carrier directly to Carry the Future at 121 W. Lexington Drive, Suite L 106D, Glendale, CA 91203.
- If you are local to Gainesville and still wearing a baby/toddler, I will be offering my photography services to those who donate a carrier. Mark your calendar for Saturday, January 16th! I’ll be doing babywearing mini sessions and you can sign up for a spot very soon. Details forthcoming!
- If you are local to Gainesville and not wearing any babies (i.e. you don’t need baby wearing photos), I can arrange to pick-up a carrier from you. I will also be setting up a drop box as soon as I have a location. I will keep you posted!
In terms of what types of carriers are accepted, Carry the Future is currently taking any soft-structured carriers, such as Bjorns, Ergos, mei tais, Tulas, and Kinderpacks. This is because volunteers travel to Europe and literally fit the carriers on to refugees. They often need to be able to do this in less than two minutes, so wraps and slings that have a bit more of a learning curve are not practical at this time.
If you do not have a carrier, but would still like to donate, this is a very cost effective carrier that fits a wide range of ages. You can also check secondhand stores, such as Goodwill or children’s consignment shops, as they generally have some of the accepted carriers available used at great rates.
Please visit these links for more information, and STAY TUNED for further details!
Carry the Future
Huffington Post
Upworthy
TODAY
Refugee Map
Also, if you are concerned about the article saying that refugees don’t need our “used stuff”, please also read this response. Thanks for reading! Please consider helping if you can.
xo, Kristin
