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The Refugee Crises: Project for Awesome 2015

2015-12-11 · letter vlog · John · 4:38 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development · mode: Advocacy & fundraising · tags: calendar ritual, fundraising ask, civic or action cta, heavy topic, timely hook, community lore

Opening P4A 2015, John focuses on South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia's Gambella region, argues there is no such thing as other people's problems, and calls donations to Save the Children and the UNHCR investments rather than gifts.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Ninth annual P4A begins: livestream, perks, voting; first half for Save the Children and UNHCR

00:00:20 — The Syrian refugee crisis and support for camps in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon

  • ★★ John says millions of people have been forced to flee Syria because of its civil war. — 00:00:20
  • ★★ John says Save the Children and the UNHCR massively support refugee camps from Turkey to Jordan to Lebanon, where more than a quarter of current residents are refugees. — 00:00:24 · Save the Children

00:00:42 — South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia's Gambella region: flight, children arriving alone, Save the Children's child protection and care, UNHCR food and shelter

  • ★★★ John says that since 2013 conflict in South Sudan has forced more than 250,000 South Sudanese to flee to Ethiopia's Gambella region, most carrying only what they can and often crossing the river in canoes. — 00:00:42
  • ★★ John relays a refugee woman explaining to a Save the Children employee that government forces came and started killing people, so her family ran away. — 00:00:51 · Save the Children
  • ★★★ John says more than 60% of refugees arriving in Gambella are children, many of them unaccompanied minors separated from their families. — 00:01:08 · Save the Children
  • ★★ John says a Save the Children child protection officer helps unaccompanied boys and keeps safe spaces, while camp care includes growth checks hoping to limit disabling stunting, plus play and learning. (hedged) — 00:01:24 · Save the Children
  • ★★ John says the perennially underfunded UNHCR provides food and shelter; a mother says the camps lack firewood and grain mills and that returning to South Sudan is too dangerous. — 00:01:48

00:02:08 — No such thing as other people's problems; not hopeless given progress; record refugee numbers; donations as investments

  • ★★★ John argues that though it is easy to call the refugee crisis not our problem, history shows there is no such thing as other people's problems. — 00:02:08 · othering

    “there is no such thing as "other people's problems"”

  • ★★★ John says disease, poverty and violence are shaped but not controlled by borders; with Ebola, antibiotic resistance, the Syrian war or Gambella refugees, everyone loses by turning away. — 00:02:27

  • ★★ John says the unaccompanied children's difficult future is not hopeless, because humans succeed when they come together to support and empower the poorest. — 00:02:47
  • ★★★ John says infant mortality has halved in the last 25 years, the share of kids in school has skyrocketed, and global poverty has diminished. — 00:03:00 · child mortality, extreme poverty
  • ★★★ John says the global refugee population is the highest since World War II and more than half of refugees are children. — 00:03:04
  • ★★ John says these refugees must be protected, in accordance with international law and any higher law. — 00:03:14
  • ★★★ John says he sees donations to Save the Children or the UNHCR as investments, not gifts: healthier, better-educated kids become productive adults and the cycle of poverty can be broken. — 00:03:18 · Save the Children
  • ★★ John asks viewers to join him in supporting these children. (hedged) — 00:03:37

00:03:42 — Day-one donations split between Save the Children and UNHCR; Google's donation card matched up to $100,000

00:04:17 — Sign-off; end screen; John expects punishment for going over four minutes

  • ★ John says Hank always tells him to make an end screen, and admits the video ran over four minutes, so he will probably be punished and accepts it. (playful, hedged) — 00:04:22 · Four-minute rule, Punishment, Hank Green

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Ethiopia · Gambela Region · othering · Project for Awesome · refugee · Save the Children · UNHCR

Also: Projects: Foundation to Decrease World Suck

Rituals: Four-minute rule · Punishment

Concepts: antimicrobial resistance · child mortality · cycle of poverty · Ebola virus disease · extreme poverty · stunted growth

Places: Jordan · Lebanon · South Sudan · Syria · Turkey

Events: South Sudanese Civil War · Syrian civil war · World War II

Products: Google donation card

Only in the description or credits: Google

Also centred on Ethiopia: Listen: Thoughts from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia · Baby Names: Thoughts from Rural Ethiopia · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World · Bill Gates and John Green Discuss Global Health · Going to College (in Ethiopia) · Looking Away

Also centred on refugee: Volunteering (In Your Pants) · THE PROJECT FOR AWESOME 2013 IS UPON US! · Understanding the Refugee Crisis in Europe, Syria, and around the World · Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp · The Extraordinary Story of Hussam: Teenager, Writer, and Syrian Refugee · Zaatari: Thoughts from a Refugee Camp

Also centred on UNHCR: Syria in Five Minutes · Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 3 videos, 2015-12-11 – 2016-01-01.