This Week in Refugee News- August 25, 2017

Each week we collect the most interesting, inspiring and innovative refugee stories from around the world to share with you. Here are this week’s picks:

Starbucks Awards $63K Grant to Berkeley’s 1951 Coffee Company (via San Francisco Chronicle)

Berkeley coffeehouse dedicated to hiring and training refugees receives a Starbucks “Opportunity for All” grant totaling $63,000 to expand its barista training program.

“I think it was amazing timing for us. Once the cafe opened and the training program got underway, we saw the amazing jobs people could get. It’s to the point where we had a vision greater than our resources,” said Rachael Taber, co-founder of 1951.

The grant will allow 1951 Coffee Company to expand its Bay Area training operations and prepare the launch of a second location in San Diego. Read more about 1951 and Starbucks’ commitment to and support for refugees.

These Refugee Mothers Are Learning to Read and Write (via UNHCR)

It’s never to late too learn. See how education empowers Syrian refugee women now living in Lebanon.

In Serbian Refugee Center, a ‘Little Picasso’ Dreams of Art and Asylum (via New York Times)

For Farhad Nouri, a 10-year-old Afghan refugee boy affectionately known as “Little Picasso,” inspiration and talent shines through the hardship of the refugee experience.

Farhad’s work has already gained a following. He had his first exhibition this month in a Belgrade cafe and sold his photography and drawings to raise funds for a boy from Belgrade who is recovering after having surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Although the family continues to live in a refugee camp, Farhad has set his sights on his next artistic ambition: animation.

“I don’t feel like I’m waiting,” he said. “I’m just thinking about the future of my family.” Read the rest of Farhad’s story.

Helping Refugee Children Reach for Their Dreams (via USA for UNHCR)

Does the refugee boy who says “I will be a doctor” know that his dreams are farther from his reach every day he isn’t in school?

Refugee children leave everything behind to escape with their lives, and still they hold onto their dreams — but without an education, those dreams will never become a reality.

Read three incredible stories of success and learn how USA for UNHCR donors are helping refugee kids beat the odds with education.

Pope Francis Is Becoming the Voice of Compassion for the World’s Refugees (via Vox)

After leveraging his position to raise awareness about environmental issues, Pope Francis is now raising awareness about the global refugee crisis.

This week the Vatican released a policy document, “Responding to Refugees and Migrants: Twenty Action Points,” that emphasizes the need for social and economic justice for refugees as well as global solidarity to help solve the crisis.

The document comes in anticipation of talks on immigration and migration at the United Nations scheduled for next year.

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