TGMS #011 Carry the Future with Cristal Logothetis

June 20th was World Refugee Day or Refugee Awareness Day, and the month of June is Refugee Awareness Month. In the past few years, the refugee crisis has become an overwhelming humanitarian crisis affecting men, women, and children all over the world. In this episode, Mary Grace Otis talks with the founder of Carry the Future, Cristal Logothetis, who started the organization that collects and delivers baby carriers to refugee families. She started with a modest goal of 100 carriers, and has since collected thousands and made 10 trips to Greece to deliver the carriers. She shares some of her amazing stories of what moms have done to help other moms worldwide.

Cristal shares how she started the organization and how it has grown over the past ten months. She’s been amazed to see how families all over the world have joined forces to bring tangible aid to refugee families. The story is inspiring, because it gives us a glimpse into how a small step can set off a course of action that multiplies into a huge grassroots movement.

Find the organization here: Carry the Future : Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Some facts about refugees: (taken from the Global Giving Website article “7 Facts You Need to Know for World Refugee Day”)

  • According to the UNHCR, there are 59.5 million forcibly displaced people around the world.  Nearly 20 million of these people are refugees and 10 million are stateless.
  • An average of 42,500 people per day flee their homes to seek protection within the borders of their own country or other countries. In the last year alone, there have been 13.9 million people newly displaced.
  • The civil war in Syria has led to one of the worst humanitarian crises of our lifetime. More than 10 million Syrians are currently displaced. This amounts to 45% of the Syrian population.
  • 86% of the world’s refugees are hosted by developing countries. This number has jumped by 16% in the last decade. Refugees only account for a tiny percentage of overall immigration.
  • The world’s largest refugee camp is located in Dadaab, Kenya, which is home to more than 329,000 people. In just six months, the Dadaab refugee camp is set to close due to potential security risks.
  • Of the 20 million refugees worldwide, 51% are under the age of 18. This is the highest number of child refugees since World War II.

Here is the story and the photo of Aylan Kurdi (Warning: graphic content) that Cristal refers to that caused her to start collecting carriers. (The boy drowned when his boat capsized and his father could no longer hold onto him in the water.)

This video is a few months old, but it gives a good overview of the refugee crisis.

Other groups helping refugees (there are many more, and we will add to this list): 

Save the Children

UNHCR

World Relief

Operation Refugee Child

Nurture Project International 

Each week, I send out a lengthier email (more like a traditional blog post) with some more info about the episode as well as some personal stories and links to things I’m enjoying around the internet. If you’d like to get a weekly personal email from me, sign up here.

And, I’d love to hear your thoughts below about this episode. What struck a cord with you? What concerns or worries you? How would you like to get involved?

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Global Living, Podcast
Global Living, Podcast
Mary Grace Otis
Mary Grace is a wife, a mom of three boys, a former expat and development worker, and a freelance writer for nonprofits and businesses. She's lived in Germany and India, and traveled lots of places besides that, but she currently makes her home in the U.S., where one of her goals is to stay connected with a global view of life. She's the host of The Global Mom Show Podcast and the founder of The Global Mom website.

3 Responses to “TGMS #011 Carry the Future with Cristal Logothetis”

  • Beverly
    8 years ago
    Reply

    This was an amazing podcast, just hearing how a young mom was able to help thousands with her idea…she thought about what helped her and then sought out a way to share that with others. It was very encouraging!

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