A message from our managing director, Rodrigo Assis da Silva, on the occasion of the World Refugee Week 2024.
Author: Rodrigo Assis da Silva
Shipment of Food to Ukraine #20!
Last night, despite the frequent bombings and the random border closures, our All4Aid team in Romania was able to bring our 20th shipment of food into Ukraine since the beginning of the war! Due to the risk, only All4Aid team members who do not have young children joined the trip this time.
We drove in panel vans, to avoid the long queue for trucks at the border. We brought 7 pallets (ca. 3 tons) of food, including potatoes, flour, oil, rice, carrots, pasta and canned meat, in order to enable our church partners in Izmail to meet the increasingly severe needs on the ground.
Pictured in the photo are 3 Ukrainian pastors / leaders from our partner churches unloading the food. They drove in their own panel vans to meet our All4Aid team at the Ukrainian side of the border, collected the food, and drove back, boldly risking their lives to help feed the communities around them.
With heartfelt gratitude, they expressed several times how the food arriving at this time was an answer to prayers! Humbled by their dedication, we could not help thinking that those of us who are on this side of the border volunteering, giving and praying actually have the easy part of the job.
Would you consider making a donation to All4Aid today to enable us to send our next shipment of food soon?
Would you consider praying regularly for the safety of our team members and church partners on the ground?
All4Aid at the UNHCR NGOs Consultation in Geneva
This week our managing director, Rodrigo Assis da Silva, is in Geneva, Switzerland, together with 106 NGO directors and civil society leaders invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to attend the European NGOs Consultation.
This is a bi-annual event where the expertise of nonprofit sector leaders is accessed through conversations, panels and break-out sessions. The recommendations resulting from these conversations are then used to shape UNHCR’s priorities and strategies.
We are honoured that All4Aid has been invited to be part of this event and are very happy that we can play a small part in helping shape the work the UNHCR does in 135 countries around the globe and thus positively impact the lives of millions of refugees!
All4Aid Team in Türkiye
This month some of our All4Aid team members spent time in Türkiye to resume a Feasibility Study we started some years ago but couldn’t finish due to the pandemic, the war and more recently the earthquake. Their goal was to evaluate the possibility of establishing an All4Aid Centre next year in Türkiye, a major stop for refugees coming from North Africa and the Middle East .
Our team visited several sites, met with local mayors and key leaders, and supported a local church in their food distribution project to get a perspective of the situation. Watch this space for news on the findings of our research and feel free to share your thoughts on the idea of establishing an All4Aid Centre in Türkiye!
102 Volunteers in the Past 3 Months
Between June and August, we had 102 short-term volunteers travelling from different countries to Greece, Cyprus and Romania in order to serve at our All4Aid Centres. These are people of all ages and professional backgrounds who went out of their comfort zones for a period of one week to three months to join us in our calling to work with displaced people, showing love and being change! Could you be our next volunteer? Check out our Short-Term Volunteering Opportunities Page to explore the possibility of serving with us in the near future!
Photo: training for volunteers at the All4Aid Community Centre on Lesvos, Greece.
Saying Goodbye to Danielle!
It is a season of goodbyes at All4Aid. Today we bid farewell to Danielle who, after nearly 5 years of All4Aid, is moving to take on a new challenge (following a time of transition serving together at our centre in Cyprus, Danielle and her husband Filipe are moving to a new country to work with refugees and diaspora communities of Asia and the Arab world fully under the organisation where he has been serving for many years).
Danielle was one of the first persons who believed in our vision, leaving a thriving career in the hospitality sector to serve full-time as one of the directors of All4Aid. Having a business degree, a genuine heart to see refugees attain life in all its fullness, and an incredible ability to lead with humility and professionalism, Danielle has been a main pillar of All4Aid in the past years.
From masterfully writing grant proposals and strategic plans, to skilfully shaping the day-to-day operation of our centres, to safely coordinating the evacuation of our teams when violence broke out, to successfully designing our short-term volunteers experience – Danielle’s fingerprints can be seen everywhere in the work that we do and, especially, in how we do it: with compassion and excellence!
It has been an absolute joy and honour to have Danielle as part of our team and as one of our leaders all these years. Through her work and leadership the lives of many displaced people have been touched and transformed. We are also very grateful for the support we received from Filipe in key areas of All4Aid’s work in Cyprus and in our member care area during these past few months of transition.
Dear Danielle, as you leave All4Aid we can’t thank you enough for your years of service, dedication and for your friendship. We pray that God may guide you in your new journey and that He may continue to use you even more powerfully in the future as the great leader that you are! May God bless you and Filipe in your new journey!
Saying Goodbye to Mahgul!
Last year, an Afghani young lady asked us for a job opportunity. Despite having a Masters degree, being fluent in English and having German C1 level, it was difficult for her to land a job, because she had no work experience in Germany.
Her request came at a good time. As our workload had increased a lot due to our Ukrainian Response Programme, we brought her into our team on a 1-year temporary contract to help us with administration and communication tasks.
It has been such a joy to work with her! Always smiling, always eager to learn and to bring her knowledge to the job. She got along so well with everyone in the team that, naturally, she went from being a work colleague to becoming a friend to us all!
Dear Mahgul, as you leave All4Aid, we want to thank you for your service and for your friendship. We are very proud of you and very happy that the experience working at All4Aid played such an important part in helping you land an amazing new job elsewhere, just at the right time! May God bless you in your new journey!
A Message from Rodrigo Assis da Silva
A message from our managing director, Rodrigo Assis da Silva, following the recent bombings in Izmail, the focus city of Al4Aid‘s response in Ukraine.
A Message from Rodrigo Assis da Silva
A message from our managing director, Rodrigo Assis da Silva, on the occasion of the World Refugee Week 2023.
Invasion of Ukraine – One Year On
As today marks one year since the invasion of Ukraine began, our hearts are heavy as the violence continues to impact the lives of countless people. The loss of life, displacement, and destruction of homes and communities is an ongoing tragedy that cannot be ignored.
At All4Aid, our vision is seeing displaced people attaining life in all its fullness and this is our hope for the people of Ukraine. We stand with Ukraine today as we hope for peace and seek justice. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ukraine today.
Photo: Ukrainian national youth team of gymnastics arriving at All4Aid’s House of Grace in Bucharest, Romania.