We are sorry for the lack of photo’s on our site!  We want to consider our refugee friends protection and feelings.  We want to honor their wish of “no photo’s please”.  It seems that our American culture loves pictures.  (And so do I, photography is my hobby!)  Non-profit groups, churches and other organizations have a hard time motivating others to help and get involved without photos.  It’s hard to adequately express their needs and news without photography.   Often times, the heart of a matter can be better expressed by using a photo.  It’s not just America that loves pictures, but many of our refugee friends are not quite sure about them.

Some of the refugees that we work with are here due to all types of war and/or persecution.  Just because they are in America doesn’t mean to them that they are completely “safe”.  Often they are brought to America into cities where they are given apartments in a community of other refugees.  They are challenged still to resettle among refugees that may or may not agree with their religious choices.  Sometimes, if their pictures show up with Americans it is assumed that the Americans are Christian (and a lot of the time they are) and this could create conflict for our refugees.  There are also cases where refugees have escaped unjust violence or persecution from their home countries by their governments.  Refugees are often uncertain and uncomfortable and do not wish for their photograph’s to be posted on the internet or put up in places where they could be seen by those that have targeted them.  Asha’s Refuge wants to respect our friends by not posting photo’s that our refugee friends have not agreed to.

If you are currently working with refugees, please consider them and do not post their pictures or videos without their prior consent.  Thank you for understanding and working together to show love and concern to our friends.

(Coming soon, perhaps if the Lord continues developing this idea in my heart, we may have some rough sketches with stick people drawn out to advocate for help and better express our heart.)