Project Life Jacket: Time to Make Refugees Human Again

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Dec 08, 2016, 09:00 ET

ZURICH, December 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Refugees, their flight, their lives in the camps. That is all the world talks about. That they are human beings, just like you and I, is all too often forgotten. With http://www.projectlifejacket.com, over 20 European NGOs shift the focus to these human beings and depict their life stories on life jackets. Those very life jackets that have become the symbol of the unnamed refugees. The project intends to catapult the refugee crisis back on the agenda of politicians, the media and the European public.

32 year old Ismail Nerabani from Hums, Syria reacting to the life jacket bearing his life story, as he sees it for the first time. The French teacher is temporarily staying in the refugee camp "Oreokastro" in Thessaloniki, Greece. In October 2016, as part of "Project Life Jacket", the life stories of nine Syrian refugees were illustrated on life jackets used for the crossing to Lesbos.
Picture taken on the 7th October 2016 in Thessaloniki. (Project Life Jacket). (PRNewsFoto/Project Life Jacket) — 32 year old Ismail Nerabani from Hums, Syria reacting to the life jacket bearing his life story, as he sees it for the first time. The French teacher is temporarily staying in the refugee camp "Oreokastro" in Thessaloniki, Greece. In October 2016, as part of "Project Life Jacket", the life stories of nine Syrian refugees were illustrated on life jackets used for the crossing to Lesbos. Picture taken on the 7th October 2016 in Thessaloniki. (Project Life Jacket). (PRNewsFoto/Project Life Jacket)

The 29 year old vet Farooq Saadi from Qamishli in Syria conversing in his tent in the "Oreokastro" refugee camp in Thessaloniki, Greece. On his knee is the life jacket bearing his life story. In October 2016, as part of "Project Life Jacket", the life stories of nine Syrian refugees were illustrated on life jackets used for the crossing to Lesbos.
Picture taken on the 7th October 2016 in Thessaloniki. (Project Life Jacket). (PRNewsFoto/Project Life Jacket) — The 29 year old vet Farooq Saadi from Qamishli in Syria conversing in his tent in the "Oreokastro" refugee camp in Thessaloniki, Greece. On his knee is the life jacket bearing his life story. In October 2016, as part of "Project Life Jacket", the life stories of nine Syrian refugees were illustrated on life jackets used for the crossing to Lesbos. Picture taken on the 7th October 2016 in Thessaloniki. (Project Life Jacket). (PRNewsFoto/Project Life Jacket)

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161202/444993 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161202/446122 )

Quick Links

Short documentary: https://youtu.be/lAt-8zW_eIc

Video, image and audio download: http://share.jvm.ch/file/7rzH5/

Currently, an estimated 60 million people globally are on the move. Human beings, stigmatised by a single word: refugee. Often associated with criminal behaviour, violence and poverty, it is all too often forgotten that these people led perfectly normal lives before they had to flee. That is why the Swiss NGO "The Voice Of Thousands", supported by over 20 European NGOs, has initiated Project Lifejacket. "We visited refugees in camps in Greece and drew the life stories of nine individuals onto life jackets", says joint initiator Michael Grossenbacher. The drawings bear witness to their lives before the war, before they had to put on a life jacket and become 'refugees'.

Nine life jackets, nine life stories

Ismail Nerabani, a 36-year-old father of two was born in Aleppo and studied French literature. "We were very happy with our life; we lacked for nothing", Nerabani remembers. On projectlifejacket.com everyone can experience the life stories of Ismail and eight other people first-hand. The initiative also provides opportunities for meaningful support with direct impact: donations of money and goods and the opportunity to get personally involved.

Media contact
Michael Grossenbacher
[email protected]
+41-44-254-66-27

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SOURCE Project Life Jacket