There are many organizations and crafters (such as Knit for Syria) sending crochet blankets, toys and clothing to people in Syria. Karen Kirk wanted to do something different to help the Syrian refugees temporarily housed at camps in Greece. She wasn’t sure what skills she could offer but she went to Greece to do her best, and it turned out that crochet skills and supplies were something she could contribute.
Karen would bring her own crochet work to the camp and immediately many children were interested in what she was doing. She saw that people of all ages enjoyed crocheting, but that they were not able to do it as much as they would like because of limited access to supplies. She immediately went and got some hooks for others.
After returning home, she did fundraising among other strategies to gather more crochet hooks and the money for supplies. She returned to Greece, purchasing yarn locally there to help support their economy. She brought this back to the camp for the Syrian refugees. What she found was that it really helped them to have something to do with their hands. She shares that it passes the time in a place where there’s a lot of sitting around, waiting, with nothing to do and no resources.
Although the articles about her experience don’t mention it, I would guess from my own experience and research into the benefits of crochet that there are many other reasons that crochet helps refugees in addition to helping pass the time. The nature of refugee camps is that they are temporary waiting places during a time of great instability, creating a host of emotional difficulties for the people living there who are dealing with various kinds of trauma in their recent past. Crochet offers relaxation and meditation which can bring the heart rate down and reduce anxiety. It brings you into the present moment and yet it simultaneously allows you to forget your surroundings and just enjoy the tactile and visual experience of the craft.
Crochet also allows you to feel like you are able to do something, anything, giving you control over something when the rest of life is out of control. I have seen it help many people dealing with difficult situations. Having worked with refugees through a non-profit in the past, I have seen that it’s an experience that can leave people feeling powerless on so many levels. I can guess that being able to create something beautiful with your own hands is empowering.
Crochet certainly isn’t an answer to the many difficulties facing Syrian refugees, but it is inspiring to see that it can help in small ways.