The Christmas message from our Director

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In this difficult year where we’ve faced the trials of the pandemic, we are preparing to experience the Christmas season with a different spirit from that of previous years. The number of victims and the challenges being faced bring to light the limitations and frailties of each one of us and, at the same time, the awareness that only by joining forces and supporting those who need it most can we succeed and thrive. What else is Christmas if not a particular time to reflect on our spirit of humanity?

We are all challenged to respond to the call to action we receive, as we here at MOAS did when the organization was first founded. We could not pretend to be deaf to the cries for help that pushed us to save the lives of people who were dying at sea in search of a better life. How could we have ignored all those whose lives we rescued at sea? Today, as it was then, we must not back down from doing all we can to alleviate the suffering of migrants forced to travel these dangerous routes.

How could we lock ourselves in our homes and toast to Christmas while ignoring the war in Ethiopia, where a new humanitarian catastrophe is taking place, or the conflict in Yemen, where people are still dying of hunger, or the situation in Bangladesh where more than one million Rohingya refugees continue to seek shelter?

Together with our large, international MOAS family, made up of donors, supporters and staff, this year we have once again opened our hearts to helped and support as many children and their families as possible.

Despite the effects of the pandemic, with all the difficulties that each of us face, we must not forget that we can always reach out to those who need it most. A small gesture of love, however modest, can give hope.

In this difficult time we must continue to take care of the most vulnerable. Only in this way will it be a real Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

 

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