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The Hierarchy of Yazidi Needs

Close your eyes and imagine the worst second hand shop that you've ever been in. Keep imagining. The floor is sticky, the clothes are stained and the smell of stale tobacco is ever-present. Now, imagine you need clothes, but everything is at least three sizes too big for you and has already been picked over by 700 other refugees. You now have a mental picture of what our clothing distribution warehouse is like. We do our best, but like all NGOs, we operate on a razor-thin budget that comes from fundraising and donations.

During our clothing distribution, I helped Fahima, a teenage Yazidi girl, find a pair of trousers to take home (...and when I say home, I mean back to camp). She looked a little desperate as she rummaged through the racks and the piles of poorly-sorted clothing. We managed to find a huge pair of hideous, flair jeans from 2002 for her to take. She and I both knew that she would be wearing those too-big trousers indefinitely.

That pair of trousers will meet her basic needs, but can not satisfy her more complex needs of self-expression through appearance, gaining acceptance of her peers at school, and looking presentable for a job interview and subsequent career. Giving her an old pair of trousers can't help Fahima feel intellectually stimulated, accomplished, or creative.

Image result for maslow's hierarchy of needs
I've heard it a dozen times from visitors in the warehouse, from the Greek people in Serres, and you might be thinking the same thing now: "Well at least those refugees have clothing, food, and shelter." And I agree. At least the very-most basic human needs are being met in European refugee camps. But despite the fact that our Yazidis have a little food in their bellies and shirts on their backs, Maslow explained that life is so much more than satiating hunger and being physically protected.

Maslow writes, "What a man can be, a man must be." We all have a deep and innate desire to be more than what we currently are, to serve a higher purpose, to reach our full potential.

The world currently has millions of doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, farmers, preachers, and politicians with their basic needs satisfied, but who are mentally and emotionally wasting away in refugee camps. Can you imagine the depression that comes with being incredibly capable with no opportunity to share your skills, practice your profession, and or utilize your abilities for good? This is perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of the refugee crisis. Our refugees need more than clothes and food, they need psychological safety and self-fulfillment that comes with the opportunity to become.

I don't know how to package opportunity in a box and send that type of aid abroad, but after we give refugees food and clothes, I hope we facilitate opportunities for them to become.

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