Solidarity during lockdown

 

There are plenty of ways to help others

There is no doubt that we are living through difficult times. Lots of countries around the world are currently experiencing a second wave of coronavirus. For people living in the northern hemisphere it’s also the darkest and coldest time of the year and as Christmas approaches, many of us will be spending the holiday season away from our families.  On top of that, we can’t go out to restaurants or to the cinema or theatre or to concerts. Still, there are things we can do to bring some light and joy into our lives and the lives of others.

Support arts and culture 

Do you miss going to the cinema, to the theatre or to other events? Luckily, there are plenty of digital offers. As well as the online streaming giants, there are alternatives, such as, online film festivals, literary festivals and digital theatre, concerts and opera. It’s a great way to combine entertainment with support for the arts and culture sector. This week the National Theatre launched a new streaming service called National Theatre at Home, offering a selection of plays available to watch on demand. You can choose to subscribe or you can pay for a single play. The Royal Opera House is offering digital performances of opera and ballet. Meanwhile in Germany, Human Rights Film Festival Berlin is offering the chance to watch 11 films for 11 days (until 7 December so hurry!). All revenues from ticket sales will benefit three independent cinemas in Berlin. 

Sign a petition

Signing a petition is a fast and effective way to bring about change. I’ve lost count of the number of petitions I sign every day. Here are a few organisations that you might like to support: Avaaz, We Move Europe, change.org, One, just to name a few.

Amnesty International’s global campaign Write for Rights is back this year. You can save lives by signing the petitions to free brave human rights activists. Here are the links to the UK website and to the Italian website. You have time until 10 December! There are lots of other petitions to sign on the Amnesty website.

Donate to a charity

There are so many charities out there that it might feel daunting to choose which one or ones to support. You might prefer to support a well-known charity (UNICEF, Save the Children, Greenpeace, Oxfam, WWF, Médecins Sans Frontières) or a small NGO. I suggest you pick a cause that is close to your heart, whether it’s human rights, women’s rights, animal rights, medical research, climate change, hunger, poverty, helping children, refugees, the homeless, the aged, etc. They are all important causes. You can either donate money or you can donate clothes, books, toys, etc. to charity shops, donation centres or clothing banks.  You can also buy Christmas cards to support charities. In Germany, for instance you can buy UNICEF cards either from post offices or online. 

I recently discovered an app called ShareTheMeal, which is part of the United Nations World Food Programme. You can make a one-time donation or you can choose a monthly subscription. I was matched with a family in Nigeria last month and I could actually see how my gift to “the Table” was spent to buy pasta and local maize.

Human Rights Film Festival Berlin

This week I watched films from the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin. I would like to recommend an uplifting documentary called Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl). If you live in Germany, you have until 7 December to watch it. This 40-minute documentary filmed in Afghanistan deservedly won an Oscar this year. It follows the progress of a group of girls who attend Skateistan, a school in Kabul that empowers girls from poor backgrounds by giving them an education and teaching them to skateboard. Its shows a different side of Afghanistan from the one we are used to seeing in the news and it offers a message of hope and courage.  

The film NASRIN, about Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, currently in prison, is available to watch from this evening. You might remember her from Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, which won a Golden Bear at the Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival) in 2015.

Whatever you do, don’t give up hope!