TiU staff and students collect books for refugees
Refugees sit in camps for months, without having anything to do, or even without being allowed to do something. Ilja Hijink, executive secretary at the Nexus institute, wants to help refugees in that situation. Today, she starts Books for Refugees, to collect books to give to the refugees.Hijink was inspired by the stories she heard from family and friends, that are trying to help refugees.”I was looking for a relevant thing to do, something that fits me. Culture and literature have always been my passions, they give you comfort and distraction. I think those things are very important for refugees right now, so collecting books was a sensible thing to do.”
“So much is being done already. I checked the viability of the plan first, by asking Knooppunt Ruimhartig Tilburg, an organisation that coordinates all the initiatives, and they were positive. The board also supported the plan.”
“Support a refugee with a story”
Starting today, you can find a table to leave your books at in the Koopmans building. Hijink hopes that collecting points will be placed outside the university too. “If we limit ourselves to the university, the initiative could look somewhat inaccessible. We will put a table in the library in the center as well. Our main focus is on English books, but with children’s books, this is less of a demand.”
If you have ideas, or want updates about the initiative, you can send an e-mail to books.for.refugees@gmail.com. Refugees will also get the chance to react through this address. “In every book, there will be a stamp with the address. Refugees can e-mail us when they have something to say about it. They do not have to ofcourse.”
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