MeltWater

A few months ago, I got involved in helping out groups of refugees who were ordered to leave the country, I tried to arrange for some food and that was about the best thing I could do to help them at that time. That kind of help was very helpful for a few weeks until they got themselves organized. After that however, they needed something else…

They wanted to have the papers that gave them the right to stay in the country, to rent a place, to work, to go to school and to be respected as any other Belgian citizen. And getting those papers that is … politics.

Unfortunately, talking about the possibility of regularizing refugees is equal to political suicide so I’m afraid that those refugees still have a long way to go before their goal is achieved.

So, what could you do to really help them?

• Trying to convince politicians to add this subject to their set of political goals? Not a chance in succeeding!
• Just keep on searching for food and bringing it to the refugees every other day? This is not what they need!
• Help just one or just one family of refugees? Is ok for our personal peace of mind but it is not a solution to the problem!
• Trying to convince the masses of the unfairness of the current situation? Need Obama skills!

Nope! But there are a few things that you could do …

• You could focus on those refugees that got regularized and helping them finding their way in a Western European society. When you think about it, one can easily understand that it is very hard for an African or South American refugee to find a decent and affordable apartment or to find a job. A few phone calls taken by a Belgian volunteer speaking Dutch or French can do miracles here.
• Or you could focus on increasing the quality of life in those countries where the refugees come from, a solution to the refugee problem that is accepted both by voluntary organisations and by politicians.

Then I discovered …

The MeltWater Foundation

Meltwater’s vision is to create wealth and jobs locally in Africa. By training and mentoring young Africans to start their own software companies that compete successfully in the global marketplace, we want to create a generation of software entrepreneurs who inspire generations to follow in their footsteps. (from the meltwater.org website)

And I immediately applied for the job of …

Sr. Program Manager Position – Ghana Africa

That seems like a great way to effectively prevent potential refugees of actually become it.

Do you want to know how this story ends? I don’t know that myself, I passed the first and the second round of the selection procedure and I’m soon to have a final interview. I’ll create a new blog post as soon as I know more …

Positive (and other) reactions are more then welcome!

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