refugee podcast

As coronavirus cases grow worldwide—including in many of the places we serve—this breaking episode shares how the virus, also known as COVID-19, is impacting our displaced and refugee friends in Iraq, Syria, and Mexico.

We hear from Preemptive Love team members:

• Jessica Courtney, vice president of international programs
• Erin Wilson, senior field editor
• Ben Irwin, director of communications

The future is uncertain. No one knows how widely this disease will spread or how bad the effects will be. But we are committed to our friends.

We continue to listen to their most pressing needs. And we’re delivering the kinds of aid that reduce their vulnerability: food and warm clothes to help immunity, mobile health clinics in places where healthcare is absent, and jobs that bring stability.

We are committed to the work you’ve entrusted to us. We’re not going anywhere.

Learn more.

As we prepare new episodes (and spoiler alert: maybe even a second podcast!) we want to know what you think. What do you want to hear more of? Less of? Here’s your chance to chime in: We created a short five-minute survey with you in mind.

To say thanks, we’re offering the first 25 people to finish a survey a free pin from our Preemptive Love Shop, and you’ll also be entered to win a Love Anyway jute bag along with some beautiful refugee-made candles.

Just go to preemptivelove.org/podsurvey to fill out the survey now. Or text ‘surveyme’ to 72000. We can’t wait to hear from you. We’ll be back soon for Season 4 of the Love Anyway podcast.

This breaking episode of Love Anyway is a bit different than other time-sensitive episodes we’ve shared. While we want to give you the latest, clearest information on what’s happening between Iran, Iraq, and the US, we also want to take you behind the scenes of a conversation several of us had with our Preemptive Love colleague, and friend, Ihsan Ibraheem.

As we hear in this episode, Ihsan has lived his whole life in Iraq. And he’s lived through what seems like countless wars.

Details to Know:

• Early in the morning of January 8 local time, Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing US troops.
• At the time of this recording, there are no known casualties.
• The attack was in retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s top military commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike on January 3, near the Baghdad airport.
• In an address on January 8, US President Trump threatened to impose new sanctions on Iran, but also suggested the current crisis is winding down.

This episode features audio from a conversation several members of our team had with Ihsan Ibrahim, minutes before President Trump’s address. Ihsan has been part of the Preemptive Love team in Iraq for almost four years.

Ihsan  is an Iraqi, a father, a husband, a neighbor, a friend—and to many of us, an essential guide to making sense of the events of the last several days. In this epsiode, Ihsan shares what it was like to wake up to the news of Iranian missiles hitting his country.

Learn more.

We're in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, responding to the refugee crisis on the US-Mexico border. Earlier this year, we began showing up just across the border in El Paso, Texas, listening, learning, and lending a hand where we could, thanks to many of you. We distributed emergency backpacks and listened to leaders on the ground.

US protocols have rapidly changed, forcing most asylum seekers to wait on the Mexico side of the border. So we’ve shifted our focus to the growing needs in Juarez, just across from El Paso, where many people are sheltering after they petition for asylum.

On Giving Tuesday, we’re excited to announce a new initiative we’re launching where you can help us provide jobs for the most marginalized asylum seekers on the US-Mexico border.  And you can be a part of it.

Text “border update” to 72000 to sign up so you can be the first to know about what we're launching on Giving Tuesday. You can play an important role in choosing to love anyway at the US-Mexico border.

Learn more.