Former USAID Official to Join Questscope

April 13, 2017.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2017 

Former USAID Official to Join Social Change Organization Questscope
Mark Brinkmoeller, former Director of the Center for Faith Based and Community Initiatives at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will join Questscope as US Director

Contact: Rachel Stone, Questscope, 612-607-6476; rachelstone@questscope.org

Washington, D.C. – Mark Brinkmoeller, former USAID Official, has...MORE

Meet Udara

April 3, 2017.

We've been working on a new project for months, and we're so excited to finally share it with you. With division and conflict all around us, we wanted to find a way to come together and care for each other as best we can.  

Along with four other organizations taking action for Syrians, we're partnering with Udara. It's an interactive mobile application that shows you ways to help based on your talents and interests.

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Update: Emergency Response in Syria

February 27, 2017.

Overview

In late December, we sent out an urgent request for help evacuating families from Aleppo and the surrounding villages. After the front lines collapsed and the fighting ended, nearly 100,000 people were on the move from places that had been bombed and shelled. 

In the villages of Al-Foua’a and Driya, thousands of women and children were evacuated to safety in Homs after living under siege for nearly three years. 

They left with nothing and needed everything. You answered our call for help and raised almost $100,000 ‒ twice our...MORE

Beauty in the Beastliness of War

January 31, 2017.

Magic. Refugee camp. Poetry. Youth. A library.

What?! A library for refugees in a refugee camp? Poetry and writing workshops in that library? What's going on here? Backstory coming up.

Amjad's life crashed in the early days of the Syrian conflict. Violence. Hatred. Deep emotional wounds in a 20-something young man. Escape to a refugee camp. "I didn't know what a refugee was. I was a university student, not a refugee – whatever that was."

"When I came to the camp I felt that my spirit was being broken – just like so many youth around me....MORE

2016: A Year in Review

December 29, 2016.

When I am asked if I ever despair about the future of Syria, I am reminded of Gandalf's advice to Frodo in the Lord of the Rings: 'You can only despair if you already know the end of the story."

I don’t know the end of the story. Nobody does. But I know Syrians. They are amazing. I know the commitment of our Questscope community. And I know what could happen through these amazing people. So, hope, yes. Despair, no.

2016 was a challenging year. As the Syria crisis expanded in its destruction of lives, we extended our ability to reach into unnoticed places of hurt and pain...MORE

Humanitarian Crisis Update for Aleppo

December 21, 2016.

100,000 people on the move away from places they have been bombed and shelled. A city of four million shattered, ruined, devastated – in the mid of winter.

Roy Moussalli and his team are there with them. Yesterday, they started receiving 2,500 sick, wounded and/or disabled displaced persons in an area near Homs, Syria. These individuals have just been rescued from a three-year siege of their two villages in an area around Aleppo. For three years, the only food they could get was parachuted in to them. No medical...MORE

Face2Face with David Peck

November 23, 2016.

David Peck is an author and social change consultant known for his commitment to social justice and international development.

He recently spoke with Questscope Founder Curt Rhodes about Syrians as newcomers to Canada, mentorship, giving back, and Syrians helping Syrians. You can hear more on David's podcast, Face2Face. Tune in to hear more. 

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Nadine's Journey

September 29, 2016.

Nadine left her hometown of Dera’a, Syria with her husband Mohanad in 2013 and became a refugee in Jordan. The day they left was the hardest of their lives, but it was no longer possible to stay. Half of their friends and family had died and the others had been arrested.

"I arrived bringing only my soul and my childhood memories," Nadine said describing her first moments arriving in the Za'atari Refugee Camp. "When I first saw the tents, I felt like my life had stopped."

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Peace Trip in Homs

August 29, 2016.

My name is Hatim Hamroush. My beautiful wife and I live in Homs, Syria with our three wonderful children. I lost the use of both of my legs some years ago and now move with a wheelchair, but I have never let my disability stop me. Instead it taught me strength and reminds me of all that I'm capable of overcoming.

I want to spread hope among people. I try to be the hand that reaches out to others who have also experienced pain and loss in order to help them stand. I show them that if I can overcome obstacles – anyone can.

In April, my friend invited me to join a cycling event...MORE

Manal's Story

August 29, 2016.

Every week, Manal* gets together with eight other girls in a classroom. She didn't know any of them before, and now they're some of her closest friends. They are all refugees from the war-hell in Syria.

They all crossed the border into Jordan when the war broke out. One of the first things they tried was to enroll in school. But it was too late. They had been out for so many years that they couldn't catch up. Pretty bleak, after surviving hell.

Her family was so destitute that they thought they were forced to sell her to be married. At least...MORE

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