Touching Photo Goes Viral, Raises Over $150,000 for Syrian Refugee
Photography has the power to change lives, and that’s what happened in a big way over the past week for one Syrian refugee. After a photo of the man selling pens went viral online, people around the world have donated over $150,000 to help give the man start a new life.
Syrian father selling pens in the streets of #Beirut with his sleeping daughter #Lebanon #Syria pic.twitter.com/KOz4mjW1rd
— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015
The photo then appeared on Reddit, where it hit the front page and attracted over 1400 comments. Soon TV stations, newspapers, and websites across the world were sharing this photo with their audiences.
“I was overwhelmed with requests to help this man, so I decided to see if I could locate them,” Simonarson writes. He retweeted the photo through Conflict News (@conflicts), which he founded, and within 30 minutes he was put in touch with a Lebanese man who saw the refugee every day around his house. Other people began Tweeting photos of the man as well:
UPDATE: @aboyosha3homs has located the man and his daughter. We are looking to get his whatsapp number now! #BuyPens pic.twitter.com/wUpuPv5GRH
— #BuyPens (@Buy_Pens) August 27, 2015
Another photo courtesy of @SyriaRoss. As I said, just working on the last points of verification. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/FNP5oBRDA4
— #BuyPens (@Buy_Pens) August 27, 2015
Within a very short span of time, Simonarson was able to locate the man and girl (named Abdul and Reem) and launch an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for him. It carries the hashtag #BuyPens.
Over the past 4 days, over 6,000 people from around the world have donated over $162,000 to help Abdul and Reem.
I asked Abdul about his dream.He said he wants to go back home to #Syria, to the way things were. @Buy_Pens #BuyPens pic.twitter.com/kULh9nuOy3
— Carol Malouf (@carolmalouf) August 28, 2015
This really made me smile =) pic.twitter.com/ob533fWL9w
— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 30, 2015
“Thank you to everyone who has supported this,” writes Simonarson. “It’s nice to see people come together and make a difference in another person’s life.”
Image credits: Header cropped photograph by Gissur Simonarson
