UPDATE: Due to your donations we can now cover six months of Sam’s living expenses!! Continue to help White Tent, through donations to assist Sam and so many more like him!

“ Life has closed all doors in front of me. I did not imagine it would hit me like that. I wish death every time I see my child crying for a piece of candy, the one my father did not deprive me of. I do not know what to do and my second child is about to come into this miserable life. I admit that I am not brave enough to stand up and rise again. I have traveled now in Southern Lebanon looking for work, my wife does not know that I have not eaten in two days and that I sleep next to a man selling vegetables. It helps me to spend my nights with him out of the cold. He does not know that I am fleeing from fulfillment of my debts I have accrued to feed my family. When I see him with his beautiful eyes I remember my father who sacrificed everything for us and the woman who is waiting for me to go back to her. I tell her, that she is better than me. I have borne the burden of life for me. I spend nights crying and watching and days searching and fatigued” Sam Al Ali

Sarah Herman is a documentary and conflict photographer. Over the past five years she has documented the ongoing refugee crisis in the Middle East and right here in the Western Michigan community, bringing awareness through images, gallery installations and speaking engagements.

Two years ago she sat down in a refugee tent to listen and document the discussions of tribal leaders within the camps. A man sat down next to her and introduced himself in broken English as Sam. They laughed, ate and drank tea for hours. As she was getting ready to leave, Sam asked to exchange contact information to keep in touch. Little did Sarah know that afternoon with Sam and his peers would dramatically change her life!

A deep connection and communication has developed over the past two years, on a daily basis, as Sam and his family, have shared their life stories. Sam continued his education at the American University in Beirut, volunteers within the camps and has continued to perfect his English. All of this and still Sam has reached a dead end in his life and the life of his young family, in the coming month he will be homeless. Even with his continued commitment to education and relentless pursuit of a job, he has been unsuccessful. With no job and no prospect Sam is losing the only home his family have ever known.

Through this campaign White Tent is committed to raising $10,000 to provide shelter, food and water for his family for the next twelve months. In exchange, Sam has pledged his time to serve on the refugee advisory board of the newly formed 501c3, White Tent. White Tent was founded by Sarah Herman and Michelle Hoexum while working on Sam’s Campaign, both recognized that helping one could change a life but helping many can change a generation of refugees living within the camps and right here in Michigan. Funds raised beyond Sam’s Campaign will go directly to projects at www.whitetentcharity.org and refugee families living globally and in Western Michigan. Thank you for your donation!