Denied

Today the letter came; the proposal my colleagues and I wrote for a refugee health project was denied by the community foundation. The foundation’s explanation for the denial was simple enough: funds are short now, ours was a big ask relative to others.

That’s it.

I’m crushed. It was only thirty thousand dollars. That’s pocket money in the big picture –but it would have allowed us to provide necessary and presently nonexistent health mediation services to hundreds of the most vulnerable people in the region for a whole year.

So, this is where I sit: in one office, my colleagues and I do whiskey shots before noon to celebrate landing a multi-million dollar governance project, and the next day it’s business as usual; In the other, there’s never any celebration, only worry and frustration and seemingly endless unmet needs.

We need to do better. It should be possible for us to do better. I’m angry at myself, and angry at the foundation and the head office and the suits in Washington who don’t give enough of a damn to properly fund refugee resettlement.