It is a miserable feeling, to feel helpless. Everyday, we are put in metaphorical chambers with windows that look out to the world. As we shuffle about our day-to-day tasks in this chamber, we see, through these windows, unspeakable acts of injustice. They happen too often, too fast, and most of the time we can do nothing physical to stop them. Day in and day out, we hear of orphaned children, female oppression, slavery, and war crimes in far away lands and are forced to come to terms with the fact that on an individual level, we cannot do enough for all these issues. Those issues are in someone else's territory and are someone else's responsibility. And so we resign ourselves to doing the most we can do here, in Georgia, in North America, for our family, for our friends.

And then once in a while, an idea comes to you that begs you into action. I was watching a short film piece involving interviews of children in Syria. I could think of nothing else several hours after viewing the documentary except how badly I longed for these children to talk to me, to share with me their emotions, to unload some of their pain on my stronger shoulders.

Through a dynamic collaboration with Muslims Without Borders, Atlanta MSAs, and Elevate Culture*, people in Atlanta can do just that. These organizations have teamed up to host a series of relief-driven initiatives in Atlanta. On January 18, we will merge creativity and relief work by making cards, compiling photos, and writing letters that will be hand-delivered to the children of Syria in refugee camps. The children will then record their video responses back to us for viewing at a later date. Many of these children are asking, "Where is the world?" Here's our chance to share some hope with the children and let them know of the care and love we have for them and their cause. For the little boy or girl with missing limbs, or murdered parents, or destroyed home, a note from a city in the United States is a glimmer of hope, a much-needed hug, in a colorless day.

But without doubt, these children are also in more dire need of medicine, blankets, educational material, and intensive medical care to meet their pressing physical needs. Our intent is that the hugs we send them through these messages on January 18 will segway into a vibrant Atlanta Muslim Without Borders chapter that will organize mission trips, fundraisers, and humanitarian programs for Syria and other domestic and international crisis. Muslims Without Borders is almost exclusively young-people operated. Hundreds of college students every year around the country participate in programs in the United States, Haiti, Mexico, Libya, and other emergency areas where many relief organizations are not willing to go. The founder of MWB will be joining at the Messages to Syria event; this will be an opportunity to learn more about Muslims Without Borders and how you can get involved with relief work for this first-of-its-kind organization.

We hope to unite all corners of Atlanta for this cause. If you are interested in attending the Messages to Syria event on January 18, you can find more details on the Facebook event page

Additionally, you can contact sarah@elevateculture.org for more information. We look forward to seeing you at the event, isA!

• Elevate Culture is an investment in the creative and entrepreneurial genius of North America. EC offers funding, networking opportunities, seed money, and programs geared towards North American Muslims with creative ideas. For more information, visit www.elevateculture.org

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