GLOBAL SHAPERS ZAGREB Showing empathy towards refugees in viral campaign #REFEMP
 
In October 2015 a photo of a refugee child that drowned during a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos has shocked the whole world. Even though unfortunately, this was not the first person or child that had died while escaping the horrors of war, this shocking photo has raised empathy among all of Europe including the members of the Zagreb Hub. We immediately decided that we want to act and do something regarding this situation by using the greatest strength of the Global Shapers community- the power of network. We followed the idea of Jeremy Rifkin in deciding how to use it:
 
“But if we have gone from empathy in blood ties to empathy in religious associational ties to empathy based on national identification is it really a big stretch to imagine the new technologies allowing us to connect our empathy to the human race.”
 
And that is exactly what we wanted to achieve - raise awareness, strengthen collaboration among local citizens in helping refugees, minimizing any negative thought or fear, raise the level of empathy towards all people referred to as refugees.