Image source BBC/AFP

Disclaimer: This is not a political post.

When I submitted my admission letter and took the exam at a state university several years ago I knew what to expect but it is a different thing to completely experience it myself. Fast forward, I passed, got the scholarship and admitted. I arrived at the campus in awe at its vastness, it has its own golf-course and a farm overlooking the city. The entrance of the campus is lined up with huge hardwood trees up to the main building. It has manicured gardens and greeneries are everywhere. But behind the almost perfect facade is a history of atrocities between the government and a separatist movement of insurgents. Hence the creation of the university with one of its main purpose of integrating Muslim and Christian.

It only took me several months to experience what I have anticipated all along. The conflict between different parties. We were the collateral damage. I can still remember when our house got raided, some of my classmates abducted, the worst was a crossfire with militaries and insurgents inside the campus with bullets flying all over the place. Fortunately, I survived all the worst that could happen. But the trauma stayed. Life was never the same after that.

The effect of armed conflict causes me emotional stress and irrational fear, until now! How much more to the children. 'More than 1 of 10 children worldwide are affected by armed conflict. The direct effects of conflict include death, physical and psychological trauma, and displacement', according to American Academy of Pediatrics. And looking at Ukraine/Russia conflict breaks my heart. Specially that children are the most vulnerable. Some of these children are being separated from their parents, some are left behind starving, and some are the casualties as reported by Save the Children.

How can you help?

There are many ways to help. And the easiest way is thru your crypto wallet. As donating thru cryptocurrency is tax efficient and secure.

Screenshot from Save The Children website

• Save the Children has been raising funds thru crypto since Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines and it surely help our country from the devastating effect of the storm. The NGO believes in one simple principle that children have rights and they need to be protected hence their humanitarian response. Donate to Save the Children Here

• Binance launched a crowdfunding site, called Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund. This is for people who prefer donating thru crypto specially those that have binance accounts. Binance is partnering with UNICEF and UNHCR to make sure that children gets immediate assistance. For more info, please visit the site here You can visit the Binance Donation site here

Screenshot of the page after you donated

• The official twitter handle of Ukraine Government accepts crypto donations although I am not sure if the donation will go directly to immediate needs of children. The official handle is @ukraine where they tweet the crypto wallet of tokens they accept at the moment.

  Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.
  
  BTC - 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P
  
  ETH and USDT (ERC-20) - 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14

  — Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) February 26, 2022

• Help Children of War via The Voices of Children Foundation. They have been helping children affected of armed conflict since 2015 thru art therapy, video storytelling, mobile psychologist, and a lot more. You can donate your crypto here

Screentshot from VCF website

There are other ways to donate than just crypto but that will be worthy of another blog post. At the moment the most fastest and easiest way to donate is thru cryptocurrency. This post is not in any way sponsored by the above organization and should be taken with a grain of salt. Before donating make sure you do your research too as you do not want your donations going to buying bullets; killing the very reason why you are donating.

Until today, the conflict between the Philippine Government and the insurgents still exist and the Ukraine / Russia crisis continue to escalate, for how long will it affect the people in between specially the children, we do not know. I hope this will end soon as we are all directly affected.

All HBD reward of this post will be donated to the above fundraiser. If you have something to add, please comment down below. Thanks.