Since the fighting in Syria intensified in July 2013, this refugee camp has become more like a prison. Something drastically needs to change here, because these are not what human rights look like.
A stark image of Yarmouk residents awaiting food distribution from the United Nations:
You can read more about the crisis in Syria and about the United Nations’ work in the Yarmouk refugee camp. The UN Relief and Works Agency is on Twitter too.
If you’re looking for a more tangible way to help, you can donate to an organization helping Syrian refugees.
Even in divided times, small acts of friendship help create vibrant communities where everyone feels safe.
In March 2023, after months of preparation and paperwork, Anita Omary arrived in the United States from her native Afghanistan to build a better life. Once she arrived in Connecticut, however, the experience was anything but easy.
“When I first arrived, everything felt so strange—the weather, the environment, the people,” Omary recalled. Omary had not only left behind her extended family and friends in Afghanistan, she left her career managing child protective cases and supporting refugee communities behind as well. Even more challenging, Anita was five months pregnant at the time, and because her husband was unable to obtain a travel visa, she found herself having to navigate a new language, a different culture, and an unfamiliar country entirely on her own.
“I went through a period of deep disappointment and depression, where I wasn’t able to do much for myself,” Omary said.
Then something incredible happened: Omary met a woman who would become her close friend, offering support that would change her experience as a refugee—and ultimately the trajectory of her entire life.
Like Anita Omary, tens of thousands of people come to the United States each year seeking safety from war, political violence, religious persecution, and other threats. Yet escaping danger, unfortunately, is only the first challenge. Once here, immigrant and refugee families must deal with the loss of displacement, while at the same time facing language barriers, adapting to a new culture, and sometimes even facing social stigma and anti-immigrant biases.
Welcoming immigrant and refugee neighbors strengthens the nation and benefits everyone—and according to Anita Omary, small, simple acts of human kindness can make the greatest difference in helping them feel safe, valued, and truly at home.
Anita Omary was receiving prenatal checkups at a woman’s health center in West Haven when she met Dee, a nurse.
“She immediately recognized that I was new, and that I was struggling,” Omary said. “From that moment on, she became my support system.”
Dee started checking in on Omary throughout her pregnancy, both inside the clinic and out.
“She would call me and ask am I okay, am I eating, am I healthy,” Omary said. “She helped me with things I didn’t even realize I needed, like getting an air conditioner for my small, hot room.”
Soon, Dee was helping Omary apply for jobs and taking her on driving lessons every weekend. With her help, Omary landed a job, passed her road test on the first attempt, and even enrolled at the University of New Haven to pursue her master’s degree. Dee and Omary became like family. After Omary’s son, Osman, was born, Dee spent five days in the hospital at her side, bringing her halal food and brushing her hair in the same way Omary’s mother used to. When Omary’s postpartum pain became too great for her to lift Osman’s car seat, Dee accompanied her to his doctor’s appointments and carried the baby for her.
“Her support truly changed my life,” Omary said. “Her motivation, compassion, and support gave me hope. It gave me a sense of stability and confidence. I didn’t feel alone, because of her.”
More than that, the experience gave Omary a new resolve to help other people.
“That experience has deeply shaped the way I give back,” she said. “I want to be that source of encouragement and support for others that my friend was for me.”
Omary is now flourishing. She currently works as a career development specialist as she continues her Master’s degree. She also, as a member of the Refugee Storytellers Collective, helps advocate for refugee and immigrant families by connecting them with resources—and teaches local communities how to best welcome newcomers.
“Welcoming new families today has many challenges,” Omary said. “One major barrier is access to English classes. Many newcomers, especially those who have just arrived, often put their names on long wait lists and for months there are no available spots.” For women with children, the lack of available childcare makes attending English classes, or working outside the home, especially difficult.
Omary stresses that sometimes small, everyday acts of kindness can make the biggest difference to immigrant and refugee families.
“Welcome is not about big gestures, but about small, consistent acts of care that remind you that you belong,” Omary said. Receiving a compliment on her dress or her son from a stranger in the grocery store was incredibly uplifting during her early days as a newcomer, and Omary remembers how even the smallest gestures of kindness gave her hope that she could thrive and build a new life here.
“I built my new life, but I didn’t do it alone,” Omary said. “Community and kindness were my greatest strengths.”
Are you in? Click here to join the Refugee Advocacy Lab and sign the #WeWillWelcome pledge and complete one small act of welcome in your community. Together, with small, meaningful steps, we can build communities where everyone feels safe.
This article is part of Upworthy’s “The Threads Between U.S.” series that highlights what we have in common thanks to the generous support from the Levi Strauss Foundation, whose grantmaking is committed to creating a culture of belonging.
Death is something, like it or not, we all must face. It’s the final mystery, and it’s totally normal to feel scared of the impending process. Experts say a few things can help, including using our fear to live a purposeful life and even making jokes, or using ‘gallows humor’. One bit of good news…
Death is something, like it or not, we all must face. It’s the final mystery, and it’s totally normal to feel scared of the impending process. Experts say a few things can help, including using our fear to live a purposeful life and even making jokes, or using ‘gallows humor’. One bit of good news is that we tend to get a little bit less afraid of death as we age. But in general, it helps to not shy away from death completely. Learning and talking about it is actually a good thing.
A new video by a hospice nurse shows an excellent reason for people to feel comfortable facing the unknown. Julie McFadden posts videos helping to demystify the dying process and bring comfort to people with a loved one in hospice care, or who may be dying themselves. Her profile reads, “Helping understand death to live better and die better.” McFadden is also the author of the bestselling book, “Nothing to Fear.”
Hospice Nurse Julie has earned over half a million subscribers and has witnessed over a hundred deaths. In a recent video, she reveals that people are often comforted by friends and relatives who have passed away in their final days.
She says that when people begin experiencing these visions, it’s a sign that they will be passing away within a few weeks.
“Here’s one sign that someone is close to death that most people don’t believe happens,” Julie begins the video.
[Video]
“Usually a few weeks to a month before someone dies, if they’re on hospice, they will start seeing dead loved ones, dead relatives, dead pets. This happens so often that we actually put it in our educational packets that we give to patients and their families when they come on hospice so they aren’t surprised or scared when it happens,” she continues.
The experience is called visioning “We don’t know why it happens, but we see it in definitely more than half of our patients,” she continues. People often believe that the visions are caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. However, Julie says that isn’t true. “Because when it does happen, most people are alert and oriented and are at least a month from death, so they don’t have low oxygen,” she said. The good news is that the visioning experience is almost always comforting for those who are nearing the end. [Image] It often involves relatives who ‘come from the other side’ to let them know everything will be okay and encourage them to let go and pass away. People also experience being taken on journeys with loved ones or having sensory experiences from the past, such as smelling their grandmother’s perfume or father’s cigar. These visitors can also appear several at a time. Patients might report the room feeling ‘crowded’ like they are being joined by many people at once. It’s possible they may be visited by ‘spirits’ or people they don’t know, though that’s less common. Christopher Kerr, a CEO of Hospice & Palliative Care, an organization that provides palliative care in Buffalo, New York, says that the relatives that often appear in these visions are people who protected and comforted the dying parent when they were alive. So, they may see a parent who nurtured them but not one they feared. Kerr has extensively studied the mysterious phenomena that happen when people die but has no real explanation for why the visioning experience happens. “I have witnessed cases where what I was seeing was so profound, and the meaning for the patient was so clear and precise, that I almost felt like an intruder,” he told BBC Brazil. “And trying to decipher the etiology, the cause, seemed futile. I concluded that it was simply important to have reverence, that the fact that I could not explain the origin and process did not invalidate the experience for the patient.” In a more in-depth video, Hospice Nurse Julie shares a real video of a dying woman experience visioning. It’s extremely powerful:
Again, experts agree that once your loved one begins experiencing these visions, it’s likely that they will pass on in the next 3-4 weeks. Remember that they are not a symptom to be treated or a concern to be addressed, as long as they aren’t causing distress. They are simply a comforting sign of things to come.
It’s comforting to know that for many, the final days of life may not be filled with pain and fear but instead with a sense of peace and joy. While we may never fully understand the reasons behind these mysterious visions, if they bring calm during such a daunting time, we can simply be grateful for their presence. They’re kind of like life, in general. In the end, we may not really know what it was all about, but we can be happy that it happened.
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
They’re not being naughty…most of the time.
It never fails, someone’s been sitting for a while and decides to stand to stretch their legs. The moment a cat owner’s knees fully extend is the exact moment their cat jumps into their seat. Often, it seems like they were pre-curled into their adorable pose before seemingly levitating onto the pre-warmed seat.
This normal kitty behavior can be irritating to cat owners sometimes, especially when they were planning to sit right back down. When there’s a cat snuggled in a chair, it can become a struggle to get them out, especially if the cat is a little stubborn. Some cats refuse to move, seemingly pressing their weight into the seat, while others grab onto the fabric with their nails in an effort to claim the chair. It’s a battle that can happen multiple times in the same day.
It can begin to feel like you’re in a fight for dominance with a 10-pound furball that can’t open doors without your assistance. A cat owner can successfully shoo the cat out of their chair, turn around to sit, and the cat beats them to it all over again. So what’s the deal? Are people really in a power struggle with their cats, or do cats have a logical reason for continually stealing seats from the people who feed them?
Well, some cats are being naughty and using this behavior as attention-seeking. They want their human to pick them up, pet them, or play with them. But this isn’t always the case, according to experts; there are four other reasons cats do this that have nothing to do with bad behavior.
According to Cats.com, “When a cat sleeps, they are at their most vulnerable. Therefore, they like to pick nice, safe places to take their naps. Our human chairs are raised off the ground, and often are protected on three sides by the tall back and arms, so they offer more protection than a standard cat bed placed on the floor.”
The higher vantage point also allows them to have a good view of the room while they’re relaxing, so they prefer to claim the spot as their own.
Even though cats have a representation of not caring much about their human roommates, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Cats love the people in their home, which means they also love the way they smell because they trust you. Catster explains, “They begin to associate your scent with familiarity and safety, so leaving it behind on your seat is going to draw them to it.”
Cats are territorial, so jumping into a seat after their human leaves is a sign of deep affection. They want everyone, including other animals in the home, to know that you belong to them. One way to do that is by sitting in your chair to leave their scent in your space.
According to Dr. Mark West, a veterinarian who shares content on TikTok, “When your cat looks at you, they don’t see someone who feeds them, they see their safe place, their territory, their anchor in the world. To your cat, that spot is not just somewhere to sit; it is your spot. And when they choose it, they are choosing you.” He later adds, “Your scent tells them everything is okay. They feel like they’re protected, that they’re home.”
Probably the most logical reason someone could think of. Even as humans, we love to hop into something pre-warmed. Think about the pre-warmed towels at a spa, or hopping into the bed still warm from your partner’s body heat. It’s cozy. Cats love a cozy spot as much as their humans.
PetBook says, “The cat doesn’t know we planned to return there. Cats love warmth, and we often surround ourselves with cozy, warm blankets and pillows. Especially in winter, our seats have an almost magical attraction for the animals. But even in summer, cats seek out cozy spots without drafts.”
A mysterious midnight visitor turned into the sweetest farm addition.
Andrea walked out of her barn home one morning expecting nothing more than the usual routine: feed the goats, check on the animals, enjoy the peaceful Hudson Valley scenery. Instead, she found an English Bulldog sitting quietly on a log outside the goat pen, watching her with calm, patient eyes.
The dog wasn’t barking. She wasn’t running around or causing chaos. She was just… waiting. The farm is pretty remote, miles from the nearest neighbor, so a random dog appearing out of nowhere wasn’t just unusual—it was downright mysterious.
But here’s where the story gets even better: When Andrea ran back to grab food and water, the bulldog gratefully accepted both, then immediately began following her around like they’d been best friends for years. This wasn’t some skittish stray who’d bolt at the slightest movement. This pup trusted Andrea completely from the very first moment.
Naturally, Andrea checked her security cameras to solve the mystery. The footage revealed that the bulldog had wandered onto her property at exactly 12:37 a.m.—and had been sitting in that same spot for hours, alone in the dark countryside, waiting for someone to notice her.
Andrea did everything right. She contacted the local shelter, filed a police report, took the dog to the vet to check for a microchip (there wasn’t one), and posted on social media. While waiting for someone to claim her, Andrea’s family decided to care for the bulldog. They named her Stella.
Everything about Stella suggested she’d been someone’s beloved pet. She was well-mannered, loved playing fetch, and wasn’t dirty despite her outdoor adventure. Apart from a cherry eye and not being spayed, she was in good health. This wasn’t a dog who’d been living rough—this was a dog who knew what a home felt like.
One week passed with no claims. Then two weeks. That’s when Andrea and her family realized what their hearts already knew: Stella had found exactly where she belonged.
Today, Stella is absolutely thriving at Tresle Farms. She gets along beautifully with the other dogs, visits her first friends (those patient goats) regularly, and even rides around the property on a mule. Because of course she does. The best part? Stella no longer sits alone in the dark, waiting and hoping. She’s found her people, and they’ve found her. We’ll probably never know where Stella came from or why she ended up on Andrea’s farm that night. But maybe that’s not what matters. What matters is that a dog who was brave enough to wait for kindness found a family who was ready to give her all the love she deserved.
Climate change created the perfect conditions for nature’s experiment.
Often, when people think about birds, they think about freedom. These feathered creatures can take off and fly anywhere their heart desires, within reason. Birds, like other animals, are indigenous to certain areas and don’t venture beyond the invisible fence in the sky. Migration patterns for birds exist for a reason, but there’s been a bit of a disruption to business as usual.
“Today was such a blessing.”
There is a story unfolding across America’s South that has been healing for many at a time when the news cycle is dominated by war, street violence, and political tension.
On October 26, 2025, a procession of Buddhist monks left their temple in Texas to begin a 120-day, on-foot spiritual trek to Washington, D.C. Their mission is simple: to promote national healing and peace. At a time when many forces seem to be pulling America apart, these monks are here to bring people together.
“My hope is, when this walk ends, the people we met will continue practicing mindfulness and find peace,” said the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, the group’s leader, according to the Independent.
Along for the “Walk of Peace” journey has been Aloka, a rescued Indian pariah dog who captured hearts across the country and later became a cause for concern after being sidelined by a leg injury. Aloka is now recovering and hopes to rejoin the monks once healed.
The monks have touched countless hearts on their trek to spread peace and love, and they created what felt like a near miracle during a stop in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 25. Samantha Bray and her family were among the spectators hoping to see the monks along their journey, and she couldn’t believe the effect they had on her son, Vincent, who is nonverbal and autistic.
As the monks walked by, they noticed Vincent and approached him. One of the monks tied a bracelet around the boy’s wrist as Vincent held his mother’s hand. For his family, the moment was astonishing—Vincent had never allowed anyone to put anything on his wrist before, not even those close to him.
Bray later shared the video on Facebook, where it received more than a million views. The monks also reposted the clip on their growing social media accounts.
Bray wrote in her post:
“Today was such a blessing. We caught the Buddhist Monks in the Walk for Peace. My daughter and I were on the sidewalk while my son and husband were a little ways back. One of the Buddhist Monks saw our son and asked if he was ok. My husband brought our son up. They prayed over our son, who is autistic and nonverbal, and tied the holy thread around his wrist and gave our daughter flowers.”
The monks responded:
“Thank you, Samantha, for sharing your family’s precious experience with all of us. May the blessing continue to shine in your son’s life and in your whole family’s hearts.”
“Having that moment with our family, surrounded by our community and the monks, it was just a really beautiful moment to experience,” Bray told WRAL. “And to even add, you know, for him to tolerate that and kind of just being in that moment together was pretty spectacular.”
Traditionally, when a Buddhist monk shares a bracelet, it carries multiple meanings. It’s meant to promote mindfulness, serving as a reminder to focus on having a deeper connection to the present moment. The bracelets are also believed to promote inner peace, offer protection from negative energies, and help ward off obstacles along one’s spiritual path.
There’s a lot of good in this world; you just have to look around to find it sometimes. While those who wage war and sow chaos often get the most attention, it’s important to remember that many people are also fighting for good. These monks are a powerful reminder that simple acts, like gentle kindness, can overcome forces of negativity and division.
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