Campaign raises $150K to help Syrian refugee family start a new life

A Syrian refugee who was selling pens on the street of Beirut to help support his family is feeling the power and love of the Internet, after his story touched countless people around the world.

A photo of the man was reposted on more than a million social media feeds last week, prompting a wave of interest in finding out more about him and his situation. The shot shows the man peddling pens while his daughter is hoisted over his shoulder, asleep.

Icelandic designer Gissur Simonarson, who’s based in Oslo, launched a campaign to find the man, which led to him being interviewed on Sky News Arabia. Shortly after the report went to air, activists in Lebanon were able to locate the man, named Abul, and his children, nine-year-old Abdelillah and four-year-old Reem, at a refugee camp. The hashtag #buypens was launched, along with an Indiegogo campaign page, titled “Help Abdul and Reem start a new life.”

To date, over $150,000 from more than 90 countries has been raised for them – far above initial $5,000 goal.

On Monday, the following message was posted on the fundraising page:

“Hi guys. Now we have found Abdul and his children. We have started raising a life changing amount of money for them. Next phase in our operation is now to Establish him. [Activist] Carol Malouf is working on getting his paperwork in Lebanon set up, getting his children signed up for school, as well as getting Abdul to a safe location as he is currently in some danger because of the media frenzy that followed this story.

“I will keep you guys up to date on here with all the latest developments =)”