After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited servicemen and their families on Veterans Day, they made their way to the 10,000 Afghan refugees living at Task Force Liberty at the same joint base in New Jersey. The Sussexes went to a classroom and joined in, singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and worked on teaching the kids English by introducing colored markers. The kids got to practice their English lessons with some famous guests and Harry and Meghan got to practice some words in Dari, one of the languages spoken by Afghans.
The couple also spent time with Afghan children at school—joining a conversational English class (where they used markers to teach words for colours), learning Dari words (like “Tashakur,” which means “Thank you”) and even leading a round of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”. pic.twitter.com/pAw4dI6eLd
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) November 13, 2021
One of the things the Sussexes did for their visit to this joint base was that they did NOT bring their own cameras. They let the US Air Force’s communications team handle the photos and the release of information about the visit. The Sussexes also allowed their names to be used to promote the Task Force Liberty’s Amazon wishlist, encouraging people to buy clothing and other essentials for the refugees – you can see the Amazon wish list here. I’ve already donated some stuff. These babies need coats and shoes.
In a previous post, I noted how interesting it is that Meghan and Harry weren’t pap’d at all during their trip to New York. There were no street photos, no candids as they were leaving or entering a hotel. According to Page Six, they didn’t even stay at a hotel for this trip. After staying at the Carlyle during their September trip to New York, this time they stayed at a “luxury apartment at 860 United Nations Plaza on Manhattan’s East Side.” They had eight bodyguards with them, a surveillance van and they only entered or exited the building from a basement parking garage. Which explains why there were no street photos.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Love them. They’re doing such good work.
I bought two coats for toddlers, will go back later and purchase a few more items.
I don’t believe they had 8 bodyguards, the NYP loves to lie.
They may lose a bodyguard soon, if the women in SS have their way.
Haha the squad is seriously thirsting after that guy!
I bought some hijab, nursing bras, and condoms. The things they chose on the gift list are really affordable. I bought multiples of each of these things and my total was still only around $100. It’s really easy to do. Just make sure you choose the delivery address that’s offered for the gift registry. It defaulted to wanting to send things to my house but that might have been because I had one extra thing in the cart that was for myself and not on the gift list. It was easy to click to the refugee site’s address instead.
Looks like It defaults to the address most recently used. Bought some stuff yesterday and had to change the delivery address (to Liberty Village), got a few more things this am, and the correct address came up first.
Now I know why I had difficulties trying to buy things yesterday. Thanks @Amy Too for the heads up on changing the shipping address.
@ Amy Too, the delivery is tricky as I had selected them at the beginning, but it changed to my home at checkout. I bought a stroller, shampoo, nursing tops, regular tops, detergent, lots of detergent!!
Ah was it the hot bodyguard – he’s mine so step away ladies!! I saw him first.
What bodyguard are y’all talking about?
Has Omid Scobie mentioned anything about the new FF revelations?
Amazing.
I was on Twitter this morning and it appears that the SussexSquad is working hard to buy every item on this wish list and I love it!!!
They’re good at fundraising and supporting good causes.
Amazon makes it so simple, choose the item(s) pay and the rest is taken care of.
Squadies from overseas are also contributing.
This reminds me of the Global Baby Shower that raised so much money.
So happy Harry & Meghan made a point of visiting the refugees. With the news cycles the way they are, people have forgotten the sheer number of people evacuated and resettled here in the states. These people still need our help.
Bet this will be how they travel to nyc in the future, especially if they bring the children who may very well be the reason they did travel this way.
I saw so many donations on Twitter aka people buying things on the Amazon wish list. Glad they highlighted this and if you can afford to, please do donate.
I just bought 3 coats for children. H&M are excellent at highlighting where there is need, and I love the ease of donating through Amazon.
I know!! I just bought some items but I will go back and buy more. I was surprised that there wasn’t a greater need of items for the women, mothers. Don’t they need pants and shoes? Coats as well?
Team Rubicon is working with refugees at 6 locations around the country. There are individual Amazon wish lists for 5 of them. It’s very interesting how different the lists are, depending on needs and requests (for instance, weather differs from area to area). Some of the other lists have many more female specific items. I usually find it helpful in deciding what to select when wishlists note how many of each item have already been purchased; for some reason the NJ list doesn’t show this (others do). In the end though, a donation is a donation, and if it’s on the list, it will be put to good use.
Their visit is a really good reminder about the Afghan refugees needing help.
This is the Team Rubicon link that has links to the other areas if people want to cover other places with their donations.
https://teamrubiconusa.org/resettlement
A great cause!!
They are good people.
Thanks for sharing this! I saw the list on Omid’s tweet and donated, but I wasn’t sure how much publicity it was getting.
Good to see an organization didn’t throw the Sussexes under the bus given the foolishness about the appeal case.
What organization threw them under the bus?
I could only afford to buy one boys coat but I’m happy I was able to contribute
The one in England that took the cookbook 10K and keep quiet about it saying they didn’t want any blow back, but not enough to return the money, and when they saw other charities getting money, they announced the donation.
I am constantly in awe of these two and their kindness
God bless them both.
Thank you for the information about the gift registry! I just went and bought a few thing: girls coat and shoes in bright pink, and condoms. I like the idea of some little girl getting a coat in a pretty color! Not that girls have to wear pink, but it’s cheerful and I thought it was the best option. The other ones in the category I chose were bright yellow and white. I figured the white might get dirty easily.
I bought the condoms because I figured some of these parents or couples might not want another baby at a time like this and this is a simple birth control option that isn’t all up to the woman!
Love that Harry and Meghan visited them.
Thanks for the wish list link! I have purchased a couple of kids’ coats and shoes and I will share far and wide on Facebook and with friends. I am so happy we have a way to show our support for our new Afghan refugees.
Meghan and Harry are constantly and effortlessly proving they are warm, compassionate people who understand the true meaning of charity and generosity. And once again, I think we’re all shaking our damn heads at the fact that the RF threw these 2 away.
In addition to donating items on the wish list, I would encourage everybody to meet and interact with Afghan refugees (or any refugees, really) if you have the opportunity, especially if you have relevant skills to help them adjust to their new lives or process the trauma that most of them have experienced. Because my fiancé speaks Dari and I have prior experience working with refugees while earning my Masters, we’re heading up a committee at our church that is sponsoring a few families, and it has been such an honor just to speak to these people and to be able to help them. Their stories are equal parts terrifying, heartbreaking, and inspiring.
@ Miranda, thank you for sharing your story and encouraging us to remember that their history is horrific to hear. We all need to come together and welcome them!
Just sent two strollers – and will pass the link around to my friends and family.
FYI, not sure if you’ve seen this but the Queen cancelled her appearance at the Remembrance Day service due to a “sprained back”. Nothing more said, I wonder if she’s taken another fall?
Don’t you feel like it is getting suspicious at this point? I feel like they are lying about how ill she is
They’re totally covering up what’s really wrong. I think she may have had a series of mild strokes causing her to fall and have balance issues. Unfortunately these mini-strokes often presage a larger one. She appears to be going downhill fast and I think we’ve seen the last of her in person, she may not even be well enough or even still around by the Jubilee.
It does feel like she’s going downhill fast and they’re covering up her true condition. If she does pass, I shudder at how the tabloids will try to blame M&H the same way they tried to blame Phillip’s illness on them
Yes since the photos of her supposedly driving are stock photos from a awhile ago and not recent as people were led to believe. She has not been seen by the public in awhile. The firm has lied about her stay in the hospital leaving the flag flying and letting people believe she was still in residence lying about the state of her health is not a big stretch. As with all things Royal I am sure it is much worse than what is being released.. nothing this family does would surprise me anymore.
I will predict that after she passes, It will be tabloid hell for the remaining royals over there.
Thank you for sharing the gift registry! I purchased some coats off of the registry last night, the Sussex Squad has done a great job of spreading the word on this. Now with Celebitchy doing the same…
Glad that so many people will be able to be more warm and comfortable in this tough time.
Harry and Meghan are doing great work. If they continue to do this, and their past behavior says yes, they are going to help change the world in a big way.
This was so successful on their part. Well done to all involved.
(And on a shallow note, the dress she’s wearing is fantastic. She’s been known to struggle with fit and volume, and this is perfect.)