Special to The PREVIEW
Casey Crow, along with a group of artists, teachers and psychologists, created Beyond Words International, a nonprofit organization that aims to bring healing to survivors of trauma through the arts in the U.S. and abroad.
In six weeks, we are headed to Greece to work with Syrian refugee children by providing creative, artistic mediums for self-expression, trauma release and storytelling.
Our hope is that the arts will bring hope and healing to children who have faced unimaginable horrors.
In the coming weeks, we will introduce our team and share more about our partner organization in Greece, program plans and goals.
Crow is eager to show what took her years to learn: that art and activism are a perfect partnership and we must never feel pressure to choose only one facet of ourselves. The world needs people who embrace complete authenticity.
Crow studied, worked and conducted research around the world, from the Himalayas to the Dead Sea; slums and refugee camps to the United Nations in Geneva.
“My journey opened my eyes to the unfathomable suffering so many face around the globe, the strength of the human spirit and my own immense privilege that allowed for such experiences to occur by choice. Even so, I always felt a bit torn between the activist and the artist,” she wrote.
In 2016, she piloted a dance therapy project in a refugee camp in Greece, observing first-hand the devastation, trauma and unbearable conditions that characterize the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe. The following year was spent studying for her masters in international development and humanitarian emergencies at the London School of Economics, consulting for UNICEF with a research team and doing fieldwork in Lebanon.
If you would like to support Beyond Words, we are still seeking financial support to cover travel expenses for our team, as well as art supplies. If you would like to support us, you can find more information and a link to donate on our Facebook page at Beyond Words International. You can also send a check to Beyond Words International at P.O. Box 291, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147. For more information, contact beyondwordsintl@gmail.com.
