The ads have been appearing on subways, cabs, buses and bus shelters in Chicago and New York. With headlines like “If you thought escaping the rat race was hard, try escaping a war zone” and “What if you were catching this train to avoid being killed instead of to avoid being late,” the ads capture the plight of the refugee and the core goal of the IRC — helping refugees move from harm to home.

If you catch one of the ads, why not snap a photo and post it to our Flickr group?

But many of these refugee crises are more often not life or death situations, he says, and argues that devoting resources to education isn’t diverting them from life-saving work.

Instead, educating children in emergencies gives them a lifeline out of an otherwise hopeless and purposeless existence in refugee limbo. “It’s not uncommon to find a generation of children raised without any access to education among the world’s refugee ‘warehouses’” Gerry says. “We must shift our obsession from how people are dying to how people are living.”

Article: Educating Children in Emergency Settings - Gerald Martone [PDF]

Two places to learn more: How the IRC Helps Women, IRC’s Darfur Special Report 

As always you’ll hear from refugees, IRC humanitarian workers, activists and volunteers around the globe — new voices as well as familiar ones.

They’ll be sharing their own stories, from the front lines of regions torn apart by violence to the front porches of U.S. towns where the IRC is helping uprooted families make a fresh start.

And we’ve added commenting, so now you’ll be able to add your own voice to the mix. We want to hear from you!