How we fit into the picture

The Wyndham area in Melbourne is home to a large Karenni and Karen refugee community, people who have fled violence, persecution, and unimaginable hardship in Myanmar. Many spent decades in refugee camps before finally finding safety in Australia. But even in their new home, they face deep struggles—PTSD, depression, anxiety, and the isolation of language barriers. Having lived a life of survival, fear, and loss, they now search for connection, purpose, and healing in a world so different from what they once knew.

At Next Door Artisans, we create a safe space where these refugees can gather, create, and heal. Through traditional weaving, painting, and learning new crafts, they reconnect with their culture and build new skills. But their hearts remain with the families and friends still suffering in the refugee camps. Through our community markets, they sell their handmade crafts and traditional foods to raise urgent funds for those left behind. This campaign is a direct response to the medical crisis unfolding in the camps right now.

Our fundraising efforts will provide critical medical supplies, medicines, and hospital care for refugees in Northern Thailand. We may not have a long-term solution, but we can save one life. We can ensure one person gets the medicine they need, one pregnant mother delivers her baby safely, one child survives an illness that would otherwise take them. It may seem small, but to those facing life or death, it means everything.

Out of our privilege in Australia, even a small contribution can be a lifeline for someone with nowhere else to turn. The proceeds from our market sales and fundraising efforts will go directly to the medical clinics in the refugee camps, helping them through this devastating crisis.

We thank you for your kindness, your compassion, and your willingness to stand with the most vulnerable in their time of greatest need.