Refugees' plight on camera

One of the images Jo Currie took on her trip with World Vision through the Middle East. Photo/Jo Currie

A photographic exhibition showing unseen images from World Vision's Forgotten Millions trip to the Middle East will be revealed to the people of Tauranga this weekend.

Earlier this year World Vision launched The Forgotten Millions campaign, together with Rachel Smalley and the New Zealand Herald, in response to the Syrian crisis which had seen Syrians fleeing their country to escape the conflict that has already claimed 220,000 lives, left one million people injured, and more than 13.5 million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

World Vision's chief executive Chris Clarke said they used the Forgotten Millions campaign to show the human face of the Syrian conflict and to raise money to reach more people with life-saving aid.

Photographer Jo Currie said she was nervous when first approached by World Vision for the trip.

"The responsibility of getting the right photos to tell the stories of the Syrian refugees, but I was excited too. I love the Middle East, I love everything about it - the call to prayer, the people, the architecture, the food."

Mrs Currie said she had visited Syria years ago and loved it but seeing what was happening to the people and to the cities was heartbreaking.

Jo Currie with a group of Syrian refugees. Photo / Rachel Smalley, courtesy of World Vision

One thing that stood out to her while meeting the Syrian refugees was their desire to go back home, she said.

"They want to be reunited with family and friends and they want to be in their own home and have their life back, but that is just not possible because it is gone. Most of them will probably never get to and if they do, none of it will be the same.

"Even in these really dire situations where you are meeting these refugees, they always extend their hospitality to you. We were always being welcomed and offered tea. Even with nothing and having lost so much there is this generous spirit.

"Ahead of going over there people said to me 'you can't go there, it's not safe' but when I'm there I really am surrounded by a culture that I love."

The exhibition is on from November 7 to 15, and is World Vision's way to say thank you to all the people of Tauranga for their support over the last year.

More than 4500 Tauranga people supported World Vision's causes this year. The city ranks above Waikato, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Southland, West Coast and sits equal with Auckland but behind Wellington and Canterbury.

One in 100 people in Tauranga support World Vision causes, including the Forgotten Millions campaign, child sponsorship, appeals for Nepal after the quakes and Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam.