Separated from his mother as a puppy, one lucky pooch by the name of Foxtrot has become a UN refugee camp mascot in a ‘bare bones to milk bones’ story that could bring a smile to any face.
When the Myanmar military began a brutal crackdown on the country’s Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority in 2017, hundreds of thousands fled over the border. A million displaced people are now sheltering in refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh.
The UN’s World Food Program (WFP), along with a number of other charities, has been there from the beginning, working to ensure every refugee is fed.
”Foxtrot was found when a variety of charity organizations were participating in a beach clean-up,” Colleen Callahan at WFP USA told GNN. “A four-month old puppy followed them until finally Gemma [one of the volunteers], decided to take him under her wing. After that he almost died—there was no vet in Cox’s Bazar, so a nurse brought him back to life.”
“Since then he has been given the official title of ‘chief mascot and mood manager’ at WFP,” explains Callahan.
Regularly led about the camp to visit temporary schools and canteens, as well as different WFP events, the chief mascot is usually “wearing a WFP cape, or special capes for big days like International Women’s Day.”
The photograph above features Foxtrot entertaining the kids at one of the camps’ learning centers, and perfectly captures his importance in the relief efforts.
Humanitarian Pup
“One of the jobs I like the most is making sure no one gets too stressed out,” writes one of Foxtrot’s human team members on his adorable biography at the WFP website. “If I see someone looking like they need some stress relief, I run up to them with a toy in my mouth and push my head against their leg.”
“Humans are simple creatures and it’s amazing how well this works in relieving any tension,” ruminates Foxtrot.
Through his Instagram, Foxtrot helps to raise money and awareness of the crisis the Rohingya people are facing while reaching people the WFP wouldn’t normally be able to reach.
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Even though he’s just a small dog, he has a big job. An inspired and happy volunteer worker is an effective one, and for the Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar, a reason to smile is a very valuable thing.
If you’d like to donate to Foxtrot and the team of World Food Program heroes in Bangladesh, just head here.
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