The solidarity will, or the inclusion of one or several NGOs in the will, is a form of donation that has continued to grow in Spain in recent years. ¹ More and more people, regardless of whether or not they have legitimate heirs, decide to allocate part or all of their assets to causes ² with which they have collaborated during their lives and continue to do so in the future.
But there are those who are still unaware of this form of collaboration that, to this day, continues to have to face myths about who can do it, the need to have a large heritage or, what these donations become when the person is no longer there. to see.
This is what Continuará… is about, the new documentary by the Spanish Committee of UNHCR, the UN Agency for Refugees, on solidarity wills, which narrates the field experience of two real testators who have had the opportunity to learn what life is like in a refugee camp.
Olga Martínez and Carlos Zanin did not meet until 48 hours before embarking on a trip to Rwanda that would end up marking their lives. Apparently, they are very different: she, a city woman, a lover of cinema, theater, and plans with friends; he, passionate about carpentry and his life in the field. But both are united by a decision, that of having included UNHCR in his will in order to continue helping refugees in the future, when they are no longer around.
Accompanied by the reporter Mayte Carrasco, specialized in armed conflicts and human rights, the three have had the opportunity to visit two of the refugee camps that UNHCR has established for more than a decade in the southwest of Rwanda: Mugomwba and Kigeme, with more of 11,000 and 14,500 refugees and forcibly displaced persons, respectively, mostly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
To be continued... narrates the experience of Olga and Carlos in their journey through both fields, in which they have been able to learn about the operation of a hospital; conversing in Spanish with a young refugee while she makes porridge for her children; or attend an English class in a school with refugee boys and girls together with other locals. They are examples of projects and help that their legacies will be transformed into in the future.
Between emotions and reflections, both have had the opportunity to see up close the work of UNHCR, the organization in which they have deposited what will be, if not the greatest, one of the most important acts of trust of their lives. But they have also been able to learn from the reality that is often perceived as remote and exceptional, and yet already affects more than 100 million people around the world (currently there are more than a hundred refugees and forcibly displaced who have been forced to flee and leave everything).
To be continued... is a vital and hopeful documentary, which seeks to naturalize donations through wills as one more way to collaborate with organizations and help those who need it most.
