Saint Martin's Cloak

What is happening in the Sudanese city of el-Obeid? What can we do to help? In this emergency episode, we give a quick overview of the rapidly deteriorating situation in el-Obeid and the dangers of what may happen next. As the UN and NGOs warn of a repeat of the El-Fasher massacre last year, it is imperative that we continue to spread the word as much as we can. Are you currently working in Sudan...

This is an emergency response episode to support grassroots humanitarian aid efforts in Venezuela after devasting 7.2 and 7.5 back to back earthquakes. Landis Rojas is originally from Caracas, and is currently based in the United States. supporting the efforts of the Venezuelan NGO Fundacoven. Landis is helping Fundacoven with logistics, fundraising, and English language communication efforts. He...

This is the human story behind the headlines in Lebanon. We are honored to speak once again with our friend Imane Assaf, co-founder and president of the Lebanese NGO Ahla Fawda. This is a special episode, as this interview takes place following our recent trip to Beirut, where we met a number of the Ahla Fawda volunteers and saw their work up close. We hear from Imane about what the last four mont...

In this episode we discuss Andrew's recent trip to Beirut. We get a close up look at the humanitarian aid response to the ongoing war, being led by Imane Assaf and the volunteers with the NGO Ahla Fawda. We also provide an update on some projects that we are working on as a result of that trip, to continue supporting our friends in Lebanon. Stay strong, stay safe, and stay brave,  Andrew and Miloš...

This is a conversation about the Armenian people, justice, and the preservation of the truth. We are honored to speak with Gevorg Vardanyan and Maggie Arutyunyan, two lawyers with the Center for Truth and Justice, or CFTJ. Their mission? To document and collect witness testimony for evidence of war crimes committed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh, more commonly known as Nagorno-Karabakh. Set up in 2020 i...

The world is not talking about Sudan enough. At Saint Martin’s Cloak we are committed to changing that. We spoke with Mohanad El-Balal , the co-founder of Khartoum Aid Kitchen about the realities that the Sudanese people are enduring amid the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, how the Sudanese led efforts and volunteers of Khartoum Aid Kitchen are saving lives on the ground on a daily basis,...

America is a nation of immigrants and so we’re proud to be kicking off our American immigration series - to provide actionable ways you can help immigrants in America right now . In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Jessie Ebersole, who is the Director of Programs at the Washington English Center. The mission of the Washington English Center is “To provide affordable English-language instructio...

How can you help save lives in Sudan? In today’s episode, the first of what will be our long running coverage on Sudan, we speak with Andrea Tracy, the Director of the Mutual Aid Program at Proximity 2 Humanity. Andrea has over 25 years of international aid experience and with her teammates at Proximity 2 Humanity and the Mutual Aid Sudan Coalition, she is leading international support efforts to...

Can the shackles of trauma be beaten by laughter? On today’s episode, we sat down with Sabine Choucair, co-founder of Clown Me In. With qualifications in performing arts from London and social therapy from New York, she has dedicated her life to using her performance and clowning background to spread joy and laughter among disadvantaged communities around the world. We hear about Sabine’s experien...

"Something always lingers - the news, the dark hours unfolding back home. You smile, you function, you blend into a new normal, yet you are never fully at rest" - Imane Assaf We continue to stand with our friends in Lebanon and to share their stories. In our latest Voices from the Ground installment, we relay messages from Imane Assaf of Ahla Fawda, shared with us just before the recent May 5th st...

What is life truly like under Russian occupation? In this episode, we sat down with Elina Beketova, a former Ukrainian journalist and current research fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, or CEPA. We hear from Elina as she recounts her work reporting on the annexation of Crimea, the challenges of sharing the stories from occupied territories, and her own experiences of the start of t...

"Behind every headline are families." - Imane Assaf We continue to stand with our friends in Lebanon and to share their stories. In our latest Voices from the Ground installment, we relay messages from Imane Assaf of Ahla Fawda after the Israeli attacks of April 8 in Lebanon, as well as the reaction of herself and those around her to the news of a ceasefire declaration and the uncertainty that bri...

What challenges do the visually impaired face during a time of war? In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Marie-Gabrielle Corm, a sociologist and the co-founder and executive director of EQUAL, a Franciscan NGO in Lebanon. We hear from Marie-Gabrielle about EQUAL’s critical work with Lebanon’s visually impaired population, the extra challenges that visually impaired people face when they are dis...

We stand with Ukraine. In today’s episode we’re kicking off our Ukraine coverage by speaking with Kaitlyn Kruk, a ground crew and board member of the NGO Ukrainian Patriot, and Denis Polishchuk, a member of the Ukrainian armed forces. We hear from Kaitlyn and Dennis about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, Ukrainian dance and culture, conditions in Ukraine this past winter, how aid on the grou...

In this episode we provide an update on the humanitarian situation in Lebanon, we look behind the headlines with an update from our friend Imane Assaf from the Lebanese NGO Ahla Fawda, and explain why it’s so critical to share stories directly from Lebanon.  To support Ahla Fawda’s grassroots humanitarian aid efforts in Lebanon, click here or visit -  https://gogetfunding.com/ahla-fawdas-lebanon-w...

In this episode we interview Philippe Nassif, the Chief Operations Officer of the American Task Force on Lebanon (ATFL). We talk to Philippe about the humanitarian situation in Lebanon, how to frame discussions of the war in ways that center the Lebanese people, the impact of the war on the people of southern Lebanon, what a responsible U.S. foreign policy towards Lebanon looks like, misunderstand...

In today's episode we focus on names from Lebanon, and share their stories. These are the human stories behind the headlines, with the latest from Imane Assaf, co-founder and director of the Lebanese grassroots NGO - Ahla Fawda, who we are proud to stand with. To support the humanitarian aid operations of Ahla Fawda directly, click here or go here - gogetfunding.com/ahla-fawdas-leba…ef-mission-202...

This episode is dedicated to women working in humanitarian aid, especially those in Lebanon. Today, for International Women's Day, we bring you an update on the ground from Imane Assaf as she and her team at Ahla Fawda continue to provide emergency humanitarian aid in the face of wartime conditions. Thank you to Yumna Mustafa Miller for contributing to this episode. To support the humanitarian aid...

In this episode, we provide updates on the humanitarian situation in Lebanon, and relay written messages directly from our friend Imane Assaf, as she and her team at the NGO Ahla Fawda lead humanitarian efforts on the ground. As always, links to support these efforts are available in this description. Please consider sharing this episode to help us get the word out about the situation in Lebanon t...

"Because even in war, humanity still lives in those who refuse to stop caring." - Imane Assaf In this episode we provide an update on the displacement crisis currently unfolding in Lebanon as a result of the war. Most importantly - we hear directly from the people in Lebanon responding to the crisis. We relay written messages from our friend Imane Assaf, who describes the impact of the war on Leba...

This is an emergency humanitarian response episode, recorded with the audio equipment we had on hand. As of today - March 2, 2026 - Lebanon is once again facing war and a mass displacement crisis. Here is how you can help - You can donate directly to grassroots humanitarian relief efforts and support displaced Lebanese families by going to Ahla Fawda's campaign page . Or- Spread the word about thi...

An interview in Beirut with Imane Assaf, the co-founder and director of the grassroots Lebanese NGO Ahla Fawda. In this episode - we learned about Ahla Fawda's humanitarian response to the war, aid to displaced Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians, including children from Gaza, the critical role of Lebanese women in civil society, the humanitarian response to the Beirut port explosion, the fallout...

Welcome to the Saint Martin’s Cloak podcast! Our mission is to shed light on humanitarian issues around the world in a way that will inform listeners of the ground truth, while always centering the human and voices of individuals and populations in focus. Our focus is on humans, not statistics. Over the course of this series, we will be speaking to humanitarian workers on the ground, as well as th...