Germany has welcomed over one million refugees displaced by the conflict in Syria. Asylum seekers face new challenges in Germany: the majority of Syrian refugees cannot understand the German or English and are unable to read the Roman alphabet. This language barrier makes communication between asylum seekers and care-givers extremely difficult. The German government states that integration and basic communication are essential in providing meaningful support.

In collaboration with multiple refugee shelters, we selected the most essential products that serve the basic needs of the refugees. Next, we developed a phonetic system together with language experts to create phonetic transcriptions for the names of these items. To support as many people as possible, we created these transcriptions in three languages: Arabic, Farsi and Urdu.

By printing the transcriptions on a simple roll of box tape we made it easy for volunteers and refugees to repackage the donations on site. The tape uses 7 different colours representing different product categories –helping to differentiate food, sanitary, medical and baby products. The platform caters for the first 28 words every refugee needs to learn so they can communicate their basic needs. Even more words on their way to be produced.

An online platform enables people to help spread the word to other citizens, brands and corporations to attract new sponsors.