Fundraising Project Elea

“Refugees are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, with the same hopes and ambitions as us; except that a twist of fate has bound their lives to a global refugee crisis on an unprecedented scale.” [Khaled Hosseini]

Across Greece, more than 15,000 people live in camps awaiting the hearing of their asylum applications and those whose applications have been accepted or rejected. The living conditions in the refugee camps are harsh, the needs are endless, and life should have been easier for them. Hearing their stories is heart-wrenching and their experiences in the past difficult to grasp.

Project Elea, an organization that was founded in Spring 2016, aims at creating a resilient, safe, dignified, and inclusive community at Eleonas Refugee Camp in Athens. Eleonas is a government-run camp overseen by the Greek Ministry of Migration and opened in August 2015 as the first camp in mainland Greece. The camp is open, and although access is restricted to outsiders, residents are free to enter and exit as they wish. The population currently stands at about 2,300 people of various nationalities.

I have witnessed the situation at Eleonas Refugee Camp with my own eyes when volunteering at Project Elea during the past four weeks. Although the harsh reality was never hidden from my eyes, the project’s positive impact on the community is easy to detect.

In addition to providing basic services such as food and clothing distribution, Project Elea puts great emphasis on creative community engagement through a varied program of activities focused on education, sports, culture, the environment, and skill sharing for both children and adults in order to make the endless time residents spend at the camp more enjoyable, positive,and productive.

While Project Elea has many partner organizations with different expertise in the Athens area and abroad who regularly provide high-quality programs for Eleonas residents, they also largely rely on private donations. As I have been involved with the project personally, I believe that your donation can make a real difference for the lives of the residents at Eleonas Camp. Funding can be used to finance excursions for the teenagers of the camp, games for the children of the camp or education material for the adults of the camp. The needs are endless, and your contribution would mean a lot. You can also support the project by a direct donation through their website and / or make monthly donations, which make it easier for the project to plan and create budgets for their activities. If you prefer to make an in-kind donation instead, please feel free to reach out to me. Among other items, mostly men’s clothes, shoes and food are needed at the moment.

https://projectelea.org