Volunteering in Refugee Camp in Greece

My daughter Georgia and Tomas her boyfriend are currently working as volunteers in a refugee camp in Northern Greece trying to make a difference to the lives of the vulnerable and traumatized men, women and children there.

The volunteers working in this very harrowing situation cannot live on site and therefore must make their own living arrangements while volunteering their day at the camp. Georgia and Tomas have been doing this up to now using personal savings.

So this fundraiser will allow them to continue doing this great work, by helping them with their minimal living expenses. The idea is, that over and above one month's' expenses, all remaining funds raised would go directly to 'Better Days' the volunteering organisation they are attached to. So, 100% of all monies raised will be helping the refugees

Georgia and Tomas have previously volunteered as teachers in a bilingual school in Honduras, and have worked in Ireland to self fund their volunteer trips. And this time around, they made their way to Greece by finding the cheapest flight to Europe (Girona, in Spain) and hitch-hiking their way to Athens, sometimes sleeping in the mountains under the stars. And now through an organisation called Better Days, they are giving their time voluntarily to the running of the Elpida Refugee Camp, a small camp, where there are currently 200 displaced people living, approx. 38% of whom are children. Refugees in these camps have been through the trauma of the war zone they fled, the trauma of a dangerous journey, the trauma of being stuck in a camp and feeling hopeless. And this particular camp is preparing to take in another 500 refugees. Tomas has been teaching English to adults in the camp and Georgia has been coordinating a photography workshop for adults and involved with the sport classes in the most basic of conditions.

When I mention to friends where Georgia & Tomas are and what they are doing, I am met with so much admiration for them but also sadness for the suffering of the refugees. Anybody I have talked to has mentioned that they would like to make a contribution in some way and so here goes.

It would be great if you could share this message with anybody you think would like to make a contribution.

“We are all human beings and accidents of birth and geography, by being born here rather than there and coupled with chance circumstances, we are awarded basic privileges that others are not”.