“I’m struck by the strength of human kind; OHF visitors and helpers are admirable and they are forever my heroes!”

Sandrine, our dear friend from Canada!

You arrived at One Happy Family and – since the very first moments – you were completely part of it. It was impressive to see how quickly you had a very good overview of what is happening on this Island. You were always around, and – even if we had to ask you for the thousands time to pay a bill – always had a smile for everyone. No task was too small for you, you always jumped in wherever needed.

At the same time, you took your time to sit down with us if you had questions running around your head and you were just such an important part – for all the helpers, volunteers but also for our coordination team.

It’s been a real pleasure getting to know you, dear Sandrine, your heart touched our souls – you’ll be – forever – part of this family! Thank you & Merci (of course in our best Quebecois accent 🙂 )!

Read about Sandrines stay at OHF in her Volunteer Story:

To me, OHF is…

An extraordinary place to be with open doors to every cultures, genders, ages and differences. It is truly a happy family caring for one another while providing a safe environment for everyone to find some peace and dignity. And oh! some fun too! OHF is a wonderful example of doing so much with so little. I am very proud to be part of this family.

My tasks in OHF are…

What I do at OHF is a variety of little tasks to which I sign up for every morning, that goes from playing with the kids, greeting and registering visitors at our ‘’bank’’, cleaning and picking up trash in and around the site, etc. And, as simple as they seem, I find myself finding meaning and satisfaction in these tasks as I have come to witness that every small action does count in the end. Of course, smiling has also been my number one task as it seems to do well and one gets so much back from it!

As a long term volunteer, I am also given some more responsibilities, so I get to handle treasury or « the wallet » which gives me a sneak peek into OHF daily costs and a better understanding of its operations as an organization. I’m very humbled by their trust and can’t help but being very serious when doing it!

Doing certificates and CVs for refugee volunteers is also a task that occupies me during the week and that I take great care of, in order to help them be prepared for their future life. I feel privileged in taking part in those many little duties which make every day go by way too fast!

As a long term what motivated you to stay long and why do u think it is important that volunteers stay for a long time?

Staying long term allowed me, amongst other things, to start recognizing visitors and be able to greet more and more people by their names which made all this feel like a more familiar place to be. After all, it’s called One Happy Family!

My most memorable moment:

My most memorable moment is actually repeating itself every single day at that very moment when we’re all gathered together for lunch. I look around and only then do I realize that again about 1000 people walked the extra miles to eat that amazing food the kitchen team cook. Adding to it I get to practice my Persian or Arabic greetings while serving the plates to then receive hundreds of thank you and smiles, or laughs at my pronunciation! It’s a great moment to be all together.

This struck me the most:

How strong human beings can be. Every day I witness how our visitors are incredible, given such harsh conditions they live in, with Moria being now at about 16 800 people with a capacity of 2800… That said, they find somehow a way to smile and be positive, they are patient and kind to us volunteering in a sometimes clumsy way! I’m struck by the strength of human kind; OHF visitors and helpers are admirable and they are forever my heroes!

And Sandrine adds…

As my work here is coming to an end and I am about to leave this wonderful place, I reflect upon it all and realize how little we all need in life: security, food, health and a good shelter with people we love is what every human being deserve to have. There are 70 millions of refugees in the world today and 50% of them are children… I can only hope wonderful organizations like OHF continue doing their incredible work because they do help the world be a better place.

Tashakur! Shukran! Merci One Happy Family!