After a year of rising visitor numbers, we are facing a new year with a lot of uncertainty. Help us to secure the future of OHF. Dear OHF supporters First of all, we would like to thank everyone who has supported us over the past few weeks. Our fundraising campaign has started well, but we …
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Today we would like to give you an overview of what is happening at the Victoria Community Center and who all these partners are. Exactly one and a half years ago, we opened the Community Center together with the organisation ‘A Drop in the Ocean’. Since then it has become a well known place, not …
read moreA monster of a refugee centreIt is one year since the first closed controlled centre on the island of Samos opened. Funded by the EU with 43 million euros, the centre is intended to be a model for other reception structures. Looking like a prison from the outside, with fences and x-ray scanners at the …
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Advent Crowdfunding: 25 days, 25,000 for OHF2022 has been an exciting year that has brought many changes. OHF moved to Athens: we said goodbye to Lesvos and built a new community centre in the Greek capital. Soon after its opening, it became clear that there was a great need for such a place, both from …
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Meet Hadi! Hadi started as a community volunteer a couple of weeks ago and has already had such a huge impact on both the OHF team and our beneficiaries. Originally working as a volunteer teacher at the International School of Peace at OHF on Lesvos, Hadi is now helping specifically with community outreach and involvement …
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Meet Krisha! Krisha has just left us after having spent 3 weeks volunteering for OHF and we can’t believe how quickly the time passed! As a doctor back in the UK, Krisha (in true doctor spirit) chose to spend her 3-week break from work continuing to help others… how she finds the time we don’t …
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The One Happy Family Safe Passage socks are back and now available to order!If this year you’re looking for a Christmas present with a twist, why not get your loved ones (or yourself!) a pair of our colourful Safe Passage socks (available in two designs)? Order can be made here. Our popular and very tasty …
read moreTödliche Politik an Europas Grenzen – SRF Podcast (only in German) Netflix released “The Swimmers”, the story of refugee sisters that landed in Greece
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ShipwrecksOur hearts are, once again, broken for those involved in the two fatal shipwrecks which occurred on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, 6th of October 2022 off the coast of Lesvos and Kythera. A total of at least 27 dead have been recovered, but people are still missing. We grieve for the lives lost …
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Mental healthOn the 10th of October we celebrated the world’s mental health day. Caring for our mental health can be difficult at the best of times. Often, our lives are so full of varying stresses, responsibilities and alternative focuses that caring for our own mental health, and that of those around us, can drop to …
read moreFire in Mavrovouni CampSeptember 27, there was information on social media about a fire in Mavrovouni Camp on Lesvos. A blaze set several containers on fire, luckily no one got injured. However, some people lost their belongings and paper which is a hard set back, as it is very complicated for asylum seekers and refugees …
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Updates from Victoria Community Centre and our Partners It feels like just yesterday when we first met with Silvia and JB from A Drop in the Ocean at Victoria Square to discuss a potential collaboration. Now, at Victoria Community Centre, we’ve been working as main partners since March 2022. A Drop in the Ocean aims …
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Last week the OHF team, alongside those from our partner organisations, came together for an evening of conversation, food and music on our wonderful rooftop space here at Victoria Community Centre.Between busy schedules and important meetings, it can sometimes be hard to catch each other, so events like these are crucial for everyone to come …
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Meet Emma! Emma, an art therapist and textile designer from Scotland, volunteered with us in the summer. With her calm, friendly, helpful presence; open mind and big heart, she worked at the Café and re-started the art table, where she facilitated kids and adults alike to express themselves through arts and crafts.Fariba, who worked very …
read moreAsk us a question:What would you like to know about people on the move and/or about their Situation in Greece? Are you interested in anything particular? Tell us what you do:Do you also work together with people from other countries of origin, do you support asylum seekers in any way? We are curious to hear …
read moreEviction of oldest camp near Athens The Eleonas camp was scheduled to be closed in mid-August. This led to clashes between residents and activists and the police. The migrants do not want to be transferred again to a new “temporary” place, and long for long-term solutions and stability. Nevertheless, by the end of the year, all …
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VICTORIA COMMUNITY CENTRE Latest news from the Victoria Community Centre and our caféThe OHF café is a hub of activity and we have been busy with visitors, young and old, over the last few weeks! Alongside providing orange juice, coffee, WiFi and a space to rest and socialise, the café is also a place for …
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This month there was another OHF event in Switzerland. On Saturday, August 27, a charity day was held at the Lido in Basel. It was possible to register in advance for beach volleyball, paddle tennis and bocce tournaments.The whole day was spent playing and sweating (an OHF team consisting of board members, volunteers and former …
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As announced in the last newsletter, we say goodbye here to our coordination team member, Yahia. Yahia has been a valuable team member for several years and we would like to thank him from the bottom of our hearts for everything he’s done for One Happy Family. Yahia, with your calmed, level-headed and reflective nature, …
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Meet Fariba, in charge of our café at the Victoria Community Centre! If you ask around about Fariba, you will only hear sweet words.One of her teammates says of her: “She is kind and an excellent team player, always ready to collaborate, very active and involved in the activities of our community”.Our coordinator Akis says …
read moreYour feedback is important to usDo you have any questions or comments about this newsletter? A good idea, an input or a suggestion? We are happy to receive your feedback at newsletter@ohf-lesvos.org Donations for continuationAnd of course we continue to rely on your donations. In order to be able to continue operating the Victoria community …
read moreGreece says it will try to retrieve migrant girl’s body from river islet Greek migration minister: Seasonal work visas to give Bangladeshi migrants ‘dignity’
read moreArrivals and PushbacksAccording to the Aegean boat report, 29 boats with 666 people on board arrived on the Greek islands in July 2022. And the same organisation documented 82 boats and 2183 people affected by pushbacks from the Greek side in the same period. At the same time, the Turkish government reported that during this …
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VICTORIA COMMUNITY CENTER In July, we were again pleased to welcome many visitors to our Community Centre. In exact numbers, the Community Centre received 2059 visits and 1115 of these were specifically to OHF. However, we are still working to raise awareness of the Community Centre and continue to distribute vouchers for our welcome packs. …
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In typical OHF tradition, we always have something to decorate and paint. This time it was the roof terrace that got an upgrade and was beautified. We repainted the benches, got some extra tables and chairs and got some wonderful plants from Project Elea, which had to leave Eleonas Camp due to its upcoming closure. …
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As announced, there is another coordination team member we have to say goodbye to: Nicolas! Nicolas joined our project in Lesvos in 2017 and co-founded the Swiss organisation One Happy Family. After being a board member in Switzerland, he joined the Lesvos coordination team. He was responsible for working with our partner organisations, donors on …
read moreSpread the word about our open job position for a Fundraising Manager! Find more information here.
read moreA climate of fear“I am concerned about the increasing criminalisation of humanitarian assistance in Greece.” said the special rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor about Greece, on her recent visit to the Aegean Islands at the end of June. Human right defenders are facing increasing prosecutions since 2019 when acting in solidarity with refugees …
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VICTORIA COMMUNITY CENTRE Highlight of the MonthMonday, 20th June was the start of World Refugee Week. The idea behind this year’s theme “healing” is to promote and support healing through education, art, conversation and sport and coming together as a welcoming society.OHF held an open house event to celebrate the day. We had a table …
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And it goes on. Table tennis is being played in Athens again.Endless hours of table tennis and table tennis tournaments were played on Lesvos. And despite the limited space in Athens, we have also found space for our table tennis table here and can continue this tradition. And there are even the same duels being …
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Many things in Athens are new, but fortunately there are also some familiar constants. One such example is our partner organisation Refocus. We are very happy and consider ourselves lucky to be able to work with them again here on the mainland, because the work with Refocus is always very exciting. For the World Refugee …
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Meet Abbas! Even though OHF in Athens is now smaller, we still need important team members to make our community center a safe and beautiful place. One of them is Abbas. He is our new member of the security team. But actually, he has been part of the One Happy Family for several years. In …
read moreWe are looking for volunteersOur recruitment process just restarted and we are looking for volunteers who have social media experience, IT skills, experience working with children and graphic design. Come and join our team in Greece! Find more on our website. DonationsIf you can’t or don’t want to travel to Greece yourself, we are still very …
read moreThe Guardian reveals: Greek police coerce asylum seekers into pushing fellow migrants back to Turkey
read moreLiving in AthensFor the last few years, the transfer from the Aegean islands to Athens was viewed by many as something positive, as they could finally leave the hell of the camps in the islands behind them. However, this transfer, officially organised or independently, did not have a positive effect for many. After the transfer, …
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COMMUNITY CENTER VICTORIA Always something newDuring the month of May, the number of visitors to the Victoria Community Centre has increased steadily. More and more drinks are being served in our café and the atmosphere is livelier as people play games and chat.The growing number of visitors is also related to the fact that more …
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On the weekend of 14 and 15 May a small miracle happened: the whole coordination team and the board of the Swiss association were together in one place for the first time in 5 years. The event was a two-day workshop led by MAPS to better define our structures in the organisation and align them …
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Our coordinating team member Fifie says: OHF will always be my home. And we say: You will always be an important part of this One Happy Family, even though we had to say goodbye to you, a very valuable team member, this month. Our dear Fifie has decided to leave the coordination team and move …
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Meet the family: Najibula Najibula is one of our regular visitors in the Victoria community center, ever since Drop in the Ocean started offering their education programmes to the community here in Athens. He is a dedicated student who attends English lessons with them. He is from Afghanistan and has been in Greece with his …
read moreAs you have read, our community center is receiving more and more visitors, so we are looking for volunteers again. If you are interested or know someone who would like to support us in Athens, you can find more information on our website. But above all we are still dependent on your financial support. We …
read moreArrivals of refugees from Ukraine to Greece Over 19’000 people from Ukraine have arrived in Greece in mid April 2022. The majority arrived through the Greek-Bulgarian land border but some arrived as well via flights to the airports of Athens and Thessaloniki. The government of Greece is very welcoming to them and has guaranteed reception capacity …
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VICTORIA COMMUNITY CENTRE Victoria Communiy Centre is openAt the end of February OHF bid farewell to the community centre on Lesvos. And now, on the 4th of April, we as OHF and Drop In The Ocean (Dråpen i Havet) were happy to announce the official opening of the Victoria Community Centre that we run together …
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As said in our part about News from One Happy Family: The Victoria Community Center is open! After months of preparing and organising it is finally happening and we’re more than happy to welcome everyone in Filis 68! The opening ceremony was accompanied by musicians and so the atmosphere of One Happy Family on Lesvos …
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Meet the Family: Helge Educator, psychologist, published author, co-founder of a museum, dance enthusiast… Helge has so many hats; but today we will focus on her as a beloved, long-term OHF volunteer. Helge first came to OHF in 2019 and stayed for 10 months. Sitting at one corner in the busy main hall, she started …
read moreAs mentioned several times in this newsletter, we are currently very dependent on your donations so that we can continue our existing projects and implement our new ideas. At the moment we still have some money left with which we can continue the existing projects for only 2 more months, but unfortunately there is not …
read moreRead a good roundup of events and developments over the last few years on Lesvos:“A desaster waiting to happen: who was really responsible for the fire at Moria camp?” Differences of treatment by the Greek state, article from ECRE: https://ecre.org/greece-guarantees-of-capacity-for-ukrainian-refugees-while-the-situation-remains-dire-in-camps-across-the-country-government-body-finds-no-evidence-of-pushbacks/ Struggle to integrate: https://www.dw.com/en/greece-refugees-asylum-seekers-struggle-to-integrate/a-60687733 Article form Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/07/greece-using-other-migrants-expel-asylum-seekers
read moreApparently no evidence foundAfter four months of independent investigation, the Greek National Authority for Transparency has rejected any allegations of illegal push backs of asylum seekers trying to reach the country. The reports of Lighthouse and a wide consortium of European media, who analysed over 600 videos last year, made headlines internationally. They identified masked …
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