As 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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March has been a busy month for OHF! Soon after bidding farewell to our beloved community centre on Lesvos and the hand over to Europe Cares with a wonderful event that felt like old OHF days, the team went to Athens to work on the preparations of our new community centre: OHF Victoria Community Centre, …
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As told in the ‘News from the Community Centre’ section, we welcomed our first visitors last week. It was wonderful to see the Community Centre getting livelier by the day, and of course we could count on the great support of our One Happy Family. Ernest was at the newly installed reception and welcomed the …
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Suppliers at OHF LesvosOHF Lesvos wouldn’t have worked successfully without the collaboration with local suppliers. Leontis, amongst others, provided OHF with food and cafe supplies.Their efficiency has been incredible. Fifie, one of the coordinators, says “Back then, when we were still cooking, if we noticed that our freshly prepared food wouldn’t be enough for the …
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On March 15, we were able to host an OHF fundraising event for the first time since the Covid-19 outbreak! The fundraising event took place at the HeuBühne in Meilen ZH, Switzerland. During this evening, one could get general information about the topic of fleeing and the related facts and figures in an exhibition or …
read moreSupport the free shopIf you can donate 24 Euros, we can support 50 people with salt. With a 44 Euros donation, we can provide toothbrushes to 50 people.With only 52 Euros, we can put sugar packages in 50 food bags.Your 60 Euros donation supports 50 people with a bag of rice.An 80 Euros donation can …
read more“No longer afraid to speak up” – A woman tells her story Six Years of EU-Turkey Deal visualised by the ICRC
read moreIntroduction to AthensWith OHF opening in Athens, we would like to give you a short overview of the Greek city: With more than 4000 years of history, Athens is Europe’s oldest capital and the birthplace of democracy. The city is home to around 660’00 people with more than 3 million in the greater urban area. …
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Handover to Europe Cares After the recent announcement of stopping OHF’s community center activities on Lesvos by the end of February, we are happy to announce that the premises of the center will continue to be available for organisations to run their programs and activities for refugees and asylum seekers on the island thanks to …
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Five years of One Happy Family Community Centre on Lesvos, means five years of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people involved in making the Centre what it is today. All of the moments from the last five years stay close in our hearts. All the experiences we had have allowed us to go differently through the …
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The Community Centre While on Lesvos there is an atmosphere of departure and reminiscence, the project in Athens is starting to grow and blossom.We have had the keys to the new Community Centre for around 5 weeks now. It is near Victoria Square in Central Athens. Entering the new building has a very different feel …
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This speech was given at the farewell by our Head of Security Ernest. It was too beautiful not to share!“Thank you everyone for attending to say goodbye to OHF Lesvos, before we meet again in Athens. Today is a special day for me, and very important for me to stand in front of you. Since …
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Meet Fotini! Our Greek teacher, our allrounder, coordinator of Sporos garden project at OHF, and as one of our community volunteers says, “one of the pillars of OHF”! Fotini, from Athens, has been with us for two years now. She met with OHF as she was continuing her university studies on the island. She started …
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