Meet Kirstine! Today we want to say a special goodbye to our lovely volunteer Kirstine from Denmark! Kirstine has been with us for five months and has been making our social media shine, spark and flourish. She was inspired to come here to work as a volunteer because “at OHF, no matter skills or previous …
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Once again, the coverage of the situation for refugees at the EU external border has disappeared from the majority of the media. Therefore, we want to give an insight into the situation on Lesvos and inform about how the OHF has adapted to the current situation. We look forward to seeing many familiar and new …
read moreAfghanistan is facing a new, urgent crisis, and is fearing the consequences of the takeover of the Taliban. As a reaction to that, Greece is strengthening its borders out of fear of a new influx of frightened refugees. Migratory movements into Europe over land and sea are, until now, running as usual. However, the Evros Land …
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The long wait is over – the Gym has finally reopened!
The gym has been closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, however now we are able to open it as an outdoor space under new rules. The manager of the Gym, Rahman, is so excited.
But what does the security actually do? Is it only about looking like big policemen walking around speaking a secret language on a walkie-talkie? No – it is much different. The security team is the Welcome Committee of OHF. Ernest, our current Head of Security (read more about him in the Meet the Family part) …
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Our partner organisation Sporos has been working tirelessly in the organic garden over Spring and Summer, being busy with many new projects. All the hard work from Winter and Spring has paid off and now it is harvesting time. Zucchinis, cucumbers, tomatoes, and eggplants have been picked from the garden and given to visitors at …
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Esmatullah is a frequent visitor at One Happy Family. “I come to relax my mind”. I really appreciate and enjoy having a place to come outside of the camp. Inside the camp you see many people facing difficult times and problems. People wait for so long for an answer to their case and children lack …
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Mirto is one of our all-around volunteers. She, as well as other general volunteers, decides in our daily morning meeting which role and tasks are hers for the day. This means she gets to do a lot of different things at OHF. “The Online Shop is my absolute favorite job because you get to speak …
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Over the years we have had many incredible helpers and visitors from Afghanistan. The news coming from Afghanistan these past weeks have been extremely distressing to both see and hear. We all can do something, to help support Afghani people, both in Afghanistan and where they may be resettled in these coming months. The following …
read moreCovid-19 in Greece and Lesvos Since Monday July 26th, children ages 12-15 are now eligible to be vaccinated in Greece. Around 47% of Greeks are fully vaccinated. 10 out of 11 million Greek nationals have received at least one shot. In July, infection rates were comparable with those from April, just before Greece opened its …
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Daily business back at OHFThere is a great atmosphere here on the ground with the volunteers. Many of them have not seen the pre-covid days when we had more than 500 visitors a day. It is lovely to see happy visitors return, even if in limited numbers. Like every summer, our opening hours are now from …
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In July, portraits of residents from the Kara Tepe camp were installed in 16 different European cities, as an exhibition from the famous photographer, JR. The exhibition is part of the larger “Inside Out Project”. “Europe, Look me in the Eyes”, originally started in Lesvos, however it soon was echoed by groups across the European …
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Rahman is our all-around man at One Happy Family. He helps with everything from registration of our visitors, preparing lunch, and taking part in distributions. He joined the family last year by teaching in the gym at OHF when it was still open. “I hope the gym will open soon because I really want to …
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One Happy Family has always been able to continue its activities thanks to all of you! You were making all of this possible by supporting us with your thoughts and following our activities, but also by donating. After this chaotic year that we all experienced, the Community Centre is finally back to being its vibrant …
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More movement More and more people are allowed to leave the Mavrovouni camp (Moria 2.0), since restrictions began to lift in June. Many people are also allowed to leave the island, but not on official transfers and unfortunately, not with official documents. This is problematic because they are then stuck in Athens without access to official support. (Hier …
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