Written by Bjørn Gunnar Saltnes
Bjørn Gunnar, Cand.Paed (M.Ed), has worked in Scandinavian University Press and Aschehoug. After retirement, he volunteered as human rights observer and ecumenical accompanier in Palestine. He volunteered with a A Drop in the Ocean in Nea Kavala for three weeks.
In February and March, Ingrid Jooren volunteered in the Nea Kavala refugee camp in Northern Greece. On a daily basis, Ingrid works as an administrative coordinator at Young Lives, an international study of childhood poverty at the University of Oxford. When she volunteered, Greece experienced its coldest winter in 40 years, with temperatures reaching -20 degrees Celcius. In a blog post, she describes the difficult situation that the refugees in Nea Kavala live under, and also reflects on her time as a volunteer.
A Drop in the Ocean want to collect great photographs that are depicting life as a volunteer for the organisation. We are therefore launching a photo contest where the winners will get a small gift from our Dropshop. The best pictures will be featured on our website and in social media.
A Drop in the Ocean need volunteers who can travel to Greece in April. We need volunteers from 8th of May in Athens and we need volunteers in Nea Kavala in Northern Greece from 16th of April.
During the last one and a half years A Drop in the Ocean has sent approximately 3,000 volunteers from 35 countries to Greece to aid refugees. In this sea of volunteers we have an inexhaustible source of experiences and skills that daily improves our organization and how we work. Recently, two volunteers created The Drop App, an app that has revolutionized the way we organize warehousing and distribution in the refugee camp Nea Kavala.
