From William Bendt, coordinator in Athens:
There are still somewhere roughly three thousand people staying in the port of Pireaus. Our Drop in the Ocean team here remains busy cooking food, maintaining the showers, distributing non-food items and tea as well as organising sports activities on a daily basis. We’re also glad to announce that as of yesterday we’ve set up a more welcoming space for our children’s activities. Every day we draw, skip ropes and play games with the little ones in the camp whom otherwise face long, hot days of boredom and naturally find it hard to contain their energy.
Besides maintaining our presence in Pireaus we’re now preparing to set up a couple of new projects in Skaramagas, an official camp near Athens. In order to hit the ground running we will need a solid group of enthusiastic volunteers eager to get busy.
We’re opening an adult community space with a range of events, training sessions and workshops running on a weekly schedule, as well as a mothers’ safe space offering facilities and support around all things maternal.
We particularly want volunteers with any of the following skills/backgrounds:
– People with construction experience
– Carpenters
– Gardeners
– People with skills/experience in arts and crafts
– People with experience in psycho-social support
– Yoga instructors
– Librarians
– Literacy and language teachers
– Breastfeeding counsellors
– People with experience in women’s care and infant care
– Arabic, Farsi, Dari and Kurdish translators
We’re also looking for general volunteers to help us deliver these services and spread some love around the camps in Pireaus and Skaramagas. So even if you don’t have any of the above skills there is still much you can do!
Ideally we would like volunteers to commit for at least two weeks but we welcome shorter-term stints as well. One week is our minimum requirement.
Does this sound like you? Then please send an email to frivillig@drapenihavet.no and have a look at our website http://www.drapenihavet.no for more information about our work.
Can’t join us here but want to help remotely? We would gladly recieve donations to help get our projects in Skaramagas up and running. Please visit http://www.drapenihavet.no/en/do-you-want-to-contribute/ for more information on how to contribute.