We have been back on the island since 13.9.21.
Fayad and I flew together with Sabine Sommerhuber, who is visiting projects in the spirit of Helga Longin in order to continue supporting them. After two days, Sabine flew on to Athens, where there is also a lot to do. We will fly to Athens on 26.9. to visit a house together with 2 other NGOs. We want to rent it together to offer help on the spot for people seeking protection and those entitled to asylum.
On Lesvos, we met Monika Weilguni from Linz/Upper Austria on the first day, who is using her holiday in September to join us in supporting people in need on Lesvos.
Monika has already been here since 1 September.
We have connected her with our volunteers, protection seekers from Afghanistan, who actively support her. Monika says: "I could not have done this work without your volunteers".
She already started registering families living outside the camp without any support the day after her arrival, together with Mohammad Ali, Esmatullah, Mohammad Reza, Omid and Sharef.
The people who have asylum and wait for weeks for their papers to be able to leave the island and Afghan families who have a negative decision receive hardly any social support and no money. This is a situation that we Austrians can hardly imagine. There is a lack of the most basic necessities, basic needs are hardly covered. The money that some families had saved is running out.
We decided to take care of about 80 families this time. Every 2 weeks a food parcel, hygiene articles as needed, children's and babies' parcels.
Monika has already registered half of the families, 180 people, with all their needs and legal status.
The first distribution has already taken place.
As of today, the remaining families are being registered. We are creating maps of exactly where the families live in order to avoid time and unnecessary costs during delivery.
Monika and I also visit the families to stay in personal contact. It is very important to us to give people the feeling of being seen and heard.
Many people have fallen ill and have had terrible experiences.
We are very happy that we have reliable partners in the medical field with MVI-Medical Volunteers International. One of their projects, besides the work in the camp, is "home visits". We arrange these visits upon request from the people concerned. This is a great help, because in situations like this, no one can cover everything alone.
Thanks to your support, we were again able to hand over €3,000 to a pharmacy in Mytelini, to be used freely forMVI (medicines, creams, cough syrups, etc.).
We also provide legal advice. Due to the current situation in Afghanistan, many Afghan people are up in the air. Poor communication on the part of the authorities, as well as despair and hopelessness after all the terrible experiences and waiting (Moria, RIC Camp Kara Tepe) often stand in the way of people getting their rights. The arbitrariness is very painful to observe and the question arises again and again when Europe, the member states, will finally be ready to tackle these challenges in solidarity and unity.
While we are here on Lesvos, we also support friendly NGOs on other islands. 2,600€ for food parcels to Kos seemed important and meaningful to us. Thanks to Glocal Roots for the organisation and upcoming distribution.
In the next few days, we will be visiting the shelters/houses we finance for people seeking protection, especially vulnerable people, and renewing tenancy agreements, etc.
General situation on Lesvos:
There are fewer people in the camp, many containers have been put up, but we still feel that the real living situation of those seeking protection is undignified.
And it did not change the desperate and hopeless situation in which most of the people here find themselves. No comprehensible communication on the part of the authorities, inadequate medical and psychological support, from the cold of winter into the heat of summer. Hardly any social links to the local population.
Those entitled to asylum and those whose applications have been rejected are currently not being paid at all, not even the 75€ per month.
In other words, people are unable to organise and acquire even the smallest basic needs on their own.
Those who would like to support our work in Greece, we are grateful to.
Association: "Refugee assistance-refugee assistance-doro Blancke
AT93 3842 0000 0002 7516 or
https://www.paypal.me/helfedorohelfen
Many thanks for standing up together for people in need and their rights, heartfelt thanks to all supporters, also to the #Courage initiative for its generous financial support. Gerhard Haderer's posters "Chancellor without a heart" were sold for the good cause. Thanks to all who participated.
We remain in solidarity.
