Περιγραφή
Samos Volunteers (SV) is a grassroots NGO providing hygiene, informal education and psycho-social support to 6,000+ displaced people living on Samos, Greece. We arrived on the island in the autumn of 2015, as a response to the escalating crisis. From the beginning, SV supported local residents who provided emergency assistance to the people arriving on the island from Turkey. The group has come a long way since then. We are now a widely recognized and established organization. SV answers to the needs of the people in the refugee camp in Vathy. As the needs in the camp change frequently, so does our role. For a long time, SV was predominantly involved with the distribution of Non-Food Items. In January 2017 our focus shifted to psycho-social activities. We provide language classes, such as English, German, French and Greek, and organize recreational activities for children, women and men. In May 2017 we opened the doors of our community center: the Alpha Center. Having our own location allows us to provide to more people than ever and we will keep expanding, developing and improving. Besides the educational and recreational activities, we also still work as an emergency response team. As refugees arrive at the camp after a horrifying journey, we provide them with a ‘new arrival kit’ consisting of clean and dry clothing, socks, sandals and baby milk. Samos Volunteers is completely privately funded and all of the donations that we receive go directly to the organization. All of the projects, activities and classes are run by volunteers who are responsible for their personal expenses. As for the number of activities that we run, we generally work with a group consisting of around 30 people, from all different nationalities, age and background.