Mission “refuGEN”

We would like to help spread the word about the following request from the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), that sees ecovillages and communities in action to help support Syrian refugees landing in Greece.

As we would like to have feedback about how many people we are able to reach, if you directly participate in this initiative in any way, we kindly ask you to send a short email to Macaco Tamerice at macaco@damanhur.it, telling us about how you are participating.

Mission “refuGEN”

Greece4

The flow of refugees from war-torn areas continues and crossing into the EU is a dangerous risk many men, women and children feel forced to take to survive. The Greek Islands and especially the island of Lesvos is the main entry point where many arrive in need of help; others do not survive the crossing. As the colder winter comes, the situation is becoming even worse. As ecovillages we stand for social justice and a humane world where people should not be hindered to seek their legal right to asylum in the EU. For this reason during the Green Phoenix meeting in Schweibenalp in November the initiative “refuGEN” was born and is now ready to act.

Our plan is to field a mission in the small city of Mytilini on the Greek island of Lesvos. We have already been there through our Team Member Anna of Skala and made connections with the local NGOs, municipality and university. Our mission will work seamlessly with local efforts and we aim to strengthen local capacities in Mytilini to utilize local residents and international volunteers to meet the needs of distressed refugees arriving, especially those who have lost family members, need medical care and remain on Lesvos a longer period. We are working with the local community to arrange our accommodations and identify the greatest need for refuGEN to fill. The refuGEN mission started its briefing in Greece December 20-23 and is on location in Lesvos since December 23. Both Anna and I, Robert are part of the first group of refuGEN volunteers on location before Christmas.

We now need your help. We need volunteers, financial support and materials.

VOLUNTEERS

People capable of helping others in need, with at least a minimum of basic skills in English are welcome to apply to become a refuGEN volunteer.

Greece5We need Arabic and Farsi (Persian) speakers and medical doctors and nurses, as well as people with good community/interpersonal/trauma relief/practical skills. You must be willing to stay at least 7 days, but the longer the better. Unfortunately we cannot promise any financial assistance with travel and food/accommodation costs. We hope to be 5 persons at all times, with a team leader staying a longer period, a medic, an interpreter and two more volunteers.

DONATIONS

If you can, please contribute to the refuGEN fund. It is for paying common costs of the mission that we cannot ask individual volunteers to pay for. If we collect enough money, we would like to help volunteers in financial need to help pay food, accommodation and possibly travel to the location. It is possible to donate via the GEN Europe PayPal account or GEN Europe bank account.

Please mark all donations with “refuGEN”.

Click here to make a donation through Paypal

For bank transfers
Postbank Berlin, bank code 10010010, Account no: 7681105
IBAN: DE 11100100100007681105, BIC: PBNKDEFF

GEN-Europe e.V. is a charity association – Donations to us are tax deductible depending on your country!

MATERIALS

Greece1We ask you to consider gathering needed materials to give to needy refugees. Many men’s clothes, but also women’s and children’s clothes, many socks, sleeping bags, tents, and blankets are needed. It’s important to sort clothes clearly by type and size. Here is a priority list:

FOOD
large cans of chopped/crushed/peeled tomato (not paste)
bags of dry lentils
bags of sugar
UHT long-life milk, 1 liter tetrabriks or larger
canned vegetables and mushrooms, meat-free
small package of biscuits (given at beaches)
small water bottles (given at beaches)
small tetrabrik orange juice (given at beaches)

large plastic storage bins

sleeping bags
thin fleece blankets
emergency foil blankets for use at beachesGreece3
pillows

CLOTHES
shoes for men European size 42-44
shoes for women European size 37-39
socks
trousers/pants for men
Iso-thermic underlayer tops and bottoms for men and women
winter hats and gloves

Please send the packages to:
“refuGEN” c/o Damanhur to Pikpa
Neapoli
GR-81100 Mytilene
GREECE

Please spread this request in your community and to trusted individuals connected to your community that you think could help with the refuGEN mission.

If you want to be updated day by day, please visit the refuGEN Facebook group

On behalf of the GEN Europe Council and the refuGEN team,
Robert

Related Articles

Damanhur at the UN climate conference

From November 12-17, 2016, Damanhurian Macaco Tamerice was at the United Nations climate change conference COP 22, which has been held every year for 22 years. This year it was held in Marrakesh, Morocco, and Macaco was one of the delegates, thanks to Damanhur’s participation in the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN).

RefuGEN clothing aid

We would like to turn our attention once again to what is happening in Greece, to the rivers of refugees arriving daily in search of a future, without finding suitable accommodations, and what the world of ecovillages is doing regarding the situation with the RefuGEN project.

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *