REFUGEE, MIGRANT + HOUSELESS PEOPLE’S MUTUAL AID SUPPORT
Doing More with your Trip—MUTUAL AID:
Like fungi, lichens, and in reality, humans as well as all life on this planet, there is an exchange—an ancient one—that is supportive, obligatory, communal, and life giving. We need each other. Nothing survives on its own, and we want to give support to those who are in Greece, and not because they had any choice to be.
We get to explore and travel freely. We are allowed to pick our own experiences and return to our homes with the feelings of freedom, relaxation and security. However, there are people who came to Greece, not for holiday, but in order to survive and to reach family in other countries. Millions of climate and war refugees have traveled by land and sea to flee their homes and ended up, for lack of a better word, stuck in Greece because the EU has closed borders, and politicians play games with people’s lives. Obtaining services are lengthy processes, and housing, schools, camps and centers are beyond capacity and often unavailable. Refugee camps are often outdoor, open-air prisons, a living hell and a crime to humanity.
We have partnered with locals who are on the ground, organizing with other citizens and organizations to supply people in squats, camps, families and refugees with the care and support that is needed. Below is a list of items that are welcomed. If you are interested in joining in on the ground efforts, please get in touch and I can give you suggestions.
We chose to engage with people and autonomous groups within local and refugee communities who are self-organizing versus working with large non-profits. We do this because we see the result of direct action versus bureaucratic red tape that goes along with non-profits and NGOs.
List of groups we support and nonprofits doing really incredible work:
room39 (Food not bombs! in Thessaloniki)
Solidarity with Migrants FB page - Athens