Education Greece Project #56988

Support personalised education for refugee youth

by Better Days Greece

Project Report | Mar 30, 2023
2023 Quarter 1: moving forward with Gekko Athens

By Hadley Jackson | Communications and Fundraising Officer

Gekko Athens taking shape

We cannot thank you enough for your continued support for Better Days. In our early days providing emergency aid in the Olive Grove outside of Moria, it would have been difficult to imagine where we are today: preparing to open a brand-new educational centre in Athens. As we enter a new era, we want to thank you for making our work possible. Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or are new to the Better Days family, we would not be here without you.

The past year has been a time of reflection, growth, and preparation. At the end of 2022, we concluded operations of Themida Greece reaching 97% of our proposed target in identifying and delivering legal aid to unaccompanied children living on the streets of Athens. Through our annual needs assessment, we spoke with 57 service providers and 130 young people (15-24yo). The results of these conversations were invaluable. We learned that displaced young people in Athens are in need of services that lie at the heart of Better Days: trauma-aware psychosocial support integrated with high quality, individualized education. Thus, Gekko Athens was born. Our summer pilot program for 50 students launches in May.

As we conclude the first quarter of 2023, we are incredibly grateful to have exceeded our fundraising goal to secure Gekko’s core operational expenses. Thanks to your invaluable support, we are now able to shift our focus to building our team, designing our new space (see the first look!), developing curriculum, and welcoming a new cohort of Gekko students. We are therefore sunsetting our active GlobalGiving project, which has been fully funded, and introducing a new set of projects. With our new target population, displaced young adults living in Athens, comes new needs and challenges. Our new project, Personalised education for displaced young adults, details the context of our work in Athens and associated micro campaigns, like School supplies for summer program students, will allow us to fundraise for specific needs as they arise. Your support for these projects allows our students to build on their strengths, identify their goals, and work towards their dreams.

We were founded by the belief that powerful change can happen when people who care take action together. Thank you for choosing to be a part of the Better Days family and for helping us make the world a better place - one step at a time.

Please reach out to us at hello@betterdays.ngo with questions, ideas, or feedback. We would love to hear from you.

Beautiful wooden ceilings of Gekko Athens

Furniture waiting to move into the new space

Moving day!

Light streaming through the window at Gekko Athens

Links:

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Jan 19, 2023
Gekko Kids updates - 2022 last quarter report

By Anna Taxeidi | Compliance Officer

A Scholar’s Profile - The case of ‘B’

"Dear Better Days, I'm very excited to receive this great news. Your support has always been helpful and I feel elated about the renewal of the monthly support for the next two months. My classes are going on well and I've been involved in other extracurricular activities on campus." - says ‘B’, upon receiving the positive answer regarding his studentship renewal by Better Days.

Since his arrival in Lesvos in 2018 as an unaccompanied minor, and after tremendous efforts and a long educational journey through the formal and non-formal educational systems, he was able to take the Greek National Exams which he excelled at. As a result he received a scholarship at an international university. ‘B’ has not only overcome life’s obstacles but is now an exceptional second-year college student with a GPA of 3.8 out of 4. Driven by his humanity and compassion, he plans to direct his studies in medicine, the humanitarian field or sociology.

Besides his academic success, he is also very popular amongst his fellow students. He has been included in his university’s International Honour Program and was elected President of the College Society, and Ambassador of the College. When he is not participating in committees, he plays rugby and works out at the gym.

We are motivated by ‘B’’s story. In early 2021, ‘B’ found out about our Gekko Kids program supporting displaced youth aspiring to higher educational opportunities, and sought to be granted one of our Studentships. He was awarded with the Gekko Studentship for two consecutive years, which makes a vital contribution to his student expenses in Athens. Thanks to your support and contributions, as of September 2022, we have managed to secure another 4 studentships for students like ‘B’ who are either preparing for the National Exams (scheduled for June 2023) or attending university/college in Greece. In addition, we have furnished educational spaces and equipped refugee students attending formal education across Greece with student material, IT and books.

In other news, during the last quarter of 2022, Better Days has invested in internal growth, capacity building and development in areas that will allow us to sustainably replicate Gekko Kids in Athens according to the highest quality standards. To achieve this, we have complimented our team with new members, who have extensive experience in the humanitarian field. Our goal for 2023 is to certify yet another program of Better Days with international quality standards.

As of January we are officially in the business of finding the space that will host our activities. Our team in Athens is viewing properties and talking to partners and prospective students to help us define the needs and expectations of our target group. We will be getting back to you with more exciting updates about next steps, which will include photos from setting up our space, an introduction of our new educational team and our Needs Assessment’s findings for 2023.

Attached you will find our Gekko Kids project profile, which provides you with an insight into our philosophy, methodologies, and plans for establishing Gekko in Athens. Remember to stay tuned to our social media for first-hand information about our operational updates!

Links:

Gekko Kids Project

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