Support our community-led winter project on Lesvos

Winter has arrived on Lesvos. In the past weeks, our team started an emergency intervention inside the camp.  

We were called to action on the shelters as the bad weather damaged some newly built RHUs (Refugee Housing Unit) that were planned to be used to decongest the existing shelters. To prevent more damage and any incident – as some materials were blown away - we quickly intervened to collect and deconstruct all the problematic RHUs. With the help of our community volunteers, we took down 95 RHUs in less than two weeks. The next phase was to level and gravel the ground so the shelters can be rebuilt with more stability. Together with one of our Greek local partners – present since our Olive Grove projects in Moria camp – the whole zone was ready within a week. The next step is to rebuild and winterproof all the RHUs so they can house residents as soon as possible.

During winter, our Chai Point is busier than ever, as it provides warm beverages to all camp residents. Our Chai point team is working hard to provide relief to everyone who comes, with a free cup of tea and a big smile, whatever the temperature is. We hope to open the Chai Point more often as we are currently limited by our resources. With your help, we can make a warm cup of tea or coffee available to everyone. 

Lastly, we are planning to improve the showers and bathrooms inside the camp. The facilities have been under a lot of pressure in the past months due to the increase of camp residents, and many utilities are in need of urgent repairs, such as new locks, drains, or shower heads. We are also doing community outreach to improve safety issues such as safe access to toilets during the night, or maintaining the gender division between bathrooms. This program previously significant impacted the rates of incidents in the camp, and we are eager to do it again. With your support, we can start this program in the coming weeks. 

All our projects are run by our community volunteers. Together with our emergency intervention, we were able to recruit around 10 new members in our team. All our volunteers working in the camp received a winter package with some items to keep them warm during the outdoor work. Each volunteer received a set of thermals, a hat, a scarf, gloves, a rain jacket, and winter boots. This set of clothing only costs 10 euros, and makes a huge difference for someone working in the cold. 

Winter is just starting on Lesvos. Over the next few months, we will provide relief to all people living in the camp, whatever their needs are!

Thank you so much for all your support, it’s the only reason the people on Lesvos can receive the help they need!