I have decided to postpone my Masters this year in order to teach English and French to refugees across three refugee camps in Ioannina, Greece.

At the moment thousands of refugees are stuck in limbo in overcrowded camps across the world and are waiting to hear their fate and whether or not they will be allowed to stay in safety. Eventually, many will integrate into Europe and I believe that they deserve to do so with dignity and respect. Thus, I think that providing language classes and social activities is a good place to start in terms of supporting their integration.

I will be volunteering with Second Tree, who are a Greek, non-profit NGO who focus on integration, education, support and community building. Their immediate objective is to provide a safe healing space that allows refugees to process their reality; that is welcoming, empowering, and builds the necessary foundations for students to re-engage in mainstream society again. By teaching languages following the European Framework for Language Reference (CEFLR) syllabus, my lessons will ultimately prepare students to take a formal language certification test.

So, I will be leaving next Monday and I will be living in a refugee camp for the next 3 months. The position is entirely voluntary and I will be responsible for paying all costs including some teaching resources. So, if you would like to help me, help them out, donating a small amount when you can would help me to stay out there for as long as possible teaching, as there is obviously a limit to how long I can work being unpaid. All donations are extremely appreciated and of course any money I do not use to buy necessities to sustain myself, I will donate to Second Tree to fund teaching resources and other initiatives.

Many many many thanks in advance. I really appreciate your support! xxx