https://samosvolunteers.org/

Dear friends, family, friends of friends, everyone!

I want to continue working with this amazing organisation, but I need your help!

In mid September, I arrived on Samos, a small island just 1.5km off the coast of Turkey. Here, 2200 people are currently living in a camp and reception centre designed for 700- many are crammed into containers barely fit to live in; many more are sleeping in tiny (non waterproof) pop up tents in the woods and surrounding areas of the camp- this includes families with young kids.

I am here volunteering with Samos Volunteers, an organisation with no paid staff. SV is made up of around 30 volunteers who work tirelessly to provide recreational activities and informal education to the men, women and children living in camp and in surrounding shelters, as well as clothes and necessities to new arrivals on the island. The number of volunteers is certain to dip, however, as we reach the winter months.

As soon as I arrived, I got stuck in with everything that SV does, including distribution for new arrivals, teaching English classes, and helping at kids and women's activities. I coordinate all of the women's activities that we run from our centre, Alpha, in Vathy town, which include sewing and knitting, and mama and baby time. As well as this, I am now managing the centre itself, supervising its day-to-day running. I've absolutely loved running and taking part in everything at the centre, as well as getting to know the people who come every day. Particularly, facilitating a safe space for women and their kids is so so important here: many women feel very unsafe in camp, and often won't be without their husbands or partners, so creating a space and providing activities where they can spend time together as women is really crucial. In December, I coordinated with the UN team for gender based violence, and we ran a discussion session for the women at Alpha, which was both really enlightening and empowering.

I would really love to be able to stay longer than the three months that I have just spent in Samos, so that I can contribute as much as I possibly can to this incredible organisation. Many volunteers come for a period of 1-2 months, so having people who are able to stay on longer term is such a benefit to SV, providing essential consistency to the vulnerable people that we work with.

Based on a budget of £450 per month (with £180 for accommodation, £160 for groceries, £50 for car rental and fuel, and £60 for unexpected costs) I'm asking for £1400 so that I might be able to return to Samos after Christmas and stay on for at least another three months. Even £15 means that I can stay for one extra day, and £7.5 is 12 hours, so any amount is helpful!!

I'd be so grateful for any kind of donation, or even just a share on social media if you're as poor as me! I'm also really happy to chat to anyone who wants to find out more about the situation here, or to provide information when I'm home in 2018.

Thank you all so much!

Xxx