Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I have been touring refugee camps in Germany and Greece since 2015, playing oud and singing popular Arabic songs and listening to people's amazing stories of courage, survival and perseverance.

Music and language are my ways of meeting and learning from these heroic human beings, bridging cultural and circumstantial differences and creating a meeting space on which to build mutual acceptance, respect and understanding.

It also provides something familiar in unknown and often hostile surroundings and uncertain and unstable situations. A nostalgic reminder of the homeland where they feel far away, lost and alienated and perhaps an encouraging sign that they can bring some of that with them in the form of their cultural identity. A hope that they can create home elsewhere, anywhere.

Having been joined by colleagues at different stages of the journey, including musicians residing in the camps and shelters where we played, it is now my immense pleasure and honour to be collaborating with my dear colleagues at Amos Trust, who have been so supportive, by joining Stage 14 of their Just Walk to Jerusalem, which left London in June. http://www.amostrust.org/amos-palestine/just-walk-to-jerusalem/change-the-record-gallery/#gallery-2879 The walk is to commemorate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration and advocate for equal rights for the Palestinian people.

We will be giving concerts and workshops for the Palestinian and other refugee communities in Thessaloniki on the 20th and 21st of this month, produced by Justin Butcher, as well as stopping at the refugee camps along the route to give informal concerts and workshops for children and adults residing there. This will be subject to permission from the local authorities in charge and may sometimes have to take place in nearby venues outside the camps.

Your generous help and support is of course essential to enable us to successfully carry out this work and any donations will be gratefully appreciated. You will receive regular updates on our progress and events via this page and there will be a blog on www.musicwithrefugees.org and https://www.facebook.com/musicwithrefugees/ as well as links to other walkers' blogs and photographs to keep you updated and involved.

Many Thanks for your kind interest and support

Warmest Regards

Julia Katarina

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