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We received a payout of €97.50

Alexander Hirsch
Alexander Hirsch schrieb am 07.09.2022

 My friends, 7 years later and the situation on Chios is still changing. This summer we’ve had a huge increase in landings and we remain the only provider of NFIs on the island. Once again, we really need your help to continue so we would like to provide you with some updates on the current situation on Chios and within our team.As it has been for a long time now, we remain the only team distributing NFIs on the island. This has inevitably brought a lot of pressure as we continue to try and provide the highest quality and services to displaced refugees coming to Chios.Since COVID19, we have been faced with a huge number of new challenges, including being stopped from attending landings. But we haven’t given up! We continue to open the biggest and only free shop on the island catering for the specific needs of the people.We stood strong during the years of the pandemic but Brexit brought more challenges. The fee that the Greek customs were charging to import the goods was so large that nobody could afford paying them. This brought a huge impact to our team and to other organisations all over Greece, putting a lot of pressure on non-U.K. based organisations to fill the gaps.Unfortunately, the challenges didn't stop there. With the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the already scarce resources and capital got even more diluted to support everyone affected, straining organisations and staff around the world. To try to cover the gap of supplies due to the challenges explained above, we started buying an enormous number of supplies in Greece. From the beginning of 2022 to today, we have spent over €20,000. Some organisations and many individuals have donated money to contribute to the cost of these supplies. However, we are now at a point where the running costs of the organisation are not covered for October, November and December this year.A couple of weeks ago, we had announced to all the actors present at the UNHCR protection meeting that we would have to initiate our exit policy if not enough funds were found by the 1st of October. However, my heart has changed direction since then. I wasn’t planning on doing a fundraiser as I know that everyone has been challenged by and contributed to support Ukraine and Covid-19. But the population on the island has increased again and yesterday, when we did a distribution for the unaccompanied minors in Vial that recently arrived on the island, we were all shocked at the sight of them arriving in bed sheets because they had nothing to wear. They also came in shoes that weren't their sizes or in long jeans that are unbearable in this heat. It was very hard to see, it blew all our minds.Before this distribution, I was calm and ready to accept the reality. But not anymore. We need to remain on the island and continue our sevices. Currently we have 450 people on the island of Chios. Around 100 of these are trying to integrate in the local communities but they too are asking for help as the cost of living rises to the point that food and electricity a barely being covered by their already scarce wages.By trying to fill the gaps, we have increased the number of projects we are doing which are currently:Food Project Free Shop Hospital Transfer Project Travel Bag Project Distribution of the Unaccompanied Minors Baby Baskets and Strollers Skin Infection Packs Supplies to other Organisations