By IsraAID Staff | IsraAID Germany and Lesvos
Refugee Numbers on Lesvos Reaches All-time High
August saw a record high of asylum seekers residing on the Greek island of Lesvos, reaching 10,192.
The number of new arrivals reaching Lesvos by boat spiked in August, with some 1,668 individuals. IsraAID's mobile medical team provided emergency medical care and triage for all boats reaching the northern shoreline, and provided follow up for patients in the Stage 2 Transit Camp clinic, overseen by IsraAID nurses Ioanna and Marta.
As numbers of asylum seekers on the island increases, IsraAID staff is continuing to provide life-saving medical treatment within the Kara Tepe Refugee Camp, and runs the largest educational framework for refugee children, the School of Peace, in partnership with the graduates of the Israeli youth movement, Hashomer Hatzair.
Kompass Youth Refugee Program in Germany
IsraAID Humanitarian Fellow Naya Yassin writes about her first day working in Germany with the Kompass Youth program, which aims to provide integration support to young adult refugees through empowerment and community building.
"On my first day with IsraAID, I found myself on the shore of Krumme Lanke surrounded by a dozen young refugees to whom I was trying, often with not much luck, to apply glitter and funky body art as they ate watermelon with a spoon. While this might sound unusual to many, it is in fact just another day with the Kompass Youth project, which plans such events for refugee youth on a regular basis.
Kompass Youth is part of the 'Kompass' program that IsraAID Germany has started, seeking to nurture leadership and empowerment among refugees in Berlin. As the name suggests, Kompass Youth is designed for the younger generation of refugees who have not yet fully adapted to their semi new environment (all of them have been here for at least 2 years now).
The objective behind the lake photoshoot was to have the teens leave their comfort zone and work on their self-confidence. To properly join the Kompass Youth team that day, Aliza and I, the two IsraAID Humanitarian Fellows in Germany this summer, had to get into character and to dress up before leaving the office.
As one would expect from kids who had grown up in a conservative and relatively traditional community, just as I did in my small town of Arraba in Israel, many of the boys were reluctant to let me put anything on their faces, and a couple of them would wipe it away as soon as I was done putting it on. Eventually, they gave in and let me use glitter and paint all sorts of shapes on their faces.
The teens might not have realized it at the moment, but that tiny bit of glitter and that one different piece of clothing they agreed to wear took them one step out of their comfort zone, and helped them be more confident. To top it all, we have plenty of pictures to show for it, and which we will print out and give to them as reminder that they have the freedom to express themselves anyway they please and judgement-free."
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