By Marina Burke Ruiz | Project Coordinator
The past three months have been fruitful at Habibi.Works. Although hotter temperatures have forced us to shorten our opening hours, our makerspace and community center has been full of activity and new initiatives. Most recently, the Free Shop opened. A subproject of Habibi.Works, it provides individuals with high-quality hygiene products at no cost. Open four days a week via appointment, it was created to address the gaps left by inadequate cash support and poor living conditions in refugee hosting facilities in Greece.
The unique position of Habibi.Works as a commnunity makerspace means that we often consider questions such as how we can better facilitate access, whether it be to knowledge, resources, or opportunities. By opening a Free Shop, we hope to welcome new participants into our space and ease financial stress for families. In it's first 15 days of operation, 304 households were registered, consisting of 661 individuals.
Beyond the doors of Habibi.Works, we have not seen any major physical changes in the Katsikas refugee camp 300 meters away, although there have been rumors of a further expansion for some time now.
In the nearby city of Ioannina, we benefitted from the warmer temperatures to hold some outreach events. In May, we held our second annual pop-up book fair in the city center, where we gave away over 120 free books to local residents, using the opportunity to make new connections. In June, we held a film screening in a cafe, showcasing the stop motion films made by two residents of the camp who attended the Stop Motion Animation training held at Habibi.Works, led by Hirundo Animation NGO.
We've also welcomed new partners onto our site, such as Med Equali, who is providing medical consultations to asylum-seekers on the Habibi.Works premises twice per month. At the same time, our own team has seen some internal changes, and we have benefitted from the energy and ideas of new team members in the sewing, bike, kitchen, wood, and computer workshops. Most recently: a week-long construction project to create an outdoor amphitheater where people can sit and enjoy.
Overall, lots of new initiatives have sprung up during the spring and summer months, including our community garden, now providing weekly vegetables for our kitchen. Daily, we prepare a warm and fresh meal for all.
As you can see, things don't slow down too much around here!
Thank you to everyone who is with us on this crazy journey -- your support powers ours.
All the best,
Marina & The Habibi.Works Team
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