Creating Dignified Lives for 1.000+ Asylum Seekers

Warm Updates from Habibi.works: New Seasons, New Team Members, Same Effort and Joy

These last four months in Habibi.works started in the warmest way, with the Eid celebration. At the end of March, we organised an Eid gatheringwith many of our community and team members, where we shared food, dances, and great moments, From the afternoon onwards, more than 200 people joined the space to enjoy a shared meal, tea and coffee and, of course, a lot of music and dancing, The space was vibrant, filled with energy and joy!

TEAM:

In May, two new coordinators joined the Habibi.Works Team in Greece: Elena, our new communication officer and Sole, our fundraising officer.  Elena and Sole are completing the coordination team with Francisco (special focus on accounting) and Ursula (special focus on recruiting)., ready to contribute to the evolution of this beautiful space. We also welcomed our new Free Shop Officer, Alice, who right away put all her energy into the space.In these past months, more than 2400 appointments were given for the Free Shop of Habibi.Works alone. We also welcomed  Ketki, our new remote fundraiser officer, whose precious skills are supporting the team onsite. Furthermore, with summer coming, new short-term members joined the team: in May for the Kitchen Supervision and in July for Wood Workshop and Bikes. While the new arrivals brought a wave of enthusiasm, in May we also had to say goodbye to one of our amazing sewing supervisors, Nadezha,  who, together with our expert, contributed to keep the atelier active and efficient, realizing more than 680 appointments with participants in  the sewing atelier

ACTIVITIES:

In this last quarter, more than 4950 dishes were served during community dinners, thanks to our wonderful kitchen supervisor and supporters which contributed with delicious spiced recipes and innovative ingredient pairings. 

In Habibi.Works, not only do we eat together,  we also exercise together. Indeed, since the last months of spring brought warmer weather, we organised different outdoor activities, like volleyball and football games, with many enthusiastic participants every week. Moreover, thanks to the involvement of a new boxing coach from the community, weekly boxing sessions were organised with around 50 participants in total. 

Besides sports, we also expanded our knowledge: from May onwards, we kept up the weekly language cafés in German and French, which continue to generate great interest among community members. Lastly, our daily English lessons are carried out with unwavering enthusiasm thanks to our amazing team member Dido, who is offering classes across six different levels.

VISITS:

Continuing with more positive updates, June brought many inspiring visits that enriched our month. First of all, Mimi, our Habibi.works co-founder came for one of her regular stays, this time supporting us during the transition of the new coordination team. Together with Mimi and Esther, a former team member visiting our remote fundraising officer Ketki also had the opportunity to visit the space and engage with the community. During the same week, a group of students from the CAS Art & Peace programme in Basel organised a photography and creative workshop, entertaining both adults and children while leaving us with beautiful pictures and colourful paintings.

Later on, a group of Architecture students from Metropolitan University of London, who were visiting grassroots organisations in the area and researching sustainable materials, spent time with us. Together, we built a backgammon board using recycled cardboard, which was then decorated by people at Habibi.works. In the following days, the team from MamaGea, a non-profit organisation focusing on environmental awareness, came to prepare and share a meal with us while exchanging ideas for our community garden and new recipes. Throughout the month, Habibi.works has continued to be a space full of diverse people bringing new projects, fresh ideas, and joy.

These last months had been full, vibrant and refreshing for Habibi.works. Thanks to the support of partners and donors, the team ensures that the constantly-changing community members could enjoy the makerspace and all its additional offers. 

Thank you again for the support! We look forward to updating you after the summer.