Ritsona is one of the official refugee camps of the Greek government, about 60 km from Athens. Since June, more and more of our Kurdish refugees have been accommodated here, as the Greek government is now refusing financial support and housing to all those who do not live in official camps. The conditions are desolate, many families live together in very limited spaces. There are also problems with the religious communities. While Kurds and other peoples allow women to move around unveiled without any problems, this is not accepted by many Arab cultures, as is well known. In a very small and recently walled space, our refugees have to come to terms with this, not an easy thing to do.
We help with food bags, visits, encourage people and support them where we can.
At the beginning of July we were able to bring 7 families back to Lavrio. The children burst into howls of joy when they saw their "home" again, they had settled in very well with us.
We do our best and give hope!