Refugee Support Europe: Bringing Dignity to Refugee Camps
Dignity. It is something so necessary for a human being’s self-worth, but something that is lost for so many refugees struggling to survive at camps. One group makes it their mission to change this. Meet this week’s profile: Refugee Support Europe.
Paul Hutchings and John Sloan founded Refugee Support in April 2016 after being involved in humanitarian relief in Calais. They used their backgrounds in business and market research to create a unique model of providing humanitarian aid in camps, centered on giving refugees a feeling of power, choice, and normalcy during a hectic period. This week we got the opportunity to interview Hutchings, who has taken a year off of work to fully devote himself to addressing the refugee crisis.
The Model
Instead of distributing food and clothing as handouts, refugees are able to shop for themselves in the free mini-market and clothes boutique Refugee Support sets up in the camp. Refugees “purchase” clothes once every three weeks using a point system. This system was piloted in Filippaida camp, then rolled out to Alexandreia and LM Village camps, where 100 points are given to adults, 50 to kids, and an additional 50 to pregnant women. They have set up a new shopping center in Katsikas ready for new arrivals in August. They have divided the shop into separate boutiques for men, women, kids, shoes, and a mini-market to make the shopping experience more enjoyable.
“We learned that the method of giving aid is important. We give out food and clothing but the way that we do it is important. We are trying to meet their need to be treated well; food and clothing are important but the focus is on showing respect more than anything.”
Off to a Great Start!
While governments and large humanitarian agencies often move slowly in addressing the needs of refugees, Refugee Support provides quicker and more personal responses that are able to better serve those in the camps. Larger agencies such as the Greek Ministry of Education have turned to Refugee Support for help, noting their ability to respond to refugee concerns in a flexible and effective manner. While food and clothing are their main focuses, Refugee Support does not hesitate to assist in creating better conditions for refugees when other agencies do not.
For example, when the Ministry of Education decided to run kindergarten classes on the camps, Refugee Support funded and built two large classrooms in Alexandria for the state to teach the 4–6 year old children. They have used those classes to run language lessons in English, German and Greek to 180 students.
With a permanent presence in three camps and a warehouse in a fourth camp, Refugee Support has clearly already made a large impact. They have had a total of 450 volunteers, with 30 volunteers at any one time and have running costs of about $6,000 per week.
Another mission Refugee Support has is to support the local economy in Greece. Greece has a very weak economy compared to the rest of Europe but has had to cover the cost burden of taking care of thousands of refugees. Therefore, monetary donations allow Refugee Support staff to buy what the refugees need locally, supporting the Greek economy. This also builds a bridge between refugees in the camps and the Greek population, fostering a more supportive atmosphere.
Where NeedsList Can Help
Hutchings hopes NeedsList will help provide guidance to donors, so they know they will not be sending unusable or unnecessary donations.
“People want to send things and it may seem like a great thing but by the time it gets here but it’s sometimes not needed anymore, it’s environmentally not sustainable, and can be unsuitable. For example, tuna came in brine…but they wanted olive oil. It didn’t come with a peel top and then we had to buy can openers.” — Paul Hutchings
Refugee Support intends to use NeedsList to raise money for specific projects, which always align with their mission of providing immediate, dignified aid to refugees. Currently, they are collecting t-shirts to distribute to refugees in Northern Greece.
NeedsList is very excited to work with Refugee Support Europe and can’t wait to see all the new projects we can support them with. Click here to purchase their first need: t-shirts for only $3.30, and help provide dignity to refugees. Read more at needslist.co
