Reopening the Refugee Center in Serres, Greece
by: Hayley Smith, LHI Founder/Director
It’s safe to say that we’ve learned from personal experience how important exercise, mindfulness, personal space, and self-care are during periods of lockdown.
The LHI Greece team modeling their masks.
It’s those very activities that refugees absolutely need to maintain mental and physical well-being during years of displacement and isolation. Ironically, while we were discovering the importance of soothing activities during lockdown, the Yazidis who normally participate in programs at the LHI Refugee Center in Greece had to go without when we temporarily shut down back in March.
Nico and Nick prepared “The Field” after four months of foliage growth.
This being said, we wanted to reopen the center as soon as humanly possible so that genocide victims could have access to structured activities, classes, and recreation away from the camp environment, which can be stifling and monotonous after months or years.
However, the planning process for reopening the center during a pandemic is enough to scare most people away. Wedding or family reunion planning pale in comparison. It definitely would’ve been easier to just throw down our hands and give up. But, the mission of LHI is, afterall, to provide humanitarian aid to refugees. That means that we keep going, no matter what challenges arise.
So, after lots of planning, the center (lovingly called “The Field” by our beneficiaries) has reopened, an event we’ve been looking forward to for months! Let the healing and learning resume once again!
Making Italian food from scratch during the 14-day quarantine.
So, what does it take exactly to keep our Yazidi beneficiaries safe from COVID-19? Short answer: a lot of planning. We want to give credit where credit is due. The director and leadership teams of LHI in Greece collectivity spent dozens and dozens of hours planning out every and any potential situation. No rock was left unturned. Some examples of this intense planning include the following results:
How detailed is this risk assessment? And it’s actually much longer than this…
A 14-day quarantine for team members arriving in Greece, and quite a strict one at that
Detailed risk assessment
A small capacity of people allowed in each space at any given time
Mandatory face mask policy
Social distancing inside and outside spaces
No air conditioning, as per Greek requirements (think Greek summer plus tents = hot!)
And so much more...
We don’t know what the future holds, but whatever happens, we are prepared to keep our beneficiaries safe from the virus. Whatever happens, we’ll keep going.
Click here to learn more about our work in Serres and support the LHI Refugee Center.