Help Us Help Refugees - Medical-Psychosocial Care

Dear friends, family, colleagues,

We are Daan and Zarah and we have been volunteering for Boat Refugee Foundation (BRF/Stichting Bootvluchteling) in the second largest refugee camp in Europe ‘Mavrovouni’ located on Lesvos, Greece. We, BRF and the refugees need your support.

BRF, a Dutch NGO, is active on Lesvos since 2015 providing medical and psychosocial care to a vulnerable and marginalised population. Furthermore BRF provides advocacy, reporting on human rights violations and negotiating with the Greek and European governments. The foundation is professionally run by teams in the Netherlands and Lesvos but relies on volunteers to provide services in camp.

Currently the situation in camp is rapidly deteriorating. Within two months, the population has grown from 2.500 to 5.000 with 200 new arrivals every day. There are outbreaks of infectious diseases and food given out is limited to one meal a day. Meanwhile, the new government is reducing resources and access for anyone who wants to provide aid. BRF has been the only NGO in camp providing medical and psychosocial care 7 days/week and although essential, our position is threatened politically and physically.

We, Daan, medical doctor, and Zarah, psychologist, have joined the BRF volunteering team in July/August. The work has been both heartwarming and heartbreaking and marks a turning point in our careers. Right now we ask for your help in two ways. First off, BRF is in need of financial support. With the growing number of camp residents, our medical program on Lesvos is running out of everything to keep the clinic running: medication, wound care materials, medical equipment, infection prevention materials. Secondly, as our work these last months has been fully uncompensated and have drained our savings, we personally ask for a donation to support our cost of living (food, transportation, fixed charges).

Through this page, you can make a donation, 20% of which will support us, 80% is directly forwarded to our financial officer, making sure every cent will benefit the medical program on Lesvos. To donate directly to BRF and for more info on their work, visit www.bootvluchteling.nl. For details and updates, contact us through a comment (there is so much going on!).

“No-one puts their child in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.” Warsaw Shire, British-Somali poet.