Dimitra Sarantopoulou, a sociologist in SolidarityNow’s refugee accommodation center in Porto Heli, talks about her experience – the experience of someone who tries to help and stand by to the people in need.
Today, 350 refugees of Kurdish and Afgan origin, are hosted in the accommodation center of Porto Heli.

A team with a common vision
Dimitra is a member of the organization’s team involved in educational activities provided to the refugees – the team consists apart from Dimitra, a philologist, a gymnast and an interpreter. For Dimitra and the rest of the team, the goal is one and clear: “To create a small society based on the principles of tolerance and acceptance in which different cultures and cultural habits can coexist”.

The different daily routine of this work
“There are a lot I can say about our daily life, the work we do, the feelings we share, that I really cannot put my whole experience into words. I feel appreciation that I was given this opportunity and I consider myself trying, along with the other members of the team, for a better world. There is no better feeling than knowing you made someone happy even for just a while.
My main role as a sociologist is to study and record the interaction of our society with new cultures, which are governed by different relations, laws and religions.
In parallel, it is my duty to try introducing in beneficiaries’ daily lives new habits and customs which will contribute to their smoother integration within the host society. Based on this principle and as a result of a great effort, we have created a small school which operates in the accommodation center. The entire team, with love for what we do, with persistence and patience, we were able to make feasible a dream that we thought impossible in the beginning! In order to have an effective school we have distinguished among the beneficiaries of different age groups and created a program able to engage all groups simultaneously and for as much as we can.
At school, beneficiaries are taught English and Greek, whereas one of its operational objectives was the creation and production of a guide with basic information that a refugee needs to know, in Arabic and Kurdish. Other activities included in the school program are gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, football and of course special activities for children such as art activities, singing and dancing – through the latter we become kids too!”.

I try…
“…in order to support them to catch the thread of their life from the beginning. I joined the organization Solidarity Now, which is trying to provide the least to people in need: a decent shelter, humane living conditions and food, opportunities for integration into Greek society, education”.

Present is part of the future
“I cannot think of the future; I prefer to think about the present. I just want to continue offering strength, courage and support to those who really need it”.

*The Hosting Scheme Project “Home for Hope” is implemented by SolidarityNow with the support of UNHCR GREECE and EU funding.