Mr. N.,
beneficiary of the psychological counseling and psychotherapy service at the Athens Solidarity Center
It’s afternoon on Tuesday 11 September 2018 and Mr. N. is about to attend one of his scheduled sessions with the psychologist at the Athens Solidarity Centre (ASC). In a few minutes, he will be informed that he has been granted refugee status. One year ago, in October 2017 Mr. N. came to Greece from Yemen, fleeing from his birthplace, on the grounds of his religious beliefs. Upon his arrival in Greece, the first three months were extremely difficult, considering his mental condition caused mainly by his relationship with his family the members of which remain in Yemen. Having spent all his money in his effort to make ends meet, Mr. N. decided to visit ASC in order to be assisted on his troubles.
The first day at the ASC, Mr. N came along with a friend of his and he was informed about the pro bono services provided; however, he did not feel comfortable to speak with a social worker in front of his friend in case the latter considered him weak. A few days later he visited the Centre again and met with a social worker. As he was explaining to the social worker what he has been through, he burst out in tears. Having understood how vulnerable he was, the social worker advised him to attend psychological sessions. One of the psychologists of the Centre immediately responded to his request. During the sessions, the psychologist managed to help him in his efforts to settle things down in Greece and to re-establish his relationship with his family. As he mentioned, he felt safe with the Athens Solidarity Center team. Specifically, he stressed out that without psychologist’s and interpreter’s support he would have gone crazy somewhere in Omonoia square.
Besides, the psychologist suggested him to speak with a lawyer so as to put an asylum claim on, as he knows nothing regarding the legal matters. Finally, he attended appointments with the lawyers of Refugee Legal Support (RLS), one of the most recent partners in ASC that support and reinforce the Center’s existing services through fruitful and flawless collaboration. RLS lawyers worked towards Mr. N.’s case trying to reach his goals as far as the asylum procedure was concerned, being very informative and paying attention to every detail. Today, Mr. N. says that “SolidarityNow helped me a lot in all this process and now the psychologist, the interpreter and the lawyers are like a family to me”.
* Mr.N is one of the beneficiaries receiving pro bono services provided to vulnerable population groups (Greeks, refugees and migrants) at the SolidarityNow Athens Solidarity Center. Find more about the Athens Solidarity Center: https://www.solidaritynow.org/en/kentro-allileggiis-athinas/.