Living Under Coronavirus Quarantine


Αthanasia Papiggi, Student Group Coordinator STARTnow

A few months ago, none of us would believe someone saying that we would be forced to stay home for a long time. We would say that all this is a bad joke. But COVID-19 changed our lives and the bad joke became reality. After the first shock, we come to awareness and then we start dealing with the problem. The students – volunteers of SolidarityNow’s STARTnow program, although being isolated in their homes, have searched and found solutions to spend their time creatively.

It is worth noting that, SolidarityNow in collaboration with STAR UK implements a program named STARTnow. In particular, refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, by participating in conversation clubs, come into contact with Greeks and learn Greek. Learning the Greek language through unconventional methods of education (discussion, interactive games, audiovisual media) can lead to faster and smoother integration of people into the Greek community. Due to COVID-19, and for precautionary reasons, scheduled meetings were canceled. However, the students, volunteers of the program, tried – even from their homes – to share with us their new daily life.

Maria, a volunteer, who studies Psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, tells us that because of the quarantine, she cleaned her whole house. In addition to cleaning, exercise and dance are two of the most favorite pastimes of many students. Two volunteers, Vicky, a student at the Pedagogical Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Glykeria, who is studying Psychology, confess that they attend online dance classes, as well as concerts. Universities may be closed, but lectures continue through various video platforms. Movies, books, documentaries, and TV are also some of our students’ favorite habits, as well as cooking. Apparently, quarantine boost our creativity in the kitchen too! Painting, decorating, board games, but also taking care pets or even gardening are some of our volunteers’ favorite activities.

Talking to them, we are amazed at how many things people can do when they are “locked” in their homes. There is a question on all our minds. Does quarantine and isolation give us eventually the opportunity to discover new aspects of ourselves?

We would like to thank our students-volunteers Maria, Anastasia, Christos, Angela, Vicky and Glykeria, Natalia, Maria, Elena and Christina and Zoe who described us how they are experiencing home quarantine.


* STAR UK is a national charity of 34,000 students welcoming refugees to the UK.

** STARTnow is a SolidarityNow project in cooperation with STAR UK. Its main aim is to bring university students and refugees together, to encourage and educate university students in order to offer real help to refugees as well as to promote equal opportunities for everyone, no matter what their origin, sex, mother tongue or colour is.