For the\u00a0protection of the most vulnerable refugee and migrant groups, special support centers \u2013already known as \u201cBlue Dots\u201d- for children, women and families are being operated\u00a0in more than 10 points across Greece to provide vital services, counselling and play in a single location.<\/strong><\/p>\n The BlueDot program is implemented by SolidarityNow, supported by UNICEF and funded by the European Commission – Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid Operations – ECHO.<\/strong><\/p>\n Everyday, SolidarityNow teams live the stories of the people they are helping and most of all they create new stories together with them. Stories which inspire\u00a0joy and hope. Small, everyday stories that we have collected and share with you ….<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n On the occasion of World Children Day, the #SolidarityNow team at the Refugee Reception Center in Drama, share some moments of\u00a0#<\/span>laughter<\/span><\/span>, relaxation and carelessness with the\u00a0#<\/span>children<\/span><\/span>, with the screening of a children’s\u00a0#<\/span>film<\/span><\/span>. We all enjoyed it so much! The old\u00a0#<\/span>tourist<\/span><\/span>\u00a0accommodations in the small spa town of Volvi, for the past year have been housing Yazidi families, as well as people from Congo, Somalia, Eritrea, Afganistan, Syria and Pakistan. Due to the diversity of the population and in the context of SolidarityNow Blue Dots program a barbecue was organized outside the Child & Family Care Hub. Everyone enjoyed themselves beyond borders and differences. They sang their traditional songs, they danced, they cooked and ate all together. The friends and family of SolidarityNow\u2019s employees were also there! SolidarityNow loves women\u2019s\u00a0#volleyball! Last Saturday, 23 teenagers-beneficiaries of SolidarityNow\u2019s Blue\u00a0#Refugee\u00a0Center* from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, had the chance to go to watch a volleyball match in the context of the\u00a0#Greekwomen’s #Volleyball Cup. The game took place in the indoor arena of the Municipal Stadium of Pylaia. The match was between A.C. Aris and A.O. Makropoulo. We would like to thank A.C. Aris Women\u2019s Volleyball Team and its Manager Mr. Yiannis Yiannakis for giving the opportunity to SolidarityNow\u2019s beneficiaries to attend the match and meet the team! In SolidarityNow we support the integration of refugees and immigrants in the Greek society through\u00a0#sports!<\/p>\n \u00abWhen toys talk\u2026\u00bb: When the girls from the Elefsina camp, held their handmade dolls in their hands, then suddenly\u2026the dolls found their breath and narrated stories that the gilrs could not articulate. The girls\u2019 stories met with a book tale. \u201cHow do you take your tea?\u201d Through this story, girls and dolls revealed big and tiny secrets, related to this daily habit. “Do you want to see the most important person in the world? ” With the occasion of World Children Day, the #SolidarityNow’s #Blue\u00a0#<\/span>Dot\u00a0<\/span><\/span>team at the reception center in\u00a0#<\/span>Thebes<\/span><\/span>, a game of hidden treasure for the children. The children\u2019s rights were transformed to games, peace posters, homemade smells, hide and seek, games, video, teasing, a clean environment, and discussion on the importance of knowledge … Parents and children, in groups or individually holding their “map” started looking … for their rights!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n In the Child Friendly Space* of\u00a0#<\/span>SolidarityNow<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in Drama, the story of the Whirl Witch who ate the children’s\u00a0#<\/span>toys<\/span><\/span>\u00a0was the inspiration to explain to the\u00a0#<\/span>children<\/span><\/span>\u00a0a basic right which, quite obviously, is often overshadowed: their right to play! Because as they showed us through their\u00a0#<\/span>drawings<\/span><\/span>, a world without toys is a bad\u00a0#<\/span>world<\/span><\/span>!<\/p>\n Recognizing the respective needs of the\u00a0#<\/span>beneficiaries<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and the lack of legal\u00a0#<\/span>information<\/span><\/span>, especially for the newcomers to the\u00a0#<\/span>Hospitality<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Center of Thebes, the SolidarityNow team, with the valuable collaboration of the Athens Solidarity Center, provided legal information in groups with the participation of families, single men and unaccompanied minors. The briefings were mainly related to asylum and rights issues and were given in Farsi, Arabic, Sorani, Kirmanji and Urdu. Participation was great and the\u00a0#<\/span>questions<\/span><\/span>\u00a0that were risen were answered by the experts and the relevant printed material.<\/p>\n SolidarityNow\u2019s Child Friendly Space in Drama, organized for the children a series of activities about the animal rights. Specifically, they started by showing them pictures that depicted animals\u2019 rights. Then, they discussed each picture, giving them the chance to say what it is depicted in each one. After that, they made a group project titled: \u201cThe Earth does not belong only to humans\u201d. On a cardboard, they drew and painted the Earth, putting around it different kind of handprinted animals created by the kids. Then, the children were asked what each animal might need. \u201cLove, care, food and water\u201d were some of their answers!<\/p>\n On September 1st,\u00a0SolidarityNow<\/span><\/span>‘s\u00a0Blue<\/span>\u00a0Dot<\/span>\u00a0team at the reception center in\u00a0Thebes<\/span><\/span>, organized a painting activity on large surfaces, thus participating in the\u00a0celebration<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of the Muslim Easter. We celebrated together with our beneficiaries in\u00a0Thessaloniki<\/span><\/span>! “Journey to the World of Emotions”<\/p>\n The 1st Experimental Workshop of the Child & Family Support Hub has been successfully completed through a journey full of colour, music and action! The children\u2019s smile and energy became our strength through to make the adventurous journey to the feelings\u2019 island of the composer, Manos Hatzidakis. Joy and sadness alternated while we were travelling through different landscapes and places with love being our guide.<\/p>\n Due to great participation, the action is going to be repeated for our little friends!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Music has no borders, no color, race or religion! Music brings us together! With this message the 30 children of our choir, composed of refugee children living at the Elefsina camp, sang in Greek, English and Farsi at the Haidari Botanical Garden. In the very center of Athens, SolidarityNow’s new Blue Dot hub welcomes everyday dozens of refugee children who come to spend their time but also to learn new, exciting things! Creative activities of art and theater, board games, books, painting, reading and singing as well a bunch of other activities delivered by the #SolidarityNow team, fill the hearts of these kids with joy!<\/p>\n The SolidarityNow Team of the #BlueDot Center in Kavalari organized its own gymnastic demonstrations at the end of the school year! The young beneficiaries of our program took part with joy, while their proud parents were watching and encouraging them! Are you afraid of the\u00a0lions? The\u00a0snakes; The\u00a0crocodiles? Our little friends and benficiaries of SolidarityNow’s BlueDot Elefsina project, however, seemed not to be scared at all! On the contrary, the visit of the Attica Zoological by the children and their parents living in the Elefsina camp, will surely be unforgettable as they met many of the animals for the very first time!<\/p>\n A very interesting and useful session was organized by our active team at Elefsina! “Loose parts” are objects that are not toys. Instead, everything can be used to play with emphasizing in the procedure rather than the result. Children at the Elefsina Refugee Camp, in the context of BlueDots\u00a0program by SolidarityNow, used plastic bags, branches and strings to bring in Greece something from the place they come. The result: some wonderful kites !<\/p>\n At Kavalari Thessaloniki, the BlueDot program team surprises us again and keep us posted on the following field activity: A very interesting and useful session was organized by our active team at Elefsina! Spring struck us to Kavalari, and the BlueDot SolidarityNow team together with our young beneficiaries celebrated it by making small indoor gardens! We picked up our materials, we grew our lawn, we put water in the pond, we decorated it with some stones and we planted nice flowers!<\/p>\n Each activity is the occasion for a new activity for SolidarityNow team at the Elefsina camp in the context of the BlueDot program. There are many ways to feel the concept of family, to create and ultimately to maintain what we call “family bonds”. The love that makes you feel another person like brother or sister has nothing to do with the blood. Love goes beyond the decisions of the grownups, the pain, or the conflicts!<\/p>\n The most important lessons of life come from the children. Children who think with their heart. And they express their thoughts spontaneously during the creative activities organised by SolidarityNow at the BlueDot project in Drama …<\/p>\n The highly creative\u00a0team\u00a0of SolidarityNow’s BlueDot in Faneromeni – Ioannina implemented an entertaining traffic education course for the young beneficiaries of the program. The BlueDot team of SolidarityNow in Drama, visited Serres Therapeutic Equestrian Center, along with 76 beneficiaries – including 45 children. We had such a great time playing, have a picnic, and of course horse riding!<\/p>\n Esra, one of our BlueDot beneficiaries, was still pregnant when we met. Our team was since by her side, providing the necessary counseling and care during her pregnancy. Time went by and the day came when little Ali was about to come to our world. With his father Mahmud we were waiting outside the door of the delivery room, when a nurse let us know about a slight that worried us a great deal. But finally, all went well and since then we don\u2019t enough of seeing our cute boy! The parents are more than happy! And so are we!<\/p>\n First day at school yesterday for the young beneficiaries of our BlueDot program at Elefsina, a program implanted by SolidarityNow, supported by\u00a0UNICEF\u00a0and funded by the EU. The BlueDot at Doliana team organised a very interesting, useful and … funny activity for the young beneficiaries of the program concerning the hygiene of their hands! The need of daily care and hygiene is imperative in all our structures – especially when it concerns the children! And when it is taught in a fun way, the kids never forget it!<\/p>\n We celebrate the first day of spring and the first day of the persian year – aka Norooz.<\/p>\n Beneficiaries of the program together with the team of SolidarityNow set the traditional table, cooked with the help of the NGO”The Other Man”, we dance we have fun!<\/p>\n Happy new year! \u039d\u03bfrooz Mabarak!<\/p>\n “Children here can rest, forget the war and the difficult journey they made and they can also express their dreams: one of them wants to become a horseman and another wants to work for NASA,” says a member of SolidarityNow team in the BlueDot in Serres where 45 children from Syria are\u00a0learning sports, are doing creative and artistic activities to develop their cognitive capabilities.<\/p>\n “<\/i>Blue Dots is the image of our world as envisioned by SolidarityNow \u2013 a planet where people will be equally treated and have the same opportunities living in societies based on solidarity and peaceful coexistence and this begins by helping children and families\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Epaminondas Farmakis, Managing Director of SolidarityNow.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the\u00a0protection of the most vulnerable refugee and migrant groups, special support centers \u2013already known as \u201cBlue Dots\u201d- for children, women and families are being operated\u00a0in more than 10 points across Greece to provide vital services, counselling and play in a single location. The BlueDot program is implemented by SolidarityNow, supported by UNICEF and funded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-human-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2081"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4356,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions\/4356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n* Iliaktida as UNHCR\u2019s partner has the management of Volvi Accommodation Scheme, through IATAP.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/a>\u201cThe sky is our limit\u201d.
\nWith these words the children of Elefsina hosting structure expressed the empowerment they experienced at the Adventure Park at Malakasa, challenging their physical skills, feeling like super heroes in this marvelous adventure!
\nWe would like to thank the Adventure Park for their kind hospitality.<\/p>\n
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\nWe would like to thank #Traumateddy and Shelley Deane for the offered opportunity.<\/p>\n
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\nEach child opened the box and smiled as they saw themselves in the secret box with the mirror.<\/span><\/p>\n
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\nChildren<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of all ages with their parents as well unaccompanied minors were drawing together aiming at the emotional expression of children and the cultivation of a spirit of\u00a0cooperation<\/span><\/span>. A professional\u00a0painter<\/span><\/span>\u00a0was there too, sharing his\u00a0knowledge<\/span><\/span>\u00a0on techniques of using the right brushes and\u00a0colors<\/span><\/span>!
\nAmong the participants was Ali, the leader of a single-parent family, who showed his children how paint big suns and hearts, while singing a cheerful song, saying: ” \u00abYou are the sky’s great\u00a0moon<\/span><\/span>, And I’ll become a\u00a0star<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and go around you. If you become a star and go around me, I’ll become a cloud and cover your face\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nIn particular, at the Children’s and Family Protection Hub\u00a0(Blue Dot<\/span>), on the occasion of the Eid Al Adha\u00a0celebration<\/span><\/span>, we enjoyed\u00a0food<\/span><\/span>, festive cookies made by the beneficiaries themselves, gifts for\u00a0children<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0songs<\/span><\/span>, dancing, and much laughter! People from different\u00a0countries<\/span><\/span>\u00a0– Syria, Congo, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine – were given the opportunity to\u00a0dance<\/span><\/span>\u00a0their traditional dances from around the world!
\nA multicultural feast, a celebration of\u00a0love<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and solidarity!<\/p>\n
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\nIn this special summer party organized by the SolidarityNow Blue Dot** team, the children left their life in the camp for a while and remembered how it is to play, have fun and sing carelessly.
\nBecause for All children, life must be\u00a0Joyful!<\/p>\n
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\nA\u00a0celebration<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0well<\/span><\/span>-being and\u00a0happiness<\/span><\/span>, where everyone has won. We shared smiles and gave medals medals to everyone – even to our youngest friends – and of course countless\u00a0applause<\/span><\/span>\u00a0for their wonderful effort and\u00a0courage<\/span><\/span>!<\/p>\n\n
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\nOur Blue Dot team in Elefsina, with the collaboration of the legal service of Athens Solidarity Center, realized a legal briefing to the inhabitants of the refugee camp of Elefsina.
\nDuring the two meetings,\u00a0the participation rate by both women and\u00a0men was high. At the end of the meetings, discussion was held, questions were answered and brochures with relevant information was distributed. The topics covered were human rights and asylum, family\u00a0reunification, etc.
\nAlso, a special reference was made to issues regarding gender violence and abuse.<\/p>\n
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\n“Facing the not ideal living conditions of the refugee camps, we took the situation in our hands and, through creative activities, we – together with the refugee children of 6 up to 10 yo- put big red Xs on the dangers they face in places they live. There were more than we we imagined, but we treated them with courage! ”<\/p>\n
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\nOur Blue Dot team in Elefsina, with the collaboration of the legal service of Athens Solidarity Center, realized a legal briefing to the inhabitants of the refugee camp of Elefsina.
\nDuring the two meetings, the participation rate by both women and men was high. At the end of the meetings, discussion was held, questions were answered and brochures with relevant information was distributed. The topics covered were human rights and asylum, family\u00a0reunification, etc.
\nAlso, a special reference was made to issues regarding gender violence and abuse.<\/p>\n
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\nOur staff together with our little\u00a0friends\u00a0have recycled the branches from the pruning of the\u00a0trees\u00a0and made\u00a0houses\u00a0for the children to discuss
\nthe concept of personal\u00a0space\u00a0and any feelings associated with it. Just think how hard is for the\u00a0children\u00a0to open up about the traumatic issue of the abandonment of their own\u00a0homes.
\nBut this activity also had its entertaining side! The use of materials has led children to use their\u00a0imagination\u00a0and work together!<\/p>\n
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\nAltogether they crafted\u00a0traffic\u00a0lights and traffic signs, and after the\u00a0children\u00a0learned about their usefulness, they played various interactive\u00a0games\u00a0to better understand the importance to respect the traffic rules and to be careful when being on the\u00a0road\u00a0– whether you’re an adult or a child!<\/p>\n
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\nSolidarityNow was beside them in during this joyful moment. We help the children get prepared and escorted them to the\u00a0school\u00a0with our interpreters and the scientific staff in order to work together with their teachers for their smooth integration.
\nThe reception of\u00a0children\u00a0by the\u00a0parents,\u00a0students,\u00a0teachers\u00a0and neighbors was really moving, with all these banners,\u00a0songs,\u00a0gifts\u00a0and treats.
\nSolidarity lessons into practice!<\/p>\n
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