Jafra Refugee Support and Community Building
Tax deductible
Jafra Foundation in Greece is partnering on a fundraising campaign with Finding Refuge, an organization that aims to end homelessness of displaced people - migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers - in Athens, Greece. This crucial campaign aims to fill the gaps left in housing and educating refugees due to lack of access to education for migrants and the EU and UNHCR budgetary cuts for accommodation of refugees.
Jafra Foundation, based in Athens, is working on mitigating these crises faced by refugees in Greece by implementing educational programs and conducting enriching activities for children and young adults. Indeed, young adult refugees often find themselves in the challenging situation of not being able to attend school because of their age. At the same time, they experience great difficulty in finding work in Greece due to their lack of educational and vocational skills given the violence and instability in their home countries that disrupted their education and work as well as struggles due to forced migration and exile in a new country with a new language. Despite these difficult and often traumatic circumstances, many young refugees are still trying to improve their educational skills and gain vocational training in order to find work.
What we at Jafra are trying to do with our non-formal, educational and professional programs is to put an end to this vicious cycle of exclusion of refugees by empowering them so they can live independently and be full contributors to their host communities. Now, more than ever, Jafra needs your support!
With the recent closure of seven squats providing housing to refugees in Exarchia and the surrounding neighborhoods in Athens, most of which had provided some form of education to children and young adults, we are expecting an influx of people seeking help at Jafra, as we are one of the last remaining sites providing such services to refugees in Athens.
Therefore, this is a call to action to help us raise $3,500 by the end of October. Your support would enable refugees to pursue one of their fundamental rights: the right to education and to develop as individuals as they start building their lives in a new country.
As we are a foundation, rather than a governmental school, our goal is to develop a non-formal syllabus that puts refugee's specific learning needs as a central goal.
Indeed, through our educational program for refugees and migrants we aim to:
1. Alleviate refugee suffering; for those who have fled war and catastrophe-stricken countries.
2. Empower refugee communities through:
· Structured and enriching language courses
· Safe spaces for women to express themselves, learn, and grow
· Vocational courses such as hairdressing, barbering, photography, journalism, and music instruction
· External workshop and training programs around self-development, employment and wellness
3. Empower youth by including them as active stakeholders in all stages of the development process for Jafra activities, programs, and projects
4. Establish and implement new activities based on current needs of the local refugee community
5. Plan and implement programs and projects based on the principles of sustainable development.
We currently work with around 300 beneficiaries who frequent the Jafra center every week.
Adequate funds are needed to continue with the vital work and to succeed in our objective of empowering the local refugee community.
This campaign has been established to support our efforts for 3 months , totalling to €3000 or ~$3,400. The goal of $3,500 was set to cover transaction fees.
Please see pictures below from some of the projects and programs we have implemented in the past!
Language courses for young adults taught by volunteers and Jafra members
Guitar lessons for children and young adults taught by Jafra members
Barbering course taught by Jafra members
Tailoring course taught by Jafra members
Langauge course taught by Jafra members in women's safe space
Tailoring course taught by Jafra members
Computer Skills course taught by Jafra members
Jafra Foundation, based in Athens, is working on mitigating these crises faced by refugees in Greece by implementing educational programs and conducting enriching activities for children and young adults. Indeed, young adult refugees often find themselves in the challenging situation of not being able to attend school because of their age. At the same time, they experience great difficulty in finding work in Greece due to their lack of educational and vocational skills given the violence and instability in their home countries that disrupted their education and work as well as struggles due to forced migration and exile in a new country with a new language. Despite these difficult and often traumatic circumstances, many young refugees are still trying to improve their educational skills and gain vocational training in order to find work.
What we at Jafra are trying to do with our non-formal, educational and professional programs is to put an end to this vicious cycle of exclusion of refugees by empowering them so they can live independently and be full contributors to their host communities. Now, more than ever, Jafra needs your support!
With the recent closure of seven squats providing housing to refugees in Exarchia and the surrounding neighborhoods in Athens, most of which had provided some form of education to children and young adults, we are expecting an influx of people seeking help at Jafra, as we are one of the last remaining sites providing such services to refugees in Athens.
Therefore, this is a call to action to help us raise $3,500 by the end of October. Your support would enable refugees to pursue one of their fundamental rights: the right to education and to develop as individuals as they start building their lives in a new country.
As we are a foundation, rather than a governmental school, our goal is to develop a non-formal syllabus that puts refugee's specific learning needs as a central goal.
Indeed, through our educational program for refugees and migrants we aim to:
1. Alleviate refugee suffering; for those who have fled war and catastrophe-stricken countries.
2. Empower refugee communities through:
· Structured and enriching language courses
· Safe spaces for women to express themselves, learn, and grow
· Vocational courses such as hairdressing, barbering, photography, journalism, and music instruction
· External workshop and training programs around self-development, employment and wellness
3. Empower youth by including them as active stakeholders in all stages of the development process for Jafra activities, programs, and projects
4. Establish and implement new activities based on current needs of the local refugee community
5. Plan and implement programs and projects based on the principles of sustainable development.
We currently work with around 300 beneficiaries who frequent the Jafra center every week.
Adequate funds are needed to continue with the vital work and to succeed in our objective of empowering the local refugee community.
This campaign has been established to support our efforts for 3 months , totalling to €3000 or ~$3,400. The goal of $3,500 was set to cover transaction fees.
Please see pictures below from some of the projects and programs we have implemented in the past!
Language courses for young adults taught by volunteers and Jafra membersGuitar lessons for children and young adults taught by Jafra membersBarbering course taught by Jafra membersTailoring course taught by Jafra membersLangauge course taught by Jafra members in women's safe spaceTailoring course taught by Jafra membersComputer Skills course taught by Jafra membersFundraising team (2)
Lena Az
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
Finding Refuge
Beneficiary
Ghania Chaudhry
Team member