Moria Sisterhood Project

The initiative has worked in the last weeks to distribute basic hygiene items to women and families living in Moria.
A self-organized group of women living both in the camp and in Mytilene, speaking eight languages and coming from places all around the world, who have gone tent to tent, container to container to understand what people need, pack bags of supplies to meet these needs, and then deliver them to the people. They do so in solidarity with those most impacted by the current situation, and as a form of mutual aid.
The women they support are often neighbors, friends, community members from the same cities, regions, or countries as the women in their group. As people living and working on the border of Europe through this crisis, they see the impact of these overlapping crises—of borders, of COVID-19, of xenophobia, racism, and systemic neglect of those seeking asylum—first hand.
They will continue their work to support those among us most heavily impacted by recent events, but they also need your support to do so. 


The world as we have known it is currently being reshaped by a pandemic that has inspired anxiety, fear, and increasing isolation for people all over the world to contain the virus. Fear and anxiety at the already staggering impact of the pandemic on our societies, and at how much we seem to still not to know.  What we do know, however, is that this crisis has been used by increasingly authoritarian states to pass strict measures of social control, to close borders, and to push through measures that would have otherwise been met with heavy resistance. What we do know is that pre-existing inequalities and crises are ongoing, and those already with the least before the pandemic are now facing even greater difficulties to meet their basic needs, with fewer support structures still operating. 


Lesvos is a clear example of this development, where the authorities have used the pandemic as a way to turn Moria into a closed camp—a measure they have been trying to push through for months but have been unable to due to heavy opposition. For years, ineffective and insufficient state responses to the crisis have been held up by the work of various NGOs and initiatives providing support to those on the move. Now, as state responses turn more authoritarian and carceral, and most non-governmental projects have had to close down, migrants on the island are left with little to no support. In the inhumane and overcrowded conditions of Moria Camp, an outbreak of COVID-19 would be lethal. In the very moment when support would be most needed, and distributions of basic sanitary and hygiene items could be crucial in terms of saving lives, official actors still present on the island have chosen to limit their distributions of these items. 



Previously, they were able to get all of the materials they needed from local distribution warehouses on the island. However, this looks like it will not be possible in the same ways going forward.
In light of this, we are asking for support in terms of sourcing and paying for the items they distribute. Here is a breakdown of how much would be needed per month, for them to be able to sustain preparing bags of basic hygiene and sanitary items for people in Moria. At their current capacity, they can distribute to roughly 250 families and single women a week, reaching about 1,000 in a months time. To continue this month, they would need: 


Sanitary pads (1,000 packages of 18)

Shampoo (1,000 units) 

toothbrush (1,000 units)

toothpaste (1,000 units)

washing powder (250 kg)

vitamins (1,000 units)

diapers (500 packages of 36, sizes 3-6)

wipes (1,000 units)

Organised by Moms2moms & Women in Solidarity House (WISH)