Today we’re in Greece, where our friends from Communitere are doing the doable for refugees. We first met Communitere on Day 214, when they hosted their first workshop with refugees, exploring ways to help. And since then, they’ve continued to create opportunities for communities to think about and plan for their own futures.
Refugees don’t often get the opportunity to leave the camp and create new, joyful experiences. This is especially tough in Greece, which is filled with scenic hikes and natural beauty. So our friends at Communitere thought – why not organize a hiking trip?
So on Day 334, we climbed Mt. Olympus!
The hiking trip had two goals – to create a memorable experience, and to form new friendships between the refugees on the trip. Luckily for us, Mt. Olympus is one of the most historically exciting mountains in history, Home of Zeus AND the highest mountain in Greece, we were in for an exciting journey.
Everyone piled in the bus for the 2-hour drive to the head of the trail. We were able to bring 39 refugees on our Olympus excursion.
Over the 5 hour hike, everyone had managed to get to the top! “Singing and playing around the waters on Enipeas river, left everyone feeling relaxed and smiling,” one of the trip leaders told us. “We had beautiful moments when participants were providing help to others by taking their bag in order to relieve them or by just taking their hand in order to help them with the trail’s difficulties.”
This hiking trip is a perfect example of how sometimes to do the doable all you need to do is use your natural surroundings. Great work Communitere!
