What an amazing day! Today 111 children together with 40 parents had the chance to play, laugh, have fun and exchange life experiences. Our program teaches Humility, Effort, Ambition, Respect and Teamwork (HEART). The children learn those values through activities and try to apply them in their daily life. Parents said their children have changed. They are more calm and respectful. Today they played all together, from the youngest to the oldest and enjoyed the games.

World Peace Day ❤️ World peace. A concept that seems so abstract when you keep seeing boats arriving on Lesvos and Samos and people living in overcrowded camps in rough conditions. Yet, under these circumstances, we also see so many beautiful examples of humans understanding and helping each other that we remain hopeful. In Kara Tepe and the Olive Grove our residents, volunteers and staff are proving every day that with hard work, mutual understanding and love, World Peace is still a possibility. Never stop trying.

With an increasingly complex and crowded situation on the Greek islands, we’re more than ever looking for people to volunteer with us! Especially on Samos we can use all the help we can get. Volunteering on Samos means you'll be working closely with our resident team of volunteers, generating immediate impact. You'll need a lot of energy and a big heart, but it is extremely rewarding to see your actions improve the living conditions of the people on Samos. Sounds good? Have a look at movementontheground.com/volunteers and see how you can contribute 💪

Our Olive Grove site manager Ali made a video for @HelpRefugeesUK to explain the complex and intense situation currently on Lesvos and why we can use every bit of help we can get.

We were in quarantine for 7 days when we arrived and then they moved us to the Olive Grove. We were the first family to move to the area. I didn’t know it was all single men, when I realised it was all single men, I wanted us to leave, I didn’t want my children to be in that kind of environment. But Ali, the site manager promised me if I stayed he would move more families in and make it nicer. So, Movement created this little area at the bottom of the site with all the family tents. When some of my relatives arrived to Lesvos, Ali moved them in to the same place. We have a small community now. Life is still hard, we are six people in our tent, we don’t have electricity all the time and it is hot inside in the summer and cold in the winter. But the Olive Grove is still better, it’s so much cleaner than in Moria, there’s no fighting and the food line makes things easier for us. I also volunteer with the team, so that together we can try to make things nicer in the Olive Grove. Despite everything, there are good people here. Like Mahamadou, one of the volunteers really looks after us, he brings our children balls and toys to play with. Now we are just waiting, in hope of going to a new country – somewhere our children can have peace and go to school. Illustrations by @lienkeraben

Emergency situation update! Our team on the ground together with our international volunteers and resident volunteers are working around the clock to relief the situation on the island. Boats continue to keep arriving on a daily basis and more and more people are pressured in their livelihood. On request of Moria site management we have assissted last Sunday with the transfer of vulnerable families from the olive grove of almost 1500 people to the mainland. Unfortunately we are still at an alarming number of 10.000 people of whom still many in dire circumstances. We will continue fighting for their well being day and night together with our sister organization @because_we_carry with our emergency response. We also like to take the opportunity of thanking all of you followers, supporters and donors for the help we are receiving from all over the world. Your love is amazing and fuel to our hearts. Our recourses dry up fast so please get in touch with us directly on info@movementontheground.com for questions and specific support. For general emergency response donations please donate at www.movementontheground.com/donation For our Dutch donors please use the following 2 direct links for a quick proces: tikkie.me/pay/2sei62ratkdob2m67eae (15 euro) tikkie.me/pay/ommhsp2266pgk6eg3qdl (25 euro) With love from Lesvos ♥️