9 Years Later- the Mission is as Important as Ever
3rd October 2015, we still remember as if it was yesterday. Moved by the picture of 2 year old Alan Kurdi who washed ashore a month before, we went to stand with the local Greek community on Lesvos helping the hundreds of thousands seeking safety from regional conflict and war. It was the start of our story!
With start-up resources spread thin, we were forced to act creatively and sought support from the refugee community within the camps. At the time, this defied and challenged the status quo in the humanitarian field but we persisted. From the beginning it has been a steep learning curve of human experiences and eye-opening events. Over the years we’ve harnassed these life lessons into best practises and created our “Camp to CampUs” methodology. A force for good, that breaks down systemic barriers and enables self-empowerment in a resources efficient way to those who seek to rebuild their lives.
Over the last nine years we have seen the number of forcibly displaced people globally increase from 65 million to a staggering 120 million today, of whom close to 50 million are children. Astonishing numbers that have been our daily drive to expand our missions as a grassroots NGO to where the needs were most.
Now implemented in 9 countries, spread over 3 continents, impacting 250.000+ displaced people and local community members, with a strong focus on vulnerable families, orphans and unaccompanied minors, we are beyond grateful for everyone who was and is part of the MOTG journey.
We stay committed to our “ground up” approach, and in light of what is happening around us today, with International (humanitarian) laws being violated, advocacy efforts, cross-border resolutions, peace-building round tables and refugee-led initiatives, are more than ever needed.
A loud call from the International community we will be amplifying.
Today as we renew our nine-year-old pledge, we also unveil our new logo doing honor to our founding story, visualizing our identity and our new path of advocacy towards an inclusive, safer and more humane global society.