Kicking Off NGO, kicked off their refugee project on Lesvos last weekend and we were their first official collaboration, hosting a launch event together in Moria Village! Kicking Off aims to unite communities with sports tournaments, but also combines fun activities for children with medical and dental support. Is there anyone on Lesvos who loves a sports tournament as much as Movement On The Ground? We think not. So it was great to co-host one where children also get added health related benefits. Plus we learned a thing or two from the experience ourselves! Here’s a low down of what happened.
The highlight of the week-end though was undoubtedly the mini-festival held on Saturday. Over 323 children from Kara Tepe CampUs, the Moria Safe-Zone and Greek children from Moria Village, took part in a whole host of activities ranging from dancing, hair-braiding, card-games, sport games and like always, our football matches.
Our on-the-ground organisers took an especially inclusive approach with this event, mixing for the first time children from the special-needs sports group with children from the other sports groups. “It was a special moment when the children from the special-sports group came to the field to play”, says Tirza. The success of the experience might mean they do this more often in the future.
Perhaps most of all, our coordinators were especially proud of how well our resident coaches handled the event. “Without them [the resident volunteers], we couldn’t have done anything. They were the ones who were leading groups, they did crowd control, made the day fun, encouraged the children to play. They made the activities possible and so much more” she adds.