I learned of the possibility to volunteer for Network for Children’s right because of a coincidence: My flatmate in Berlin met someone working for their German partner Respekt für Griechenland in the train and I took the occasion to go to Athens and have a outstanding experience: Respect for Griechenland sends volunteers to Greek Partner organisation in order to foster Greek-German Relations and mutual understanding and also to be solidaric with Greece after the problems that came to the country with the financial crisis and the refugee crisis.

So I specifically was offered a position in Network for Children’s rights, the core of the volunteering included working with children, educating them in English and German, giving theatre and music courses, but also giving them political education, mostly and not surprisingly about children’s rights. I was intrigued by the program for several reasons: Firstly, I would have the possibility to develop own projects and activities with the children, this way being able to develop my independent project management capabilities. Secondly, the work would also include children from migratory backgrounds and I hoped to get a bit of a closer view on the refugee crisis situation, but also to be able to give my part in being solidaric given the whole situation.

So I arrived in Athens and was immediately welcomed and included like a family member both in the flat provided by the organisations for free, as well as liability and accident insurances (My first weekend I was taken to a jam session in a social organisation, to a hike and to a rooftop party with a view all over Athens by my fltmates) and at work by the coordinators that worked with a great combination of offering a lot of opportunities for your own work and in the same time being very understanding and not putting too much pressure on new arrived participants. So whatever program you intend to do with the children, you can either join the already very diverse offers that Network provides, or come up with your own idea and leave your own footprint on the organisation.
Additionally, RfG (the German partner of Network) provided a lot of information and excursions on the political situation, e.g the Greek- German relations, Greece’s History, and current political developments in the country.

Let me drop some words about live in Athens before I go own with things that drive me elsewhere: The combination of rooftop parties, hiking and a jam session in a social organisation, where not an unusual combination for an Athens weekend. Athens has the big advantage of combining very different things and thus giving a lot of opportunities, it is located in a valley with mountains up to 1300 Meters that gave me the chance to establish rock climbing as an all-day life hobby, also because there are hills right in the centre of the city where you feel like being in nature and also see the whole of it from above. It also has the see close by (roughly 40 minutes to the closest beach from the apartment).

Then Athens is of course a metropole and as such offers a lot of activities, bars restaurants etc, but two things stick out: As it lacks sometimes some infrastructure and state organisation, there are many self-organised things. And this translates mostly to self-organized organisations or collectives that cover all kinds of needs (I took Greek courses for example but there is also the gym Yoga and Sports, the music centre Musikarama and lots of other things) and are easily accessible, both as a client and as a volunteer. I started to volunteer at Khora Social kitchen and was quickly not only cooking, but helping to organize the budget and organising events, so it is very easy to get involved in the Athen’s environment.

Also, self-organization means that there are all kinds of events that are free and just happen to take place in parks or occupied buildings or social organisations, like Gather for Gaza raves, Greek traditional music in the Empros Theater, or Punk Concerts in the KBOX in Exarchia. And again, for knowing about all this, the flat plays an important role, as the different generations of volunteers in the flat pass on which social organisations or event venues are nice, so I could skip the part of moving, where you arrive in a city and don’t know anything, because immediately I was taken everywhere. It also helps a lot that the flat is located right in the centre of vibrant Athens, namely Exarchia, 5 mins walking from bars and restaurants, 1 minute to the biggest park, 10 minutes to Strefi hill and the so chill Saturday market, 15/25 minutes from culture lab and Youth Center. In the end I felt like I lived in a small city with all of the advantages of big cities, because I ended up walking everywhere and kept meeting people from the small international volunteering bubble in the streets. But let me go back to the project:

So, what did I take from the project specifically?
Just to change the environment, to do something else in a very different context gave me the space to try out once more what a good life looks like for me. Things as simple as having good weather from February on (January without heating was a pain!), to work in the afternoon and be able to sleep long mostly, if I wanted, and to organise my work and private life very flexible with little fixed appointments but still a lot to do, and also to live in a shared flat with 8 persons, were experiences that showed me that I can also live differently than I did before and I’m sure that I will implement some of these things in my later life.
But I also had a meaningful experience: Both at Khora and at Network I felt part of projects that meant something to me and that I played an important role in in the end. At Network this meant the opportunities that our volunteer coordinators gave me on the one hand to and the understanding of the broader goal of the Project. Namely to give children a good place to feel at home and learn and develop their characters in a friendly environment. And having been able to give inputs by showing youths how to play guitar and by setting up theatre lessons that will now continue after my stay is just a good feeling. And at Khora I could feel empowered to just do things, like steering a small NGO, being parts of planning meetings or organising events with other volunteers. And this for a place of which the concept, namely, to combine social service with a place to build a community and enjoy life, convinced me thoroughly.
Then I could see that working with children is something I can imagine very well in my future, as I care intrinsically and I feel like it fits my abilities for this kind of work, and I can also combine it with my hobbies. On top of this it was the first time for me to organise projects by myself and to get positive feedback for it. And as you would expect of volunteering abroad, it also brough me closer to the Greek Society and the controversies there. As I had some Greek friends before it was not completely new to me, but to learn Greek, to understand the conflicts of left activists and the government in Exarchia from right inside it, to meet people that came from Syria or Iran and had to stay in the inhumane refugee camps, to be taken on long walks with our coordinators and understanding the Nazi crimes in Greece and the difficult Greek history with big population movements, dictatorship etc. and to understand even deeper the struggles of the Greek youth to grow up with a very limited perspective to pursue their lives in their own country, made me feel connected to the country on the one hand and sad on the other hand about how little people know about this in Germany.
Additionally, Network was hosting political events involving Greek candidates for the European Parliament, movie screenings about Greek history, or invitations of German members of Parliament and this way I could get a closer connection to Greek Politics. It also runs a journalism project, in which children are writing about political content connected to children’s rights and gave these children the chance to interview Greek politicians. And in all these activities you can participate as a volunteer.
All in all, Greece lies at the heart of many political conflicts that are relevant to the EU nowadays and thus, being in Athens feels like you live through the realities that these political conflicts bring with them, seeing e.g. people on the move, understanding Greece’s situation as a poorer country in the EU, the conflict with Turkey being always close etc.

I can just say that my expectations on what I would take from these four months were outrun by far and that I am amazed by what this project offer not only to the children that are coming to Network, but also to the volunteers coming there.