Movement on the Ground for Refugees in Lesvos

Les­vos is one of Greece’s most beau­ti­ful is­lands in the Ae­gean sea. Since the Syr­i­an war and the in­creas­ing tur­moil in the Middle East, rafts and boats con­tin­ue to make their way to Les­vos. Each day thou­sands of people flee­ing from con­flict seek shel­ter in refugee camps.

Move­ment on the ground is a found­a­tion that re­sponds to hu­man­it­ari­an crisis. They have been act­ively in­volved in provid­ing shel­ter, food and safety to dis­placed people ar­riv­ing on Les­vos. One ex­ample of a refugee camp on Les­vos where Move­ment On The Ground op­er­ates is that of the so-called Kara Te­pe Com­munity.

Thanks to a gen­er­ous dona­tion from Van Gansewinkel, the WakaWaka Found­a­tion was able to provide 972 WakaWaka lights to Move­ment On The Ground in Les­bos in Janu­ary 2017. These sol­ar lights were dis­trib­uted in the Kara Te­pe com­munity amongst refugees, vo­lun­teers and aid work­ers. The vo­lun­teers and aid work­ers use the WakaWaka lights for emer­gen­cies, activ­it­ies, and re­pairs of homes after sun­set. The refugees who re­ceive a WakaWaka Light, of which many are chil­dren, use the device to shine light in their homes dur­ing the nights. The WakaWa­kas give fam­il­ies a feel­ing of safety and se­cur­ity be­fore bed­time. In the dark, chil­dren are able to read and people can leave their tent to go to the bath­room without feel­ing un­safe.