As wars and other struggles impact counties in the Middle East and Africa, many of their citizens have sought sanctuary in Greece. According to the International Rescue Committee, there are currently about 50,000 refugees living in Greece, along with nearly 120,000 asylum seekers. Many of them got to their destination via dangerous sea journeys that often lead to deaths. According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 1,000 asylum seekers were reported dead and missing after leaving for Greece between 2022 and 2023.

So far in 2024, there have been more than 42,000 arrivals in Greece, with most of them from Syria, Afghanistan, and Egypt, as well as many from Eritrea, Palestine, and Yemen. Around a quarter of these arrivals tend to be children. With your help, we’ve been working to ensure these children who have had to flee to Greece get an education.

Thanks to your clicks, trivia participation, shopping for a cause, and direct donations, we’ve teamed up with Greater Good Charities (GGC) and the Greek Ministry of Education to provide backpacks with school supplies to refugee children living in camps. In addition to having their lives uprooted, many of these children face struggles accessing education, due to a variety of reasons. One of them, though, is lack of supplies.

The backpacks can help with that obstacle. They include items like notebooks, writing and drawing utensils, scissors, glue, paint, brushes, and clay. As the school year started, these backpacks were distributed to children at the Schisto, Thiva, Thermopylae, and Ritsona camps.

A report from Schisto camp shared the following: "Today this girl came to our office and gave this big hug to [the camp’s education coordinator] because of the bags. School opens tomorrow, but many children are so happy for their bags that they don't want to remove them from their backs. This girl is new in the camp, so it's the first time that she will go to school. She came from Afghanistan a few weeks ago. She is so excited! She will meet her Greek children tomorrow, for the first time!”

Meanwhile, the Thiva camp shared that they’d received 166 backpacks in August, along with a follow-up donation of 140 pencil sets, 65 pairs of scissors, and 30 packages of clay.

They added, “We would like to thank GGC for their kind gesture. The school bags were much appreciated by the students' families."

These stories are possible thanks to you! If you’d like to continue to help young refugee children get the education they need to thrive, click below!