Celebrating at Elaionas

On Sunday the 20th of May a celebration took place at the Open Accommodation Center of Elaionas, Athens with main message: “We celebrate at Elaionas”. Hundreds of Greek, refugee and migrant children and teachers from 15 different schools in Athens participated to the celebration. Protagonists of the event were children themselves who spread messages for peace, love and hope in the world. Moreover, children taught us through their songs, poems and dances that we are all human beings regardless of our skin color, country of origin, language and religion.

This important initiative aimed at strengthening and building relations among children from Greece and children from other countries, as well as promoting cultural experiences among parents and teachers through specific workshops that were held during the event. The initiative was held by the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, the Ministry for Migration and the Municipality of Athens and was supported by UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

On the occasion of the event the staff of "The Smile of the Child" had the opportunity to inform families on the services provided in the framework of the "Direct and Holistic Medical and Psychosocial Intervention for Refugee and Migrant Children in Greece" funded by the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of the European Union (DG ECHO). 

The celebration begun with lots of games and creating workshops for young and older ones, while the highlight moment of the event was the performance of song, dances and theatrical fairies from students. Upon the conclusion of the event lots of food and music entertained the participants.

“The Smile of the Child” was present by hosting a dedicated jewelry workshop for children. “The Smile of the Child” is present since 2017 at the Open Accommodation Center giving emphasis mainly to the improvement of access to healthcare services from children with serious health problems.

Among the actions implemented by “The Smile of the Child” at Elaionas are the transfers of children and newborns to Hospitals, the provision of interpretation services, expensive medicine and medical items, the interconnection with other services necessary for the normal integration of children to the social environment as well as the provision of medical items of personal hygiene and care to families whose children face a serious health problem. In addition, “The Smile of the Child” provides recreational activities and empowerment to children.

The actions of “The Smile of the Child” at the Open Accommodation Center of Elaionas are implemented in the framework of the “Targeted housing and integrated supported services for most vulnerable refugees” project which is financed from the German Government/ Foreign Office in Berlin. Leader partner of the project is the Organization Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V.