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Two Volunteers Build Mobile Library for Greek Refugee Camps

By August 9, 2017Libraries, News

Laura Samira Naude and Esther ten Zijthoff were volunteering in refugee camps in Greece when they realised that, along with food and shelter, people there needed a way to study in order to help rebuild their lives. The two then founded the Education Community Hope and Opportunity (Echo) and open a library opened wheels.

As The Guardian reports, their friends in London and Belgium helped them fund raise and they bought an old mini van and remodeled it into a mobile library complete with computers that can connect to internet hot spots. They then appealed for books to be sent to them that were written in a variety of languages such as Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, French, Greek and English. The mobile library was completed in November and the charity has amassed over 1,300 books. The library gets over 100 visitors a day and has loaned out almost 1000 books to date.

“We have also lost many books along the way, as they inevitably go missing, and sometimes, especially with language-learning books, we let people keep them and then make copies to keep up with the demand,” says Zijthoff.

The intense weather often has a big effect on readers and, as Zijhoff states, the library is often a haven. “In the freezing winter we had in Thessaloniki, the van was sometimes warmer than the tents, and people would come inside just to get warm.” Now, in the summer, the heat is scorching, so readers come for night-time sessions. “The van has often been hijacked as a party bus, but we do try to keep the library sessions peaceful,”

Sometimes the bus isn’t allowed into the refugee camps and so the two women park it outside and let word spread that there’s a library just outside. They have been moved on on occasion but those who visit the library adore it. Children have said it feels like a second home and many refugees have used its services to prepare their futures. Some Afghans have started to learn English there and a Syrian economics professor used it to translate his work into English.

Zijthoff and Naude believe the library has a promising future and the two run it full time with no salary. “When we started the project, we had a vision of duplicating the library setup in multiple regions in Greece,” said Zijthoff. “We are looking for people to hand over the project to, but many volunteers and organisations, not only in Greece but Serbia, Italy, Palestine and Lebanon, say the set-up could work very well. So, even if we are not the ones starting, we hope that the concept will spread.”



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  • Karah Khalia says:

    A labour of love without question!! This is the type of news that my spirit needs desperately. I appreciate your team circulating and developing this wondrous site. I love the posts!! Thanks, mates!!

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