We’ve been working overtime on slow Wifi connections here in Greece, but today the day has finally come… In collaboration with Makers Unite we are launching our Kickstarter campaign to produce 500 bags in Amsterdam. Made by refugees who get paid for their work. Out of used boats and life vests from the beaches of […]
Author: Floor Nagler
As we have our hands full on our bag project in Amsterdam, we are slowly wrapping up our Greece project. Didi already flew home to make sure our BAG2WORK-campaign launches with a bang. Floor and Niels are still in Greece, organising the last things. Coming back the way they came: by truck. Since we got […]
Time for something fun! A few weeks ago Sylvan visited us in Greece. He started a Playful Revolution and thought it was time to try out some of his game making in the camp. He came up with the idea to do some juggling with the kids. We prepared the morning to figure out how […]
We can hosts workshops all we want. But for a more lasting impact we have to leave something behind. So we have been making a template for a manual. The idea is to make small building blocks for workshops that volunteers can host in the camp, eventually making ourselves redundant. Even better, refugees might use […]
So far we have had a good but challenging time in hot and slow Greece. Not only are we trying to work in a refugee camp, we Dutchies are also trying to be efficient in a country where that’s not always possible. Of course, we are […]
Many people stated that we peaked early with our IT WORKS BAG. We could never again match our own brilliant idea of upcycling refugee boats, at a time that people needed bags with the world press being already present. It was a puzzle that fell into place at the right moment at the right place, […]
Have you ever heard of human knitting? It’s a knitting technique where you use people instead of needles. We thought it would be a lot of fun to do this as our first workshop in the Elpida camp. So we started with gathering donated clothes from the warehouse that were ripped, stained or otherwise unusable. From […]
Vasilika refugee camp is a different story from Elpida. The entrance of this old chicken farm which has turned into a camp, is guarded by police. If you are not part of one of the NGOs that are active here, you cannot get in, at least that was what we thought. We meet a boy […]
Elpida camp is known as the five star hotel. Located north of Thessaloniki, next to the highway, an old textile factory serves as one the of the refugee camps in the surrounding, controlled by the Greek government. As a volunteer you are a visitor, entering the homes of the 160 refugee families living here. They […]
So today, we arrived in Greece. Passing the border, showing our passports, a symbolic way to get into the country that a lot of people are not able to leave. Just because they are the unlucky owners of unwanted nationalities. The way to Greece made us realize how easy we can cross borders as Dutch citizens. […]