October 2025

We started our journey in Kypseli – a vibrant and multicultural neighborhood in the northern part of central Athens.

Our first stop was Glocal Roots, which runs a community center focused on autonomous living for people with refugee experience. The center offers a wide range of services: a café that provides 140 free meals daily, safe spaces for women and children, childcare, language and computer workshops, medical consultations, and support from social workers.

In light of recent developments, the drastic reduction in funding has led to a steady decline in the presence of NGOs on the ground. For several months now, the monthly financial support of 66 euros for asylum seekers has not been paid, which has contributed significantly to an increase in the crime rate. At the same time, the Ministry of Migration has signed a new agreement aimed at cutting costs for services provided to asylum seekers. As a result, this community center is becoming increasingly indispensable – providing essential support for refugees to take their first steps toward a self-determined life.

We also met with Just Human e.V., an organization that supports single mothers through a protection and empowerment program helping them to build a new, independent life.
We visited two single mothers in their homes along with a woman from Athens who is working with the single mothers voluntarily every day and being more a friend to these women than anything else. Both women are proud now managing their lives by working, studying and taking care of their children and asked us to tell their story and share their pictures.

There was Maria* (19) from Sierra Leone, who fled as a single underage pregnant woman after experiencing violence. She looks after her young daughter (now 2 years old) while working and studying late into the night at a nursing school. She is working hard towards her big dream of becoming a nurse. She wants to help others after losing her father due to lack of medical care.

Then there was Paulina* from Cameroon with her 8-year-old daughter Anna*. Paulina also fled pregnant and is also trying to forget what the doctor told her: “She couldn’t believe someone could survive”. Despite suffering from health issues, she is working hard to have a home for her and her daughter. Paulina is already living self-sustained and not supported anymore from the program. Anna has been such a happy girl, great at school despite the fact that she has been missing quite some school days because Paulina has to take her to work as the school is currently not offering afternoon care.

For us, there is no greater self-empowerment than what we have seen in these women.

* Names changed