Since 2019. Action for Education has been extremely fortunate to have enjoyed the support of the Zoe Trust. Over the years, this support has enabled us to set up two Computer Labs for refugees and asylum seekers on the islands of Samos and Chios.
As part of our wider community and education centres for refugee children and young adults, these Computer Labs have provided a space to teach digital literacy, offer specialist courses for advanced students, and provide time to simply relax playing games.
With the help of volunteers from all over the world, including expert digital volunteers from the local refugee community, we ran daily classes in these Computer Labs, reaching hundreds of people.
In 2023, Action for Education drew its projects to a close. After 6 years working in Greece, it was time to hand over our projects. As part of this process, we are absolutely delighted that we have been able to send 15 fantastic computers, complete with screens, keyboards and speakers to another brilliant organisation working in Greece to continue the legacy of teaching computer skills.
Carefully packing these computers on pallets from the island of Chios to Ioannina, a city in the north west of Greece, we’re pleased to hear these computers now have a new lease of life as part of a new Digital Literacy project run by Second Tree.
At Action for Education, we’ve been long-term fans of the work Second Tree does and it’s a real pleasure to be able to help them with these computers. Second Tree is a grassroots, volunteer-run humanitarian organisation that works with refugees in Northern Greece. They do important work not only in frontline service delivery, but in tackling the dominant narratives of refugees. Their core ethos is to treat refugees as the people they are and overcome stereotypes of victimisation and romanticisation.
We wish Second Tree all the best in continuing to make use of these computers in their own Computer Lab!
