December 2017

people with medical and pharmaceutical support
needs, such as cancer patients.
On a daily basis, the hostel has between 160 and
180 people.
WELCOMMON currently employs 32 people,
many of whom are long-term unemployed Greeks
and refugees or migrants who have been living in
Greece for many years.
They focus on enrolling refugee children in
public schools, involving them in non-formal
education and empowering parents to be able to
take full care of their children, providing them with
the support needed to integrate.
The co-op hostel offers Arabic, English, maths
and science courses with Arabic-speaking
volunteer refugees, as well as German and Greek
courses with native speakers or computer training
workshops and painting and photography lessons.
One of the volunteers running the classes, 21-
year old Ahmed, is himself a refugee. He found
WELCOMMON while looking for help in Athens,
shortly after arriving in Greece.
“I decided to do something good for other
people,” he said. “I wanted to talk about the hope
through education. So, I initiated a children’s
school at the centre. Now I am sharing the value of
hope with around 15 children, every day, through
the maths, English and Arabic language classes.
“I will be relocated to Belgium very soon. I
dream about my future as a doctor even more now.
I witnessed and experienced how much the world
needs doctors who can take care of the poor and
the weak.
“I want to be a doctor, and I want to be ‘there’
where I needed them, such as in refugee camps. I
will try my best first to learn the language and try
to study in Belgium. Deep inside my heart, I dream
to establish a volunteers’ community for Syrian
people some day.”
WELCOMMON is also looking to create a
database of the refugees’ CVs – both for those living
within the structure and outside to help them gain
employment with businesses looking for particular
skills. They are also exploring ways to support the
creation of social enterprises with the participation
of Greeks, refugees and migrants.
Asked how they helped refugees to find a job,
Nikos Chrysogelos, president of the social cooperative
Wind of Renewal (ANEMOS ANANEOSIS)
and project manager of WELCOMMON centre, said:
“It is not an easy process. For the teenagers and
adults, with the help of the social workers, we try
to build a professional profile based on their skills
or past profession that will be used to promote
their capacity for job seeking. We aim to provide
many activities according to people’s preferences
and needs.
“We try to connect demand and offer based on
the needs of the Greek market and the skills of our
guests. But, even when they have the skills u