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Paréa Lesvos.

Paréa is a beacon of hope for people on the move on Lesvos and represents one community in solidarity with our visitors and partners.

Our Community Center

Paréa Lesvos is a safe space for hundreds of people on the move. It offers them a sense of normalcy, dignity & community. It is our way to put "solidarity in action" every day.

Thousands of people on the move are still trapped on Lesvos. Since the fires of Moria Camp, the Greek island has almost disappeared from public perception - but people continue to embark on the dangerous journeys to Europe in search of safety. In early 2022, we as Europe Cares stepped in to save a unique community center when other NGOs withdrew from the island. At the time, arrivals on Lesvos were dropping. Today, thousands of people are arriving again, making our community center Paréa Lesvos more crucial than ever. 

In Greek the word παρέα (paréa) means 'company', 'circle of friends'.

We first opened our doors in the beginning of 2022 and decided to name the center 'Paréa Lesvos' from the Greek word 'paréa', i.e. 'company', 'circle of friends'. For us, this name represents a daily memorandum of the power of collective work. In fact, Europe Cares is not alone in the center which is also a home to another 11 civil society organizations: together, we are one community in solidarity. In the past two years, we supported over 130.000 visitors from the refugee community. Here, by walking around 10 minutes from the Mavrovouni refugee camp, the camp community can access a wide range of services in one place, including food and clothes distributions, legal and psychosocial support, education and social care activities, and much more. But first and foremost, at Paréa we offer a sense of normalcy and belonging to the displaced community in a very difficult phase of their life.

Old but gold: Check out our video with some expressions of Paréa!

As Europe Cares, we operate the center itself, run various programs and support our partner organizations who offer their own services. Our work includes:

  • We carry the overall legal & financial responsibility for the center, its safety, development and maintenance

  • In our Café, we offer daily meals, drinks & snacks for all our visitors

  • In our Women Space, our female visitors can relax, take part in our activities and just enjoy a moment for themselves far from their daily chores

  • Our Paréa Club offers daily games, sports tournaments, music classes & workshops for all our visitors

  • Basic & advanced Computer Classes empower our visitors with the use of technology in their daily life & in their process of integration in Europe

  • We organize regular community events to bring the community together through food, music & fun

  • Our management of the partner community aligns our offerings towards the visitors and identifies any gaps

Our partners offer services for basic needs (clothes & hygiene distribution, laundry service), psychosocial support for children & adults, legal support, education (language & photography classes) and recreational activities (arts, sports, children's activities, gardening). 

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The Paréa

Community

One Community in Solidarity

Paréa Lesvos is an important element of civil society infrastructure. We provide a home to our partner organizations and allow them to fully focus on their work towards their service for people on the move.

 

It is an important part of our work to ensure coordination between organizations, share information & know-how, uphold standards of safeguarding. We regularly seek and onboard new partners to close any gaps that may emerge and ensure a holistic approach to humanitarian work.  

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Leave No One Behind

Laundry Station & Hygiene Free Shop

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Boat Refugee Foundation

Psychosocial Support for adults​

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Makerspace Lesvos

Repair of bikes & electronics, tailoring, woodwork 

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Sporos Regeneration
Institute

Gardening & permaculture workshops

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Artists Giving Back

Art Therapy

Sessions

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Refugee Relief Doro Blancke

Language Classes, 
Food Package Distribution & (via Defense for Children International) Legal Support

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Collective Aid

Clothes Distribution

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Terra Psy

Psychosocial Support for children & families

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Refocus Media Labs

Photography & videography workshops

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Circus Lesvos

Acrobatics Classes & circus shows

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Yoga and Sports with Refugees

Sports Classes & Tournaments

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Every donation counts.

Please reach out to us in case of any questions!

We are always happy to provide you with information on our work and the situation on the European borders. For more details, also check out our reports and policies.

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Angeliki Kokka

Field Coordinator

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