As most of you know, I’ve been working in Greece with an NGO called Second Tree since 2021 – four years longer than I ever expected! In that time, I’ve seen how we’ve grown and take on all kinds of new projects. Alongside English classes, workshops and excursions for kids, we now also help students take English language certificate exams, run self-advocacy classes, and even train other organisations and municipalities in how we work.

What makes Second Tree different is how we do things. Often well-intentioned people who work in the humanitarian field can have a victimising approach to working with refugees; where refugees are romanticised as heroes, patronised as victims or stereotyped and simply reduced to products of their past.

Our (ambitious!) long-term goal is to change the way the humanitarian sector and policy-makers in Europe see refugees. We want refugees to be treated as capable, reasonable and unique individuals with responsibility, rights and agency over their own lives.

Since I’ve been here, we’ve come so far compared to when I first arrived. People often tell me my eyes glisten when I talk about my life here – it’s because I truly believe in what we do and have seen firsthand the difference we can make.

Every action we take now is a small step towards our goal: to change how the world perceives refugees, and how refugees perceive themselves. After all, ‘Refugees Are People’ just like all of us. 

I want Second Tree to keep making a mark on the world – please help me do that by donating this Christmas.