January 25: Afghan Refugees Settle in Helena, Montana
Through its newly formed Helena Afghan Refugee Resettlement Team, local nonprofit Hands On Global plans to bring about 15 refugees to the area over the coming months. Click on the following links to read the local story from Helena's Independent Record: Helena schools prepare for Afghan refugee students Afghan refugees facing a long road to self-sufficiency Challenges mount as [...]
December 15: HARRT Resettles Afghan Refugees in Helena, Montana
Hands On Global has been working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Montana to resettle Afghan refugees. Members of HARRT (Helena Afghan Refugee Resettlement Team) have been training with the IRC and are prepared to welcome these refugees to resettle in Helena, Montana. The team is committed to provide and guide access to services within the community as [...]
October 12: Bittersweet thoughts on my way out
Six days in Athens and feeling like I know how to get around just one area of town. Traffic is insane. Today I walked for two hours as I don’t know when I’ll be back. Everything seems so expensive — I wonder how the refugees can afford living here if they get asylum. Valerie Hellermann continues to talk with medical providers and to ask [...]
October 5: What would you do to save your life?
OMG I am devastated. My friend and colleague “AA” has just received his second asylum rejection today. Hands On Global worked with this man for over six months in the medical clinic. He is a hard worker, always putting in the extra time and energy, with great kindness. This man, from an unnamed African country, had been in prison and tortured. [...]
October 2: Back to camp on Lesvos Island
I have been in Athens and last evening arrived in Lesvos. It is difficult to figure out what is going on with the refugees situation. We met with the MVI team leaders. They say the island camps have less than 3000 refugees that 1000 s have left for the mainland and there are many homeless in Athens. But? Where [...]
May 5: Returning to camp on Lesvos Island
Both excitement and hesitation visit me as I’m driving back to Kara Tepe 2 refugee camp on Lesvos Island Greece. I know I’ll see many familiar faces of both foreigners and refugees when I arrive. This creates mixed feelings. I would hope that all of the refugee friends that I had previously made would have been relocated by now but [...]