The Hands On Global team are all safely home from the Moria Refugee Camp in Lesbos, Greece. We were reluctant to leave but felt we had no choice with the EU borders closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We left behind 22,000 refugees who do not have the privilege to leave. There are currently only 6 doctors and 6 nurses remaining at the camp.

Now, with the threat of the COVID-19 virus, the remaining medical providers are scrambling to provide an isolation area. Omar Alkashal, of Refuge4Refugees, is currently building this (see photos). Due to our donors’ generosity, Hands On Global was able to give a generous donation to support this.

The medical NGO’s are working on plans to provide care to an increase in their already unmanageable patient load.

We at Hands On Global are currently working to assist them by organizing and setting up a Skype medical program.

Again, I am asking for your help. If you know any retired Doctors, Nurse Practitioners or Physician Assistants willing to be scheduled in for 1-2 hours, once a week, PLEASE have them contact me at [email protected].

An update from one of our translators at the Vathi camp in Samos reports there was no water for three days. This caused much stress and a long water line when it was delivered. Fights broke out as desperate people fought for WATER.

These are stressful and terrifying times. Our world has changed. We understand how difficult this time is for everyone and do not diminish your struggles to cope. Be grateful, please, for what you have: shelter, food, family and the ability to be somewhere where you can read this. We need each other in this world. We need to live and work together to survive. May the outcome of this pandemic be a more equitable world where we learn how to live together in peace. Stay safe. Stay home.

We are witnessing.