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Our ESC volunteer Guenole has completed and shares his personal project - information about opportunities in the cooking/restaurant field for asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants that are interested to study and/or work in this field in Greece. He was inspired to look into the subject and gather some good examples of integration in Greece through cooking, because he is a pastry chef by profession and volunteered at our organisation with unaccompanied asylum seekers for 6 months. Guenole says:

"In this article, you will find different insights about organisations that can help people on the move with their professional projects, different ways of vocational

training, and different kind of social initiative for integration through cooking."

You can download the document and find concrete information on study, funding, examples of organisations that support people on move in Ioannina, other types of support useful in the field, as well as some interviews of the known success stories in Ioannina, such as "Hakuna Matata" restaurant and "Camara" shop!

Our volunteer Tine carried out non-formal education and recreational activities with teenagers at the "Agios Athanasios" facility of our organisation. During those 6 months, she "collected moments" and turned them into short stories, presenting this collection. Tine writes about her project:

"Every teenager has big dreams and even bigger emotions, which can change from one minute to another. Teenagers joke with you, they whisper and probably gossip, they don’t want to show their pain or tears. They are competitive when playing games and they like watching videos on their phone. 

The teenagers living in the Agios Athanasios Facility in Perama are just like them. The big difference is that they are in Greece, unaccompanied, waiting for a decision regarding their future. For the past six months and together with other volunteers, I organized non-formal educational activities for them. What surprised me the most is that despite the difficulties they might face, they are not any different from any other teenager. "

Below, you can download and read the stories. After every story, Tine has added some externally researched information on the subject, providing more clarity and context to the stories. 

This bibliographic review was written by Paraskevi our local volunteer. She worked for two months to create this content, which explores existing research in psychology about how art therapy can support asylum seeker children and youth. She shares about her work: 

"This project explores how art therapy can support refugee and asylum-seeking children who have experienced trauma. Through a small-scale bibliographic review of three key studies, I looked into how creative expression, like drawing, painting, and other forms of art, can help children express difficult emotions, regulate their feelings, and build resilience in the face of adversity.

Refugee children are often exposed to war, loss, and displacement, which can have serious effects on their mental health. However, many also show great strength and the ability to recover, especially when they receive the right kind of psychosocial support. Art therapy offers a safe and non-verbal way for them to process what they’ve been through, especially when language or cultural differences make traditional talk therapy difficult.

The studies I reviewed showed that art-based programs help children communicate emotions they can’t put into words, reduce symptoms like anxiety and stress, and improve their sense of connection and confidence. While results are promising, the research also highlights the need for more long-term studies and culturally diverse approaches.

In conclusion, this review shows that art therapy can be a valuable, inclusive, and trauma-informed tool to support the healing and emotional well-being of refugee minors, especially when it is applied with cultural sensitivity, flexibility, and trained professionals."

People who work in related fields or are simply interested in the subject are invited to download the bibliographic review below. 

Our volunteer Martina worked on this research about art therapy for 2 months. She explored how art can be therapeutic and used in the context of working with young asylum seekers and refugees. She writes: 

"I'm excited to share a glimpse into my personal project, "The Power of Drawing," which explores how drawing can be a powerful tool for young asylum seekers and refugees. My idea started when I noticed how engaged teenagers in the facility were while colouring and drawing in the various activities. Indeed, drawing offers a vital non-verbal instrument for communicating emotions, especially for those who've experienced trauma. I asked the participants to express themselves upon their integration in Greece and their roots, asking them to draw specific themes. For example, their favourite word in Arabic, their safe space in Ioannina or future aspirations in life. It was incredible to see how they reacted through drawings using their imagination and personality. 

I'm so grateful to the ESC, Youth Center of Epirus for their support, and especially to the young people whose honesty and creativity made this project so meaningful!"

In the document below, you can read her research and consider how to re-use the proposed activity in your context!

Enora was a European Solidarity Corps volunteer and worked with young asylum seekers for about 6 months. She worked with them daily and provided them with non-formal and recreational activities. In addition, she created a guide of the Mental Map activity, which can be carried out with young people during their integration stage in a new city. In her project she explores the concept of the activity, provides an example of the activity she carried out with the minors she worked with, and analysis of the activity results. In the paragraph below, she talks about her project:

"From November to December 2025, I organized a “Mental Map” workshop with the teenagers from the facility center Agios Athanios. The objective of this workshop was to reflect on their relationship with the city, share places they liked or disliked, and reveal the differences and similarities in their experiences. It also reflects the different types of city use influenced by age, gender, social background but also personal interests."

In the PDF below, you can find her project, which can be adapted and re-used in work with young people in new communities. 

Jacopo was a European Solidarity Corps volunteer and worked with young asylum seekers in Ioannina for 6 months. He helped them improve their soft skills through non-formal educational and recreational activities, meanwhile he also wrote an article about the right to education and its accessibility to young asylum seekers. Below, he talks about his project:

"This article explores the right to education for people on the move, emphasizing its role in promoting dignity, inclusion, and empowerment. Drawing from my experience as a volunteer with the European Solidarity Corps at the Youth Center Epirus, the article reflects both on structural barriers and the transformative potential of education. Through a human rights-based lens, it advocates for inclusive and accessible education systems that leaves no one behind."

In the PDF below, you can find the article.

Khaya was a European Solidarity Corps volunteer and worked with young asylum seekers, for about 6 months. Among her other activities, she made a movie where the young asylum seekers and other residents of Ioannina that come from different cultures or ethnicities talk about their experiences coming from different backgrounds but meeting each other here, in Greece. In the following text, she talks about her project:

"For this project, I wanted to make an intimate and artistic work. So, I decided to interview people whose stories and experiences had an impact on me. Drawing on their testimonies, I staged my co-volunteers in a place steeped in history and nature: Ioannina Castle. The aim was to create an original and sensitive experience, that could be heard and seen. Through the making of this short film, I learned a lot about individual stories and community life in Ioannina, but also about myself and my ability to develop this project. It required patience, perseverance and flexibility. With this project, I tried to present the stories and life paths of people living in Ioannina. The people with whom I connected, by my identity, my origins and my daily life here."

Below you can find the full description of her project, as well as the movie she made.

During her almost 4-month stay at our organisation, Clara was a European Solidarity Corps volunteer working with young asylum seekers daily by providing them with recreational and non-formal activities, as well as developing a long-term digital activity with and for them. As a result, she not only carried out the digital story-telling activities with teenagers, but also produced a description of the activity which can be adapted and used by anyone working with teenagers. Here, she shares about her work on this activity:

"This project was meant to come closer to the reality of teenagers living in Agios Athanasios Facility through their own eyes, portraying how they see themselves, what they like to do, what music they enjoy and especially what are their biggest dreams and hopes for the future, despite the difficulties they might be facing in the present. To achieve that, the teenagers were asked to log on a website where they could follow and complete different tasks in a fun and appealing way."

Below, you can download the full description and the carried out example of the activity. 

"The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."