Natalia Kapsoti – UNHCR Greece

How would you describe your work?
Women, young children, often unaccompanied, elderly, young men arrive together in a boat, wet and battered. They barely escaped relentless waves, but more importantlythey have fled terrifying experiences. We to provide them with information about their rights and the procedures they must follow. The right to information is crucial; I have come to understandAnd this well here. We listen to them and help them discover their strengths so that they can make the best of it And find the safetyshe to search.

In 2016 I have started working about child protection, first aimed at identifyenter all unaccompanied children and developenter tools to best meet their needs. I The protection needs of survivors of gender-based violence were also addressed And sexual exploitation/abuse, realize that violence knows no boundaries and that preventing it is as necessary as the answer. I still work in the field of protectng children who have experienced violence and wear the trauma by forced displacementwhile i alsowork on integration issues, providing information to recognized refugees about their rights and offer guidance in recovery steps.

How did you decide to work in the humanitarian sector??
It was April 2008. I was just aan unsuspecting law student, starting my first day of internship at UNHCR office. I never thought that a three-month internship internship would be completely form my life goals and vision. Mthe most important thing is that i could never have imagined that eight Years later I would return to the same fieldequipped to pursuewhat i had chosen to study, which would now define me as a person.

To have completed my studies in Humanitarian and Refugee Law in the summer of 2015with his increased refugee flows, ForndI’m in a city in Europe, unable to fit in. Without hesitation, I went Unpleasant the greek islandsWhere hundreds of uprooted people arrived daily, finished Unpleasant offer help, simplify theI pain, contributions Mine part Unpleasant build up hope. Now,eight years inUnpleasant this job, on the Greek borders, I will continue to do what gives meaning for my life: to lend a helping hand to the forcibly displaced and translate the misery into our eyes witness in power to help the next person seeking safety and protection.

Share with us a story from your field of work that will remain etched in your memory forever.
In 2017, Ahmed, 14 years old, arrivedS Oafter boat with 40 other unaccompanied children. Ahmed is confident and tells us that he not‘T noD a social worker or a psychologist. He insistsand leave him alone pursue his dreams and are destinationfree from the limitations of frameworks, procedures, and islandsHe is not afraid of anything.

And yet, when another boat arrives a few months later, to takeenter his mother to the island, Ahmed breaks down and crice cream like a baby. SO do his mother, who is kneelingS and cuddleS his legs, sobbing with joy and relief. Weat, Are stunned, to give evidenceto sing the most powerful moment we’ve ever experienced, – a moment That wold give us the courage Unpleasant to persevere the challenges for the future. A couple months later, AMONG THE JOYFUL CRYINGS OF FRIENDS, Achmed and his mother would go on board A ship on the way to the mainland.

Years later, I accidentally crossed paths with Achmed again in Athens. Hit was strong and independent, happy working And alive of are Greek girlfriend. His an employer, full of fearbegged us jokingly: “Ddon’t take him back, he is the best partner I could have once!”

Gemstones

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter