TEA Seniors Design Class Service Trip in Order to Help Syrian Refugees
Move, Adapt, or Die: The Life and Times of a Syrian Refugee In the fall, the senior class of Tahoe Expedition Academy was asked to design a class service trip on their own.
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In the fall, the senior class of Tahoe Expedition Academy was asked to design a class service trip on their own. As a crew, they decided that with the turmoil in the Middle East and the refugee crisis in Europe, they would travel to Greece to volunteer with PRAKSIS, a non-governmental organization that provides social and medical services for refugees. The goal of the trip was to understand and help refugees forced to flee their own country to find safety elsewhere.
In preparation for the trip, students explored the origins and implications of human geographic change in Mediterranean coastal regions, trying to understand what compels people to move, adapt, or die in response to cultural, religious, and economic influences. They wanted to see how catastrophes encountered by refugees have ripple effects around the world.
Once in Greece, the class distributed clothing and provided child care to those in need. They volunteered at an accommodation center for unaccompanied refugee youth run by PRAKSIS. They played games, interacted with refugee children, and provided new shoes to dozens of kids. Everyone met and heard the stories of many refugee families, leaving a lasting impact.
The students produced this short documentary film, which illustrates the challenges of current Syrian refugees in Greece. They also created a Facebook page to spread awareness of the plight of refugees in Greece and to support the PRAKSIS aid organization and all of the volunteers they met along the way. If you are interested in supporting PRAKSIS, their donation portal is here with details on how your support would be used.