Friday, March 3: The Melissa Network
Post date: Mar 09, 2017 12:50:56 PM
By Jessica Youngblood
Today the refugee groups met with Nadina Chrisopoulou and her team at The Melissa Network, a center that opened in 2015 to provide migrant and refugee women and their children with services such as Greek language, poetry, theater, and other courses. All of the staff have activist backgrounds and are constantly working to foster that environment with the young women they work with. The center on average sees 130 people a day--about 100 of them adult women and 30 children.
The Melissa Network consists of a team of amazing women from different backgrounds that foster an open hearts and minds campaign to help foster growth for these women. Maria, a chef from Nigeria, bakes bread and incredible desserts to sell and to create a warm environment for when women and their children come to the center. Click Ngwere from Zimbabwe works at the center and also in the refugee camps in Athens to bring a community of hope into the camps.
Debbie, from the Philippines, works with women for 17 years on a microfinance program in which loan repayment has been 100%! In the middle of all of this hard work was passion and love, both from the women who work there and those who use their services. It was clear that this network of women has created a safe space for support and growth.
Nadina described how The Melissa Network has changed the neighborhood where their center is located. Once filled with drugs and unemployment, the area has evolved dramatically into a safe and fostering environment. The center has created a safe community not only inside its doors, but also outside, helping foster a large family neighborhood where everyone looks out for each other--or, nearly everyone. They are situated in the middle of a neighborhood that is largely occupied by Golden Dawn supporters (an extreme right-wing political party); however, the xenophobic community members have not managed to drown out the rest of the community, who have vigorously supported The Melissa Network.
The Melissa Network and its members displayed how the refugee and migrant situation in Greece can have a positive outcome. In the midst of all of the complications and setbacks we have learned about, it was inspiring and hopeful to witness these uplifting stories.