“The girls of the Mother and Child Space are like a warm embrace, they are my Greek sisters,” says Nadira*, a young mother from Syria, during her second visit to the Mother and Child Space in the Asylum Service of Athens.
Already from the first time she visited the Mother and Child Space, during her long wait in the Asylum Service, Nadira felt safe. “I don’t like to talk about what I have been through, because I do not want to start crying in front of others. But I felt you like you were my sisters that I have left behind in Syria. You “embraced” me and my children; you gave them clothes, food, toys. They would not stop laughing!”
On average, more than 400 mothers and children, just like Nadira and her little girls, visit on a monthly basis the Mother and Child Spaces created and operated by METAdrasi at the Asylum Service offices in Athens and Thessaloniki. In these specially designed areas, mothers can breastfeed and take care of their babies, while young children have the opportunity to play safely and to be occupied creatively by our team members, with the valuable help of our volunteers.
*The name has been changed to protect personal data.
The activity is being implemented with the support of UNICEF and in cooperation with the Asylum Service.
