Brussels, 5 December 2018 – I became a volunteer in JRS Greece in September 2018! I had dreamed a lot about what to expect, I had my own fears and I put my own expectations onto the volunteer position. What I have experienced made me realise that all my dreams, all my expectations, and all my fears could not even compare with what I am living and learning here.

Only love can transform. How can we spread this love? The love that heals, the love that makes us believe in a better world? In a world full of peace? Where is love in this insensitive world? How can everything be acceptable? How can we look honestly at everything that is happening in our daily lives and say that what is happening here is ok? JRS does not say it is ok. JRS fights for the right of each refugee who lost everything: their house, their family, their comfort, their job, their hope, their dreams…

We put so many fetters on our life, with the people we meet, in how we should behave, in how itis right to think. We put so many fetters into small things that it does not surprise me that we are putting so many fetters on our ability to receive people from other cultures. What are we afraid of? 

The world was created for everybody, the love exists for everybody and everybody gets hurt at some point. Working in JRS makes me believe that if we all were committed to find a love and sustainable solution for this huge problem we would probably have already found it. But we keep insisting to make only a commitment to a part-time love. If this happened to a friend of ours we would move mountains… 

JRS is committed to give a full-time love.  It is committed to find solutions and to make this waiting more human. It is not easy to write about being a volunteer in JRS Greece without talking about this huge need for awareness about what is going on. Migrants in Greece stood at 60,000 people in May 2018. 60,000 people who are searching for a new life, a new hope. Sometimes all we can give is a hot cup of tea or clothes…

«Whatever you do, do it freely and out of love»

Beatriz Cardoso Fernandes (Porto, Portugal) is 22 years old. She holds a degree in management. This volunteer experience has helped her to realize her dream of working in education and social justice.

Volunteers give hope to refugees in Europe: click here for more from this series