Solidarity in the pandemic era:
A story about helping people regardless of the circumstances.
Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Greece, are some of the many countries that Kiran from England and Frauke from the Netherlands have traveled by bicycle in the last two years, to offer voluntary work mainly in refugee camps and local educational structures.
“In the warzone, all schools were burned down, so there was no education”, says Frauke.
They started their cycling journeys completely spontaneously, wanting at the same time to offer voluntary work and humanitarian aid to local communities, mainly in Asian countries. Frauke started volunteering in education, teaching Art, Geography, Democracy and English. Kiran volunteered as much as he could in these structures.
So, they started a blog (https://cycleforgood.wordpress.com/) through which they informed about their activities and the needs that prevailed in each area they visited. They came in contact with many people and managed to raise money to provide food in some communities for even a month.
At the end of last December, they decided to come to Greece in order to spend the first months of winter in Athens. From Kazakhstan, via Istanbul, they landed on Chios island and from there they arrived by boat in Piraeus, with their bicycles they reached the center of Athens where they stayed in a hostel. Preventive measures against Covid-19 had already been implemented in most Asian countries and this was the only way they managed to find to come to Athens.
Kiran preparing meal in the makeshift kitchen that they made at the bar. 14th May 2020, Athens, Greece.
“We came in Athens to spend the winter, we didn’t want to be just tourists. Not just be here. We wanted to volunteer, to do something, we wanted to socialize with people. I think, if you see people every day, you do something with them. It’s nice.” Says Kiran.
During the first days of their stay in Athens, they tried to find a place where they could volunteer and decided to do it in the social kitchen of KHORA. There they helped several days of the week with the preparation of food as well as the distribution of food and coffee to people, with their bicycles. KHORA is an association of social groups, spaces and activities that helps displaced people in Athens.
Last March, the first measures against covid-19 began to be implemented in Greece. The closure of shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas, tourist accommodations, schools and universities were among them. Kiran and Frauke had to find a place to stay, as the hostel where they were staying closed and the money they could offer for their stay was limited.
While searching for a budget house or room to rent, which was extremely difficult, they accidentally learned about a musician and bar owner who was leaving for abroad, as the bar he maintained in Athens would remain closed until the measures for covid-19 are lifted. After 15 minutes of talking to him, they had a place to stay.
The bar was located in one of the most degraded neighborhoods of Metaxourgeio area in Athens, with intense activity of drug dealers.
“I have never seen people using heroin in my life, and here I see it all the time. I can understand that if you walk in this area, you will see all these things and you will think, this is a terrible area. Of course the people who do this are desperate. Right? I mean, their life is a mess. But actually I never felt unsafe here. Not really, actually this is a friendly neighborhood,” says Kiran.
The next move for Frauke and Kiran was to set up the necessary infrastructure to be able to spend the next three months at the bar. With the help of the owner they found a bed and placed it in the attic, bought a cheap electric appliance so they could cook and reorganized the space to make it more practical for their stay.
Frauke had another idea, she got a sewing machine and in her spare time, when she was not helping in the social kitchen, she made masks to protect against covid-19 in order to distribute them to people in need.
During their three-month stay at the bar, Kiran and Frauke met the residents of this neighborhood of Athens, made friends, borrowed kitchen utensils, exchanged recipes from various cuisines of the world, helped and got helped from other people. They will continue to look for the next destination and action with their bicycles.
