Moria’s in trouble

On Monday we got the distressing news that Moria was on fire, forcing over 3,000 people currently staying inside to take to the streets and escape the flames.

We are currently supporting our partners and friends on the ground who cater directly to the needs of the families who lost everything once again in a night; legal papers, registration cards, personal belongings, clothes etc. Our co-founder Elena will be flying to Lesvos today together with Andrew our infrastructure coordinator to assess how we can be of most help.

Better Days was born in Moria, so although we no longer have a permanent presence on Lesvos we feel compelled to act when hearing about this disaster. Many of the people stuck in Moria were on our Olive Grove Camp before it closed in March. Six months down the line they are still trapped with no light at the end of the tunnel visible yet.

The inhumane camps all over Greece are not a solution. We need more legal aid, advocacy, systematic change and compassion in order to improve the situation.

While people on the ground in Lesvos work around the clock to help the people affected by the fire, giving out emergency aid, reuniting families and organising temporary accommodation, in Thessaloniki Better Days continues working at Elpida.

This catastrophe reminds us of the importance of Elpida.
Elpida is not dramatic, but it is slowly and surely proving that it is possible to house refugees in a dignified environment. Elpida means hope and now more than ever we need hope that there is a better way.

Better Days has now been running for almost a year now doing both direct crisis response and longer term innovative projects. We continue to rely on your donations to operate and we are still all unpaid volunteer and thus have very low overheads meaning your donations have direct impact on the people who need it most.

Donations are very gratefully received at this time. For full details on how to donate see: