Leeds graduate embarks on trip to support Kos refugees
A university graduate from Leeds is set to travel to Kos this month to provide support and essential supplies to the many refugees arriving each day on the Greek island.
April Humble graduated with a Peace and Conflict Resolution degree from Leeds Beckett in 2012 and will be giving on-the-ground support later this month to refugees arriving in Kos – one of the points in Europe receiving the greatest number of migrants, currently estimated at 600 a day.
Originally from the Scottish Borders, and now living in Berlin, the 29-year-old has started a fundraising campaign to provide basic supplies to the refugees throughout her visit, which will take place from Wednesday 16th to Monday 28th September.
Initially planning to raise 2,000 Euros, the humanitarian surpassed this goal in her first week and is now aiming to double this figure.
She explained: “I decided to go out to Kos in response to the fact that people are suffering at the shores of Europe – our shores – who simply need refuge and a safe place to live. It is thought now that there is currently the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two, with 50,000 migrants arriving in Greece last month alone.
“The governments currently cannot or will not provide adequate support for the people, so someone must. I feel unwilling to wait around longer for someone else to act. So, I decided to act myself.
“Travelling out to Kos is a venture I will be embarking on alone but I will meet local people on the island who are volunteering in their spare time to work with the refugees.
“In terms of helping, the money I will raise will be spent directly on supplies, bought on Kos to help the local Greek economy, and will include items ranging from food and water to sleeping bags and shoes.
“It will be just scraping the surface of course, but as there is no organisation or authority doing this on the ground, every item can make someone’s life a little more bearable.
“I also want to raise awareness to the situation and turn the attention from it being a dramatic sensationalised issue, to a human problem that we need to, and also really can, address now.”
Since her graduation in 2012, April has been living in Berlin working as part of the Secretariat of the Earth League – an international group of climate change experts who give high level advice on climate change.
The group’s upcoming projects are supported by Al Gore, Richard Branson and Desmond Tutu, amongst others, and aim to influence the next big climate change talks in Paris this year.
