Our small team delivers life saving health measures to displaced people to reduce distress.

I first became involved in the refugee crisis in September 2015, when refugees arrived in Hamburg at a facility near to my work. Nearly everyday I would go to help with packing supplies and with transport logistics.

In April 2016 I read that a NGO in Hamburg was looking for a driver to go from Hamburg to Thessaloniki with medical supplies, clothes and other essentials, so I put up my hand! I was the driver, along with another volunteer. Once we arrived and dropped off the supplies, I started working alongside a German doctor, as his assistant in Idomeni, organising supplies for the patients. It was whilst working here that the need for primary medical care became so apparent to me but nobody was offering it. So I started developing what was very soon to become Medical Volunteers.

Back in Hamburg, I found some others and we bought a yellow ambulance, started up a Facebook page and soon started to receive donations and volunteers.

In July 2016, another volunteer, Andreas, and I drove the yellow ambulance loaded with medical supplies to Thessaloniki. A few weeks later that the first volunteers started arriving! It wasn’t long before we were offering treatment to up to 250 refugees per day on the side of the road. We started offering our services at the Vagiochori camp too.

One year later, we have grown further and work in three locations in Greece – Athens, Thessaloniki and Lesvos. Now we not only offer medical care in the camps, but also in clinics, squat houses and even car parks!

Going to watch the soccer is my last hobby that has survived Medical Volunteers International!

As a full-time photographer, I was asked by Benjamin in the summer of 2018 if I could imagine doing a photo story about the work of the volunteers in Greece. I was immediately enthusiastic about the idea and was able to take 10 days off to visit all three locations, Thessaloniki, Athens and Lesvos. I witnessed the impressive work of the volunteers with the camera. The experience and contacts made me feel so strongly connected to the cause that I decided to work in the organization back in Hamburg long-term beyond the photo story.

Alongside my profession as a photographer, I spend my time either with my wife and my dog, on a road bike, cooking vegan food, at punk or hip-hop concerts or in the stadium of Magic FC.

I first became involved in the refugee crisis in September 2015, when refugees arrived in Hamburg at a facility near to my work. Nearly everyday I would go to help with packing supplies and with transport logistics.

In April 2016 I read that a NGO in Hamburg was looking for a driver to go from Hamburg to Thessaloniki with medical supplies, clothes and other essentials, so I put up my hand! I was the driver, along with another volunteer. Once we arrived and dropped off the supplies, I started working alongside a German doctor, as his assistant in Idomeni, organising supplies for the patients. It was whilst working here that the need for primary medical care became so apparent to me but nobody was offering it. So I started developing what was very soon to become Medical Volunteers.

Back in Hamburg, I found some others and we bought a yellow ambulance, started up a Facebook page and soon started to receive donations and volunteers.

In July 2016, another volunteer, Andreas, and I drove the yellow ambulance loaded with medical supplies to Thessaloniki. A few weeks later that the first volunteers started arriving! It wasn’t long before we were offering treatment to up to 250 refugees per day on the side of the road. We started offering our services at the Vagiochori camp too.

One year later, we have grown further and work in three locations in Greece – Athens, Thessaloniki and Lesvos. Now we not only offer medical care in the camps, but also in clinics, squat houses and even car parks!

Going to watch the soccer is my last hobby that has survived Medical Volunteers International!

For the first time I’ve heard of MVI from one of my Greek friends. She informed me what MVI makes
possible; for example, the chance of supporting doctors and nurses while you are a medical student.
It is a great possibility to make new experiences and help the people in need.
As a child I always wanted to become a doctor and work for the MSF but now I am determined that I
don’t need to have a doctor’s qualification to help the people with the refugee background. I can
help them today and make their lives easier.

It is very impressive to see that so many people from all over the world have the passion to help the
people.

I love to travel with my friends and to learn about other cultures. I also do sports and read books in
my free time.

I was sitting in a coffee shop when Kai, the founder of MVI, was talking enthusiastically to an MVI volunteer next to me. His enthusiasm was (and still is) infectious, I had to ask them whether they need my support.

I´m impressed to see how much humanitarian commitment is out there in this world. And it´s an honor to work with people having such great personalities.

When being off-MVI-line I´m meeting friends and try to simply enjoy life.

By the end of 2018 I wanted to support an NGO by using my medical skills. MVI was mentioned to me by a friend of mine and shortly after I submitted my application I met with Kai. Three weeks after talking to Kai I found myself in Lesvos and I was coordinating the team there for two months.

In March 2019 I started my work on fundraising and feedback. Since March 2020 I´m also working on quality management issues.

It´s the fact that so many volunteers from all over the world make their way to Greece (sometimes from very distant places) in order to help people in need – this keeps my faith in humankind alive.

I like watching tennis and athletics, I support a local NGO providing services to homeless people, I organize queer karaoke events and believe it or not: sometimes I even manage myself to do some sports.

After finishing my A-Levels I did not want to start university immediatly so I looked for a free spot where I could apply for a federal voluntary service. When I found MVI´s ad on the website of the Federal Voluntary Service I knew that I want to work for MVI.

How committed and helpful our volunteers are. After the fire in camp Moria a lot of our former volunteers messaged us and wanted to fly to Lesvos spontaneously.

I read a lot. Additionally to that I do sports several times a week.

I have heard of MVI from a friend and was enthusiastic about the idea immediately. I volunteered as a nurse in Thessaloniki at the beginning of this year and decided to keep working for MVI after coming back to Germany. Now, I am happy to be part of the fundraising team.

I was really impressed by the gratitude, hope and strength shown by the refugees. Working in Thessaloniki has shown me how important it is to support the MVI team.

I have been studying medicine since last year and have a part-time job at an intensive care ward. When not working for MVI or in the hospital I love to spend time in  nature or by the sea. I love to meet friends and I really like to bake.

Am a doctor helper from Munich with the specialization in wound management and since 2017 I work recurrently in Greece as a volunteer.

Getting to know people from all over the world is so awesome. And it is possible to do so within MVI. Great contact with volunteers from all over the world, who donate their time, to help people from other countries, who are in desperate need of medical treatment.

The interplay of help performance and neediness gets a very special quality here at MVI. At the end of the day, you can feel fulfillment from the appreciation and gratitude. You can be happy to have done something meaningful.