Meet the Team
Kai
Volunteer coordination,
member of the board
Hamburg
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
My role is to respond to all volunteer applications and queries from sign-up through to their arrival on-site and beyond. I have been doing this since the foundation of our organisation in 2016.
What is Medical Volunteers’ story?
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!
Rose
Field coordinator Thessaloniki,
member of the board
Hamburg
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
I am Rose, a nurse from Schleswig in Northern Germany and I’ve been in Thessaloniki/Greece 8 times already.
What is Medical Volunteers’ story?
After my first deployment in January 2017, it was clear to me that I would come back. The medical support on the ground with mainly homeless refugees, and also Greeks could not be more meaningful. At the end of an exhausting day the gratitude of the beneficiaries and a smile on their faces is the best reward.
Get involved, it’s worth it!
Till
Member of the board
Hamburg
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
As one of the three vice-chairmen, I coordinate public relations and, together with the other board members, plan and organise the structures in Greece from Hamburg.
What is Medical Volunteers’ story?
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 for the work in the organisation 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.
Benjamin
Chairman
Hamburg
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
I am the chairman and am mainly responsible for the fundraising activities for the organisation. Together with Till and Kai, I manage the work of Medical Volunteers from Hamburg and represent the interests of the organisation.
What is Medical Volunteers’ story?
I met Kai Wittstock in Hamburg. I was very touched by the project and I was actively searching for friends to support it. That’s how Medical Volunteers International was founded. Our goal is to create a network of people who are committed to the cause.
Our Coordinators
Our small team ensures that MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS INTERNATIONAL can continue to deliver life saving measures to disadvantaged people. The board is based in Hamburg, and works closely with our local coordinators on-site.
Tarah
Field Coordinator Greece
Athens
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
Tarah is an Advanced Care Paramedic from Australia, who had been working in Cairns for the past 7 years. She has been the volunteer Coordinator in Athens since January 2018.
How did you first hear about Medical Volunteers and why did you decide to get involved?
I was looking for medical volunteering and came across the project on Facebook and decided to give it a try for 2 weeks. 8 months later and I’m still here! I have stayed involved as everyone in the organisation is so passionate about our work that everyday they go above and beyond what is asked and needed.
What has been your most impactful experience working with Medical Volunteers?
Working for an extended time with the MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS, I have had the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing people and have got to know families that we treat on a regular basis, watch their children grow and watch them learn more English and Greek. It’s great to share in their happiness when they have good news or just be there to give them a smile and hug on harder days.
When not working for Medical Volunteers, what do you like to spend your time doing?
I love planting herbs and vegetables but unfortunately never seem to be able to keep them alive!
Anas
Field Coordinator Athens
Athens
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
Anas came to Greece as a Syrian refugee. He has 8 years experience in humanitarian work and prides himself on his good skills with food and babies! He has been volunteering with the projects in greece for the past 15 months as the Athens field coordinator – he makes sure our clinics run smoothly and that the team and our ambulance gets from one place to another every day.
How did you first hear about Medical Volunteers and why did you decide to get involved?
This is a simple story. I first came to the volunteers as a patient, then I started to help and now I find myself running the show!
What has been your most impactful experience working with Medical Volunteers?
It’s an amazing atmosphere we work in. You can observe a huge amount of medical experience coming from different countries, to help us in supporting refugees. And of course, getting to know amazing people and make new friends is a great experience!
When not working for Medical Volunteers, what do you like to spend your time doing?
This is not an easy question! I often work 7 days a week so my favourite hobby is sneaking out to the beach and spending some time there!
Maria
Field Coordinator Lesvos
Köln
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
I’m a volunteer nurse on Lesvos and recently I became the coordinator of the team here.
How did you first hear about Medical Volunteers and why did you decide to get involved?
I first heard about medical volunteers through a friend of mine last summer. He was applying to work with the NGO, and as I have always wanted to work in the same area, I decided to spend a couple of weeks in Athens and Lesvos with medical volunteers. After being back in Germany for 2 months, I made the decision to return to Lesvos, but this time for longer.
What has been your most impactful experience working with Medical Volunteers?
In the circumstances that people are living here, it is not always easy to think positively. But when you can bring a smile to a familys face, because people from different nationalities and differnet organizations are working together, that is priceless.
When not working for Medical Volunteers, what do you like to spend your time doing?
Outside of work, I spend my time with watching TV shows, meeting friends at Cafe Pi with Rakamelo or answering emails from new medical Volunteers
Madlen
Field Coordinator Lesvos
Hamburg
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
Since January 2019, I coordinate the team on Lesvos as a volunteer together with Maria after I had not only gained medical, but also organizational experience as a radiology assistant in several German hospitals for 15 years.
How did you first hear about Medical Volunteers and why did you decide to get involved?
After looking for the right project for a long while, I heard about the project from a friend and decided to participate, as Medical Volunteers Internationals are not only very open-minded but also work in a very structured and efficient manner, so that the help reaches those, who really need it.
What has been your most impactful experience working with Medical Volunteers?
There are many experiences I gain here, but it is also very valuable for me to experience every day again how effective the team’s help is on site.
When not working for Medical Volunteers, what do you like to spend your time doing?
I enjoy spending time with the people I have met here, but sometimes I also like move back somewhere and read.
Amina
Field Coordinator Thessaloniki
The Hague
What is your role within Medical Volunteers?
I started working with Medical Volunteers International in October 2018, first only as a doctor and now also as a coordinator.
How did you first hear about Medical Volunteers and why did you decide to get involved?
After graduating medical school, I decided I wanted to join an NGO to really be able to help people in need. After some searching I came across Medical Volunteers International, and since they seemed to share my ambitions, I chose to come and help out in Thessaloniki for 6 months.
What has been your most impactful experience working with Medical Volunteers?
The thing that makes the most impact on me, everyday again, is seeing how people change when they realise you want to help them and try to make them feel welcome. The fact that they are so thankful, even just for being treated like human beings and for getting basic necessities like food or medical care, is a real eye-opener.
When not working for Medical Volunteers, what do you like to spend your time doing?
In my free time, I mostly hang out with my friends or I try to improve my Arabic by watching Arabic tv shows and movies.
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Why donate? We rely on donations to buy medical equipment, disposables and medication. We keep our overhead costs to the absolute minimum. With your support we are able to provide primary health care to displaced people where no one else does. Approximately 50% of our patients are unregistered refugees and are not eligible for local health services. This is why our work is so important!
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