Habibi.Works, die Zukunftswerkstatt in Griechenland von Soup and Socks e.V.

Liebe Unterstützerinnen und Unterstützer,

was für ein Jahr! Es fällt schwer, 2021 mit den Jahren vor der Pandemie zu vergleichen. Die Zahlen der täglichen Nutzerinnen und Nutzer von Habibi.Works beispielsweise unterlagen rechtlichen Einschränkungen und sind daher niedriger als in 2016-2019. Auch die Summe der Spenden, die wir im Laufe der letzten 12 Monate erhalten haben, liegt unter den Beträgen der Vorjahre. Die Winterkampagne allerdings war sehr erfolgreich - gemeinsam habt ihr von überall auf der Welt 17.000 Euro gespendet. Das ist ein hervorragendes Ergebnis, tausend Dank!

Trotz der Einschränkungen war 2021 möglicherweise das Jahr, in dem sich die meisten Veränderungen, Erweiterungen und Entwicklungen in Habibi.Works ereignet haben. Ist das nicht unglaublich? Die Tatsache, dass wir in Zeiten einer Pandemie nicht nur das Projekt am Leben erhalten, sondern es vergrößern und verbessern konnten, macht uns stolz und ist einem hervorragenden Team vor Ort und überall in Europa zu verdanken - und natürlich euch, die ihr unsere Entwicklungen begleitet und unterstützt habt!

In diesem Newsletter teilen wir 1. die größten Herausforderungen und die größten Erfolge, 2. die Highlights der jeweiligen Monate in 2021 im Überblick, 3. den Ausblick auf 2022.

1. Die größten Herausforderungen - und die schönsten Erfolge

Die mit Abstand größten Herausforderungen im vergangenen Jahr waren die Pandemie und die damit verbundenen Risiken. Mit Risiken sind hier sowohl die gesundheitlichen Risiken für die Teilnehmenden des Projekts als auch die legalen Risiken für unsere Organisation gemeint. Das Team musste unzählige Entscheidungen treffen ohne klare Vorgaben und Richtlinien vom Staat zu erhalten - selbst heute kann uns keine Behörde, die wir kontaktieren, die zulässige Anzahl von Personen pro Quadratmeter für unsere Räumlichkeiten nennen. Wir müssen also selbst entscheiden, lassen daher Vorsicht walten, sind besonders verantwortungsbewusst - und wissen doch, dass unsere Entscheidungen uns im Zweifelsfall anders zur Last gelegt werden könnten als beispielsweise griechischen Betrieben. Die Stimmung gegenüber ausländischen Organisationen, die mit Geflüchteten arbeiten hat sich in 2021 weiter verschlechtert.

Die Aufgabe, unzählige Entscheidungen über unser Konzept und unsere Prozesse selbstständig treffen zu müssen, hat auch das Team und die Teamdynamik auf eine harte Probe gestellt. Während manche lieber zu vorsichtig als zu gelassen vorgehen wollten, sahen andere eigene Freiheiten oder Freiheiten der Zielgruppe durch Teamentscheidungen massiv beschnitten. Ein Beispiel: Während der ersten Jahreshälfte schlossen sich alle Teammitglieder zu einem großen "Haushalt" zusammen (wir nannten es "Blase"). Die meisten von uns wohnten zusammen, da machte es einfach Sinn, außerhalb der Arbeit die Maske abnehmen zu können wenn man beisammen war. Schwierig war dann allerdings, dass alle "Mitglieder der Blase" sich gegenüber anderen gleich verhalten mussten: Mindestabstand, Maske, keine Rendez-Vous, etc. Dürfen wir als Team, als Kollektiv wirklich so tief in die Privatsphäre von Einzelnen eingreifen? Dürfen wir vorschreiben, mit wem man sich wie treffen darf? Die Auflösung des "Team-Haushalts" hätte angesichts der sinkenden Fallzahlen vermutlich früher erfolgen sollen - wir entschieden uns erst im Sommer dafür. Es gibt sicher vieles, was wir heute in vergleichbaren Situationen anders und hoffentlich besser machen würden. Diese Spannung zwischen "Nicht-Wissen" und "logische Entscheidungen treffen müssen", das Gewicht der Verantwortung für die Sicherheit des Projekts und der Teilnehmenden schultern zu müssen, hat viel Energie, Kraft und Zeit gekostet. Die Anzahl der Stunden, die das gesamte Team in diesem Jahr in zusätzlichen Besprechungen verbracht hat, sind astronomisch. An dieser Stelle möchten wir uns bei allen bedanken, die geduldig und konstruktiv geblieben sind und das Projekt in diesen schwierigen Zeiten nach bestem Wissen und Gewissen geformt haben. Die schönsten Erfolge

Der größte Erfolg in 2021 ist sicherlich die Tatsache, dass das Projekt nicht nur ein weiteres Pandemie-Jahr überlebt hat, sondern in diesem auch beträchtlich gewachsen ist. Jeder einzelne der neuen Arbeitsbereiche und jedes neue Projekt, wie das Sportprojekt HSR in Kollaboration mit unserem Partner YSR, das Re.Works-Plastik-Labor und der Tea Truck wären alle für sich schon ein Grund zum Feiern. Dass alle drei in diesem Jahr entstehen konnten, während wir zusätzlich Teilnehmende internationaler Kampagnen und Programme wurden, ist überwältigend. 

Ein weiterer Erfolg ist die große Zahl von "Community Team Members". Nie war die Zahl der Menschen aus dem Camp, die in Habibi.Works die eigenständige Leitung eines Arbeitsbereichs oder zumindest die Aufgabe der Unterstützung übernehmen, größer. Wir empfinden das als wichtigen Schritt in die richtige Richtung.



2. Das Jahr im Überblick

Januar: Anders als die meisten Projekte, die in Griechenland mit Geflüchteten arbeiten, öffnet Habibi.Works nach der Winterpause seine Türen. Für "Makerspaces" (Werkstätten-Projekte) gibt es keine rechtlich definierte Kategorie und daher keine klaren Vorschriften. Das Team entscheidet, die Werkstätten für grundlegende Reparaturen zu öffnen, aber Aspekte, die eher einem Gemeinschaftszentrum entsprechen (gemeinsames Mittagessen, Teeküche, Sofa-Bereich mit WLan) geschlossen zu halten, um uns und die teilnehmenden Menschen keinem größeren rechtlichen und gesundheitlichen Risiko auszusetzen als nötig.

Februar: Nach Terminvergabe können Menschen aus dem Camp für Geflüchtete in Katsikas und Mitglieder der lokalen Bevölkerung die Werkstätten nutzen - natürlich mit Maske und Mindestabstand. Viele Grundsteine für die größeren Projekte in 2021 werden in diesen Wochen gelegt. 

März: Die Region, in der sich Habibi.Works befindet, wird zur Corona-Hochrisiko-Zone erklärt, auch Werkstätten müssen nun den Betrieb einstellen. Habibi.Works schließt am 13. März seine Türen für insgesamt drei Wochen. Im März gehen auch erschütternde Artikel über Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch den griechischen Staat im Mittelmeer durch die Medien. 

April: Nachdem Ioannina am 5. April nicht mehr Hochrisikogebiet ist, öffnet Habibi.Works direkt am 6 April seine Türen. Jetzt steht auch der Beginn eines der größten Projekte in 2021 an; der Aufbau der Plastik-Upcycling-Werkstatt Re.Works! Mit der Unterstützung der kleinen Organisation "Not For Your Distinction" entsteht so in Habibi.Works ein vollkommen neuer, spannender Arbeitsbereich.
Im April beginnt der Fastenmonat Ramadan. Gleichzeitig gibt es einen Ausbruch von Corona innerhalb des Camps. Behörden erzwingen die Quarantäne von erkrankten Personen gemeinsam mit all ihren gesunden Mitbewohner*innen, statt die positiv getesteten Personen zu separieren.



Mai: Habibi.Works erhält Besuch von einem Team von MaiKa'i - die jungen Kletter-Enthusiasten aus Spanien bauen gemeinsam mit Menschen aus dem Camp die Außensportanlage mit Kletterwand auf. "Habibi and Sport with Refugees" ist seitdem ein eigenes, erfolgreiches Projekt in Kollaboration zwischen Habibi.Works und unseren Partnern "YSR".

Dear supporters,

What a year! It is difficult to compare 2021 with the years before the pandemic. The numbers of daily users of Habibi.Works, for example, were subject to legal restrictions and were therefore lower than in 2016-2019. The amount of donations we received over the last 12 months is also lower than in previous years. The winter campaign, however, was very successful - together you donated 17,000 euros from all over the world. This is a fantastic result, thank you very much!

Despite the limitations, 2021 was possibly the year in which the most changes, expansions and developments happened in Habibi.Works. Isn't that incredible? The fact that we were able to not only keep the project alive but grow and improve it in times of a pandemic makes us proud and is thanks to an excellent team on the ground and all over Europe - and of course you, who accompanied and supported our developments!

In this last newsletter of 2021, we are sharing the biggest challenges and the biggest successes, the highlights of each month in 2021 at a glance, and the outlook for 2022 .

The biggest challenges - and the most beautiful success stories

By far the biggest challenges in the past year were the pandemic and the risks associated with it. By risks we mean both the health risks for the participants of the project and the legal risks for our organization. The team had to make countless decisions without clear guidelines from the government - even today, no authority we contact can tell us clearly the allowed number of people per square meter for our building. We have to decide on our own, so we exercise caution, we are particularly responsible - and yet we know that our decisions could, in case of doubt, be held against us differently than against Greek businesses. The mood towards foreign organizations working with refugees has deteriorated further in 2021.

The task of having to make countless decisions about our concept and processes on our own has also tested the team and the team dynamics. While some preferred to proceed too cautiously rather than too calmly, others saw their own freedoms or freedoms of the target group massively curtailed by team decisions. One example: During the first half of the year, all team members joined together to form one big "household" (we called it a "bubble"). Almost all of us live together, so it made sense to be able to take off the mask outside of work when we were together. What was difficult, however, was that all the "members of the bubble" had to behave in the same way towards others: minimum distance, mask, no dates, etc. Are we as a team, as a collective, really allowed to intervene so deeply in the privacy of individuals? Are we allowed to dictate with whom one may meet and how? The dissolution of the "team budget" should probably have taken place earlier in view of the decreasing number of cases in our region - we only decided to do so in the summer. There are certainly many things we would do differently and hopefully better in comparable situations today. This tension between "not knowing" and "having to make good decisions", having to shoulder the weight of responsibility for the safety of the project and its participants, took a lot of energy, strength and time. The number of hours the whole team has spent in additional meetings this year is astronomical. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has remained patient and constructive and shaped the project to the best of their ability during these difficult times.

What we celebrate - Biggest Successes in 2021

The biggest success in 2021 is certainly the fact that the project has not only survived another pandemic year, but has also grown considerably in this one. Each of the new areas of work and each new project, such as the HSR sports project in collaboration with our partner YSR, the Re.Works plastic lab and the Tea Truck would all be a reason to celebrate in themselves. That all three could come into being this year, while we also became participants in international campaigns and programs, is overwhelming.

Another success is the large number of "Community Team Members". There has never been a greater number of people from the camp who took on the independent management of a work area or the task of support in Habibi.Works. We feel this is an important step in the right direction.



The Year at a Glance

January: Unlike most projects working with refugees in Greece, Habibi.Works opens its doors after the winter break. There is no legally defined category for "maker-spaces" (like our workshop project) and therefore no clear rules. The team decides to open the workshops for basic repairs, but to keep aspects that are more characteristic for a community center (shared lunch, tea kitchen, sofa area with wifi) closed, in order not to expose the participating people and the project to more legal and health risks than necessary.

February: People from the camp for refugees in Katsikas and members of the local population can use the workshops on an appointment basis - with masks and minimum distance, of course. Many foundations for the larger projects in 2021 are laid in these weeks.

March:The region Habibi.Works is located in is declared a High Risk Area, all sorts of workshops now have to stop operating, too. Habibi.Works closes its doors on March 13 for a total of three weeks. In March, shocking articles about human rights violations by the Greek state in the Mediterranean Sea go through the media.



April: With Ioannina no longer a high-risk area on 5 April, Habibi. Works opens its doors directly on April 6th. Now, the implementation of one of the biggest projects in 2021 is about to begin; the construction of the plastic upcycling workshop Re.Works! With the support of the small organization "Not For Your Distinction", a completely new and exciting workspace is being created in Habibi.Works out of a shipping container (pictured above).

In April, the religious fasting month of Ramadan begins. At the same time, there is an outbreak of Corona inside the camp. Authorities enforce the quarantine of sick people together with all their healthy housemates instead of separating the people who tested positive.

May: Habibi.Works receives a visit from a team from MaiKa'i - the young climbing enthusiasts from Spain build the outdoor sports facility with climbing wall together with people from the camp. "Habibi and Sport with Refugees" has since been a successful project in collaboration between Habibi.Works and our partners "YSR". A huge shoutout to their amazing team!

Dear supporters, 
 The donations received over the past several months have been invaluable for enabling Soup & Socks e.V. to continue running the Habibi.Works project through a very difficult period amidst the global corona pandemic.

From March 13th to April 5th, the doors of Habibi.Works were temporarily closed, due to the fact that the region of Ioannina had been declared a "dark red zone". Your team on site used these three weeks to prepare various (exciting!) projects, which will be discussed below. The good news is that Habibi.Works has been open again for a little more than a week now. The bad news is that three days ago, several corona cases were confirmed in the Katsikas refugee camp.

February, March, April: Impressions from Habibi.Works
We are following our appointment system. In order to reduce the risk of a fine for being open, we focus on “essential repairs”, running activities in wood, metal, bikes, IT and Sewing. Moreover, the precious plastic lab Re.Works is being added as a completely new, independent working area and the setting up of the lab will be an important part of our activities in the next weeks (see more below!).

At the moment, people can book an appointment for multiple working areas of their choice on days and times of their preference – as long as it is within the same week. People living in Ioannina or Agia Eleni can book appointments via Facebook messenger or via phone call or messages to a specific phone number we set up. The appointment is marked in the excel sheet that is accessible to the team online. At the time of their appointment, people present the appointment cards they had received, disinfect their hands and enter the building. 

Moreover, during every lockdown we are adding to our experience and our “creative solutions”, finding ways to continue offering at least some activities outdoors and away from our premises. One of the latest of these flexible approaches was the “Ninja Bike Repairs”, within which two Bike facilitators of Habibi.Works meet (in changing outdoor locations) with one person living in the camp at a time, to facilitate simple bike repairs.

Thanks to a growing team, Habibi.Works has been able to offer an increasing number of electronic workshop and repair sessions and sport activities.

Precious Plastic in Habibi.Works - A Thrilling Addition to the Concept!
One of the most exciting projects in the past few weeks was the beginning of the collaboration with the young organisation "Not For Your Distinction". Louis and Laura from Germany are experts when it comes to recycling and part of the "Precious Plastic" movement. Within the Precious Plastic Workshops, plastic waste is collected, cleaned, shredded, processed and turned into pretty impressive new products. And thanks to the collaboration with "Not For Your Distinction", Habibi.Works will be setting up its own plastic laboratory these weeks. The name for this completely new work area is Re.Works. Below you can see some examples of the products created (for now we used a photo of Precious Plastic Cyprus, because Re.Works is still under construction - but we can't wait to share our first recycling products with you!).

For more detail on our activities in the past months, we invite you to take a look at our newsletters for the months of  December, January and April. 

Dear supporters,

The donations received over the past several months have been invaluable for enabling Soup & Socks e.V. to continue running the Habibi.Works project through a very difficult period amidst the global corona pandemic. With the support shown through donations to the project, we have been able to adapt and meet new needs specific to the current circumstances. Donations received for disinfection materials made it possible to protect not only our team members but also the "makers" who come and use our space - many of which are part of a vulnerable population with limited access to healthcare and services - and ensure we have adequate safety and hygiene standards. We were additionally able to provide materials for each of our working areas, including the sewing atelier, where experienced tailors and beginners alike benefit from the guidance of a visiting expert to design their own projects. During corona times, this has provided many the opportunity to design and create their own reusable face mask. Our MediaLab - equipped with a lasercutter and 3D printer - also became a small production site for face visors which were used not only by users of the space but also partner organisations offering valuable services to the refugee and asylum seeker population.

In 2020, the Habibi.Works team was faced with several phases of increasing restrictions on movement for the general population; the year saw two national lockdowns as well as periods of high alert due to Covid-19, as well as specific restrictions on the movement refugees and asylum-seekers. Despite this, Habibi.Works has continued to provide as many services as possible in the current circumstances. This included the continuation of a loan system which enabled people living in the refugee camp to borrow bicycles, basic tools, books, sport equipment and musical instruments - free of charge. Prior to the national lockdown which came into force in November 2020, Habibi.Works continued to invite makers into its 10 working areas, now using a new appointment-based system to ensure adequate physical distancing was in place. We are looking forward to the end of this current lockdown to open our doors again! This continues to be a space for makers to express their creativity, make necessary repairs, create items specific to their own needs, learn new skills as well as put their own expertise to use.

For more detail on our activities in the past months, we invite you to take a look at our newsletters for the months of September, November and December as well as a special newsletter celebrating the start of the new year.

Best wishes for 2021 from the Habibi.Works team!