Community Action Awards Spotlight
My name is Eric Raimondi and I am a joint History and Middle Eastern Studies major in my senior year at Bard. This summer I worked with Samos Volunteers in Greece where I helped refugees living in a former military detention center. My work included registering refugees, sorting donated goods, washing clothing, and cleaning bathrooms at the camp. Working in the camp was physically and emotionally exhausting. I often worked in the mid-afternoon—this meant it was unbearably hot; it also meant that the refugees’ tents were practically uninhabitable, as they heated like saunas. Despite these conditions, I found my work to be extremely rewarding and enriching. I was invited into people’s tents and was often treated as a guest. One time during Ramadan, an old woman gifted me the most delicious stuffed zucchini. In front of the backdrop of injustice, some people continue life as normal for as long as they can. For the first time in my life, I felt completely useful. The experience I had with Samos Volunteers cannot be replicated. I don’t imagine I can see the world the same as before.
Meta: Subject(s): Division of Social Studies,Community Engagement | Institutes(s): Center for Civic Engagement,Bard Undergraduate Programs |
