News

Press release 21.3.2022

A Christmas tree from Tyrol shines on Lesbos for Christmas.

As every year since 2017, Griechenlandhilfe organized a Christmas Eve in Vrisa on Lesbos this year. The approx. 200 residents who remained there after the devastating earthquake in April 2017 were sincerely looking forward to the celebration, which has already become a tradition. For the founder of the association, Erwin Schrümpf, it is important to give people a sense of community and not been forgotten. The fundraising campaign for Vrisa started months beforehand. Gifts for every family, Christmas cookies, mulled wine – a joyful togetherness around the decorated Christmas tree in the midst of the rubble.

Erwin Schrümpf and his team of volunteers have been working for socially disadvantaged people in Greece for nine years and regularly deliver medical material and food. The homeless people in Piraeus are given warm shoes, sleeping bags and toiletries before winter sets in. The association supports soup kitchens and social centers in Athens, Patras and Igoumenitsa, homes for disabled people and small medical practices on the islands. An important focus are the projects for children and young people from socially disadvantaged families or in remote towns or islands.

“It was an eventful year,” says Erwin Schrümpf and remembers the great wave of helpfulness of the Griechenlandhilfe supporters and of the voluntary fire brigades after the forest fires in August. “Together we were able to alleviate the plight of many innocent people, experiencing homelessness, hunger and other crises. I am so grateful for everyone, who remained loyal to us in these difficult times! My word of the year is “together”. We couldn’t manage it without each other.”

Press release 29.12.2021

Erwin Schrümpf’s thoughts on our 9th anniversary

The pictures of the ARD report about the conditions in the Greek hospitals still stay in my head even 9 years later. I have often asked myself, how is that possible in Europe in the 21st century? How can we let it happen that babies die and children starve, or are abandoned in the street simply because of a lack of medical supplies or financial support? At that time, I didn’t believe that a phone call would be enough to get an immediate response and helpfulness.

Leaving the private sector and founding the Griechenlandhilfe Association is the best decision of my life. First I only saw the misery – sad children’s eyes, poverty, hopelessness, illnesses, abandoned in need, forgotten and without shelter on the street. Now I came back from my 101st delivery trip, for the Griechenlandhilfe, overall there were already more than 500. Today I see it in a different way – the wave of helpfulness from our friends and supporters overwhelms me and gives me the strength to carry on. The participation and the help of the donors touches me very personally. I know it from my own experience what our help means for the people in Greece.

Sometimes I think what if I were among the victims of the Norman Atlantik back in December 2014, if the rescue hadn’t been there in time. The flames on the ferry were truly a matter of life and death. I see it this way – I still have work to do and we are on the right way. Only a month later I delivered relief supplies to Greece again. With a new bus, my old one was completely destroyed in the flames.

I am very grateful for all my companions and supporters who have tackled with me over these years and participated despite the obstacles. We have experienced just about every conceivable catastrophe – earthquakes, floods, epidemics, forest fires … I only felt alone once – in April 2020 when our bus was the only vehicle on the ferry and on the road to Athens. The situation had something of an apocalyptic mood. Athens – the streets empty, no ship in the sea, incredible. Sometimes this feeling overcomes me in Vrisa on Lesbos when I walk through the deserted streets and pass the abandoned houses. But then Christmas comes, we set up a Christmas tree in the center of the village, decorate it and give out Christmas gifts to the 100 remaining residents. It makes my heart warm, it’s Christmas Eve.

We celebrate our birthday and I say – we have to go further! We are requested, we are expected, we are needed. There are still many projects waiting for us and I am looking forward to our 10th anniversary next year with great enthusiasm. If we continue on this path together, we will become rescuers at the right moment, when the ground is on fire!

Erwin Schrümpf

20.11.2021

Lately we delievered medical material to the island of Othoni. There, a young doctor is solely responsible for the medical care of the islanders, he bears a great responsibility. In his statement he talks about his life and his work at Othoni. We think this is an interesting insight and therefore we want to provide you with the entire text:

My name is Dimitrios Filinadas and I am 26 years old. I was born in Kastoria. It is a small, peaceful and picturesque town in northern Greece. This year, I graduated from medical school and in March I received my medical license by Panhellenic Medical Association. I would like to specialize in urology and to focus on neurourology and urodynamics.

This summer I came to Othonoi to work as a rural service medical doctor (rural GP) in parallel with my military service.

For me, Othonoi is an earthly paradise between the Ionian and Adriatic Sea. It is the westernmost point of Greece and is the island of the nymph Calypso as described in “The Odyssey”. The locals are hospitable, smiling, willing to help and considered me as one of their own.

Working as a doctor on an island is a unique unforgettable experience, but at the same time it is a big challenge  as I am called to serve as a doctor on a remote island with shortages, difficult weather conditions, elderly people, without specialized doctor or nursing staff.

I struggle every day and try to organize the health center as best as I can. My goal is to have a well-equipped regional medical center and I make sure that the supply is done at regular intervals.

Life flows calmly in winter. In my free time I attend medical conferences online, also,  I like fishing, hiking on the beautiful and green paths of the island but also discussing with the locals learning things about the sea, the flora and fauna of the island, its history but also making plans for the island to move forward for the future.

The last two years the humanity has been hit by the effects of the pandemic. However, at the same time, we took many life lessons, we matured, we revised many values and I hope that we will all emerge victorious, stronger and more human-centered.

I wish and ask all people to be vaccinated. People need to have faith in medical community and be confident that in the end we will succeed.

From my side, I will do  the best I can to support the locals and to offer them a decent medical care and to make them feel safe as the words from the Romans “Salus populi suprema lex esto – The health of the people should be the supreme law”.

Dr. Dimitrios Filinadas

13.11.2021