“There are no foreign children. All children are children”.
Alexandra, Caregiver at The HOME Project
Alexandra moved to Greece from Ukraine fourteen years ago. A trained nurse and pharmacist with years of experience working in hospitals, she had put her career on hold to raise her two children. Then, a few months after the war in Ukraine began, she came across a job opening at The HOME Project's shelter for children who had fled the conflict. “As soon as I heard they had rescued children from Ukraine, I applied for the job of interpreter”, she recalls.
Having experienced what it means to build a life in another country, Alexandra felt a personal connection to the children arriving in Greece, far from their families and everything familiar. “I could see and relate the needs of these children who have left their country, and arrived without knowing what awaits them”, she explains.
As the only member of the team who spoke their native language, she soon became a familiar and reassuring presence. The relationships they built have endured, even after the children returned to Ukraine. “We had a very good relationship from day one, and we are still in touch now that they are back home”, she says. “A lot of the children called me mom. I think they somehow understood that I was doing a mom’s job. That, for me, is something special”.
When the Ukrainian children returned home, Alexandra continued working at The HOME Project, transitioning from interpreter to caregiver. Today, she supports teenagers from countries including Somalia, Syria, and Eritrea, whose needs and daily routines are very different from those of the younger children she first cared for.
“Now the job is different. The youngest children needed someone next to them all the time”, she explains. “Teenagers are more independent. They need help with schoolwork and cooking, we play board games, go for walks and sometimes just sit down together to talk”. These ordinary moments are an important part of building trust and a sense of belonging. The children often take the initiative to help around the shelter, turning everyday tasks into opportunities to connect. “When they see us doing chores around the house, they jump in straight away to help. Moments like that bring us together”.
Language remains one of the biggest challenges. Many of the teenagers speak Arabic, while Alexandra is still improving her own Greek. Yet they find ways to understand one another, sometimes with the help of our resident interpreters or translation tools, and often by learning together. “We manage to communicate with the help of the interpreter, and somehow we learn Greek together. I am also picking up some Arabic with them too”.
More difficult is hearing what the children have experienced before reaching Greece. “It is very difficult for me to listen to their stories, and to what they are going through", she admits. But Alexandra knows that supporting a child does not always require having the right words. Sometimes, it means simply being present, listening, and giving them the time and space they need. For Alexandra, care begins with helping children feel safe and find their footing in an unfamiliar environment.
“Care is when a child arrives at the shelter and doesn't know the language, the country, the culture, where to go, what to do, or anything about school. Even just explaining what their daily routine will look like, that's care. Helping them understand that they are safe here, that whatever they need, they can come to us and we will help them. That they will always have food, a bed, a home. That's care”, she says.
She also emphasizes the importance of the team working alongside her. “We offer holistic support with an individualized approach. We work, step by step and in a way that suits each child, to help them open up, feel safer, and understand that we are here to support and look after them”.
For Alexandra, the rewards of her work are found in both the progress children make over time and the small signs that they feel comfortable and supported. “When a child makes an effort and you see he has come much further than where he was a few months ago, that makes me happy with my job”, she highlights. “When I see the children relaxed, smiling and saying thank you, I am reminded of why I work here”.
Four and a half years into her journey at The HOME Project, Alexandra says the experience has fundamentally changed the way she sees the world. “I used to think my world was my own family, my own children. Now I understand that these children are no different from mine”, she reflects.
And if there is one thing she wishes more people understood, it is the importance of seeing beyond nationality and circumstance, and recognizing the needs and rights that all children share. “We have to put ourselves in their shoes, and then we will understand. There are no foreign children. All children are children, so we must not discriminate. They deserve to be treated equally and helped in whatever way we can”.