PAME PANO!
Mental health and social inclusion for unaccompanied refugee children in Athens
PAME PANO!
Pame Pano! is our new project in Greece which uses climbing activities to tackle the many problems faced by refugee youth across the city of Athens. Now we need your help to expand Pame Pano! into a permanent project, reaching 140 unaccompanied children living in Athens.
After the successful implementation of the project in 2022, our project leader Sandra Aguilar has moved back to Barcelona for personal reasons.
Although we are all very sad that Pame Pano! is being discontinued for this reason, we are deeply grateful for three years.
Pame pano!
About Pame Pano!
ClimbAID arrived in Greece in 2020, with the launch of a successful pilot programme for unaccompanied refugee children which provides cooperative and experiential learning through climbing-focused activities aimed at improving the psychosocial wellbeing of beneficiaries, while fostering their social inclusion in the local community.
The pilot programme took place throughout July 2020, engaging a group of 22 adolescents residing in different reception shelters in Athens. The program took place at our partner gyms, located in areas of Athens easily accessible by public transport for the beneficiaries from their residence shelters.
The pilot programme has yielded impressive results thus far and ClimbAID is now seeking funding to launch long-term program in Greece, with a target of reaching 140 participants.
“I feel that every day I improve my climbing skills, and when I feel that something is very difficult I just try it again and again and finally I succeed. With the problems of life I do the same. For example when I arrived to Greece, I found it impossible to learn English and now I can speak it.”
Athens’ Suburban Refugee Shelters
With COVID-19 placing significant pressure on Greece’s fragile economy and exacerbating local hostilities, almost 138,000 refugees in Greece are facing an uncertain future.
Of the estimated 32,000 refugee and migrant children present in Greece, the approximately 5000 unaccompanied minors are among the most vulnerable. Without parental supervision and a shortage of specialist staff, UMAs face numerous challenges, including difficulties accessing the school system, language barriers and psychosocial issues stemming from war and displacement.
Faced with limited services and overcrowded shelters, unaccompanied refugee children have been among the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, making ClimbAID’s work in Athens more important than ever. ClimbAID’s work provides an essential service for unaccompanied refugee children, promoting physical and mental wellbeing, fostering a collective engagement community and encouraging integration within the host community.
“Today throughout the session I have felt when we are climbing we are all one and the more we empower each other the better we do it”
Budget Breakdown
The project’s budget is € 41,700, with €12,700 covered by ClimbAID’s core funding and donations. The additional budget needed to cover expenses for the program is around € 29,000, with each cycle costing around € 9,000. This amount can be broken down as follows:
“I am really happy today. I climbed the boulder problem that I couldn’t do the last time. This is like life. If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Program Objectives & Methodology
ClimbAID’s project in Greece has three core objectives:
- Improve physical and emotional wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem;
- Promote teamwork and relationships based on trust and respect between participants;
- Foster positive social interactions and coexistence between participants and the host community.
Mental Health & Psychosocial Wellbeing
ClimbAID’s methodology centres on a significant and growing body of international research demonstrating the value of meaningful activity and climbing-therapy as tools to address depression, anxiety and trauma.
Many refugees struggle with distressing experiences of violence, abuse, exploitation, family separation and more. As a non-competitive, goal-oriented activity, climbing builds confidence and self-esteem and – unlike many other popular sports – physical strength, fitness and gender are not exclusionary barriers to entry.
ClimbAID’s methodology is the subject of a forthcoming Rutgers-UNSW Sydney study, attesting to the therapeutic value of our model.
Community & Social Inclusion
The economic crisis that was already affecting Greece before the massive arrival of refugees in 2016 has contributed to social tensions and public hostility towards refugees in the country.
In collaboration with local organisations, ClimbAID brings together refugee youth in local climbing gyms, encouraging social inclusion and reducing the segregation of refugee communities from Greek society. At ClimbAID, participants become part of Athens’ climbing community, establishing new relationships based on trust and feelings of belonging.
Community & Social Inclusion
The economic crisis that was already affecting Greece before the massive arrival of refugees in 2016 has contributed to social tensions and public hostility towards refugees in the country.
In collaboration with local organisations, ClimbAID brings together refugee youth in local climbing gyms, encouraging social inclusion and reducing the segregation of refugee communities from Greek society. At ClimbAID, participants become part of Athens’ climbing community, establishing new relationships based on trust and feelings of belonging.
Cognitive & Skills Development
Climbing is a valuable tool for both promoting cognitive development and teaching participants to focus, set and keep goals, moderate emotions and violent behaviour and control stress.
ClimbAID sessions focus on developing transferable skills applicable to participant’s daily lives such as teamwork, trust, communication, problem-solving, leadership and conflict resolution. ClimbAID thus helps beneficiaries become confident, independent citizens capable of promoting positive change in their own lives and those of their wider communities.
Gender Equality
The situation for unaccompanied refugee girls, roughly 40% of the unaccompanied refugee children in Greece, is particularly acute, with experts identifying a high risk of sexual and gender based violence, as well as a lack of gender-specific health or psychosocial services.
As a sport in which women compete with men at the very highest levels, climbing provides a unique means to promote female empowerment. ClimbAID’s work encourages female participation and integration through both female-only and mixed-gender sessions, providing a safe environment for girls to develop and thrive.
Gender Equality
The situation for unaccompanied refugee girls, roughly 40% of the unaccompanied refugee children in Greece, is particularly acute, with experts identifying a high risk of sexual and gender based violence, as well as a lack of gender-specific health or psychosocial services.
As a sport in which women compete with men at the very highest levels, climbing provides a unique means to promote female empowerment. ClimbAID’s work encourages female participation and integration through both female-only and mixed-gender sessions, providing a safe environment for girls to develop and thrive.