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| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Bastian Seelhofer |
| Type | relief |
| Focus | Well being of refugees, especially children. |
| Location |
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Area served | 2 countries (Greece andSwitzerland) |
| Method | Emergency relief, community development and schools for refugee camps. |
Key people | Mara Massari (Administration) Cécile Speitel (Communication) |
| Employees | around 20 (2017) |
| Website | www.baas-schweiz.ch |
Be aware and share is aSwissrelief organization founded in 2015 in the context of theEuropean migrant crisis, and adocumentary film released in 2016.
The charity workBe aware and share is a relief agency currently operating inSwitzerland andGreece. It was founded inBasel in 2015 by social worker Bastian Seelhofer and colleagues.
When the refugee crisis intensified in the summer of 2015, Seelhofer's team decided to transport relief supplies to theHungarian-Croatian border. In addition, there were deployments for stranded refugees on the Greek island ofChios, a few kilometers from theTurkish Aegean coast. There Seelhofer resigned his position as ayouth worker in Switzerland andBe Aware and Share devoted themselves to the project.[1]
In May 2016,Be aware and share founded a school inChios. The NGO called for theUNESCO initiativeEducation Cannot Wait. Through donations collected in Switzerland and through voluntary work, the organization offers several dozen refugee children and other young people a structured school day with at least two lessons per day. The teachers, mainly refugees themselves, teach languages (mainly English and native languages of the refugees, for example Arabic) and mathematics, among other things.[2] The charity works with other organizations and is financially supported by major relief organizations such as theNorwegian Refugee Council.[3]
The Swiss-Iranian filmmakerOmid Taslimi, together withLasse Linder, shot adocumentary film about whenBe aware and share went to the Croatian-Hungarian border atBotovo (Drnje) in October 2015. The film shows the project’s origin came about: the collection of clothes at the beginning, the great interest from the Swiss population, the founding of the association, and a charity concert withCollie Herb,La Nefera and other regional musicians. There are logistical problems and the team travels by vans to Croatia. The Swiss helpers find Croatian allies, and with them, at the border station ofBotovo, they give food and clothes to refugees who get off the train and cross the border toHungary.[4]
Apart from situation recordings, the film includes several short interviews with team members, other participants (for example, members of the Bernese aid organizationCibera) and ORF correspondentChristian Wehrschütz. In general, Taslimi focused the film strongly on the motivation of the activists.[5] The film was shown in various Swissmovie theaters.
