February 25, 2024, 12 noon – 2pm
Jane Abbott
Why do Middle Eastern refugees still try to reach Europe via Greece as they continue to arrive at night in small, often inflatable dinghies from Turkey? How are they treated once they arrive? Who are they? How long do they stay in a refugee camp before being allowed to move on? Who operates the camp and funds it? Who are the volunteers who staff them?
This is where refugee organizations come in. There are far too many refugees for single individuals to help. The asylum seekers who find their way to the Greek refugee camp Offene Arme are lucky ones. We see videos of those less fortunate but others make it successfully to Europe. Offene Arme (Open Arms from German) represents a Greek refugee organization on the island of Chios near the Turkish mainland that has been working for eight years to help asylum seekers survive and prepare for a new life. What is its story and what do the many volunteers associated with it do?
Jane Abbott has a history of association with Greece that goes back almost 60 years. She spent a summer in Greece as an exchange student and then earned her bachelor’s degree at the American College in Greece (Deree College) in 1967. She spent three years in Greece before she returned to the US to pursue graduate studies. Once Jane finished her master’s degree and taught literature, philosophy, and history at the college level, she entered the US Peace Corps and spent seven years in Nepal.
Jane taught at a village school near Gorkha in Nepal and then taught master’s degree Candidates at the University of Nepal. She also taught ESL to Nepali students and worked as a contractor for the Peace Corps identifying and evaluating sites for future Peace Corps Volunteers. With her family, after seven years, Jane moved to the Solomon Islands in Melanesia where she ran training programs. She also worked in Kiribati in Micronesia visiting and supporting Peace Corp Volunteers on site. After returning to the US, Jane completed her Ph.D. and taught integrated humanities for a number of years at community colleges. This course was primarily about the Ancient Greeks and Romans, and throughout this time, Jane has taken small groups of travelers from various universities and colleges to Greece, a total of at least 25 times.. .
In 2017 Jane learned about an organization on the Greek island of Chios that had been started in 2015 when Pothiti Kitromylidi (known affectionately as Toula) saw refugees on the beach near her house and gave them food and water and a place to stay. Since that time, thousands of refugees have arrived on the island which is only several miles from the western Turkish border from whence they come on rickety boats. Jane has worked with the umbrella NGO, Offene Arme (Open Arms in German) three times, and she will explain the different roles she has played in the organization as a volunteer, one of 2,500 volunteers to assist refugees on Chios over the past eight years.
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Location: SFCC Board Room (#223) is in the West Wing (Administration building). The college is located at 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87508. Enter through the building’s main entrance (on the left side of the building behind the flag poles). The Board Room is on the corridor to the left of the Campus Center.
Directions: From Rodeo Road turn south onto Richards Avenue. Turn into the campus main drive. Parking lots are in front of the building. From I-25 take the Cerrillos Road exit, turn east onto Governor Miles Road and then right onto Richards Avenue. Then follow directions above.
The Speaker
During Madagascar’s crises of 2002 and 2009, Dan documented human rights abuses and communicated with the US State Department and international human rights organizations. From these experiences and others, he has a unique perspective on U.S. policy towards Madagascar.
An avid botanist, Dan has named three new species. He has co-authored several academic journal articles and is currently preparing “A Guide to Trees of Ranomafana National Park” for publication. His work has been recognized by colleagues who have named plants after him; he has received the William Gibson Eco-Justice lifetime achievement award in 2006 and the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Madagascar in 2014.
