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Daniel Blessing

Serving refugees and the communities they impact through soccer

Central & Eastern Europe

Account# 04585

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My Story

It started in the summer of 2017. I took my first trip to Greece to help with a humanitarian crisis that sent hundreds of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa to several Greek islands off the coast of Turkey. While serving in one of the camps I learned a lot about the refugee experience, from the horrors they fled to the dangers they encountered along their journey. And through hearing many of their stories firsthand, they stopped being the nameless faces from the news. They were real people who needed real hope. During the next four years I continued volunteering in refugee camps on a short-term basis. And despite so many differences, I discovered that through soccer, I was able to engage with people on a personal level that helped restore hope and dignity to their lives. By the winter of 2022, I wasn't okay anymore with serving part-time on a problem that needed a full-time effort. So, I decided to enter their story with both feet...and a soccer ball.