LLB student Kristina von Kaehne wins Diana Award

Last year, Scots Law student Kristina von Kaehne received a Diana Award, in recognition of her work with refugee and asylum seekers in Greece. Here, she tells us about how she came to volunteering, the work involved and her hopes for the future.

Tell us a little about yourself. 

I am a UofG Scots Law student, in my second year. Last June I was awarded a Diana Award for my work with refugees and asylum seekers in Greece, a cause that drove me to study law in the first place. I developed a general interest in law during secondary school; however, this interest evolved into an aspiration after my first time volunteering in a refugee camp. I felt that the one way I could make a slight difference was by studying law and more specifically Human Rights and Asylum and Immigration Law. 

What is the Diana award and what work did your Diana award recognise? 

The Diana Award is an award established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales. The award is given to young people between the ages of 9-25 in recognition of humanitarian or social work they have accomplished. This work varies extensively and can be anything from raising awareness of a social issue or setting up a charity. It has been running for over 20 years intending to empower and inspire young people to pursue positive change in their communities and lives. Each recipient must be independently nominated and the nomination subsequently judged by one of 16 Diana Award panels. In my case, I was nominated by two former teachers and was given the award for my work with refugees and asylum seekers in Greece and setting up a donation scheme at my old secondary school. 

What did the work involve? 

When I first went out, at the age of 15, the situation in Greece was chaotic. The country was suddenly trying to shelter and support thousands of people with minimal aid from other countries. This was all amidst an economic crisis. As a result, temporary camps were set up in fields, warehouses, old prisons and holiday camps and it was unclear who was where and what support was being provided or required. This meant that during the first few visits I generally just helped wherever was needed – whether it be entertaining children, running impromptu English classes or simply talking to camp inhabitants. As it became more coordinated and structured, my Dad and I began returning to the same camp on the outskirts of Athens. Here I worked as a classroom assistant in the camp school and helped out in the medical surgery, where my dad was working. Sadly, the camp was closed down by the government, despite having some of the best facilities compared to other camps. 

For my year out after school, my original plan fell through and I ended up becoming involved with a small, charitable organisation called Love and Serve Without Boundaries (LSWB). LSWB was founded and is run by an amazing woman called Maria Odhiambo, with support from her family and volunteers from around the world. Herself a refugee and widow from Kenya, Maria originally ran LSWB from her kitchen, funding meals for the homeless with her salary as a babysitter. From there it has expanded into a community-based centre, providing classes, food and general support to refugees and asylum seekers. Here, I taught English and German classes, as well as taking on management and coordination roles as I became more established within the organisation.

How did you come to be involved in this volunteer work? 

My parents have always been involved in work supporting refugees and asylum seekers – my Dad as a doctor and translator and my Mum as an English teacher.  Therefore, when the so-called migrant crisis started in 2015, my Dad went to Lesbos to volunteer with Boat Refugee Foundation. Both his experiences and the pictures he showed us, persuaded us that we also wanted to do something similar. This was finally realised in May 2016, when we all went to Thessaloniki, Greece, to volunteer in various refugee camps there. From then on, I returned on various occasions with my Dad, and then when I left school in 2018, I decided to defer uni for a year and volunteer in Athens for 10 months. 

What motivated you to continue? 

For me, the main motivation to return has been the close friendships I have built within the camps. Before going, I had struggled to connect the various news reports about the crisis with real people – it felt far-removed and surreal. However, through meeting those affected and developing close friendships with them, I was able to see the effect that simple actions – for good or bad – could have on their lives. There are many that I would consider amongst my closest friends and with whom I am still in contact today. For example, I became particularly close with one family that I met in 2017 – an Afghani couple (Amir and Aziza) with a young boy (Taregh) and baby girl (Helia). Sadly, a few months after meeting them, Aziza was diagnosed with stomach cancer, tragically dying last September. Seeing how various aspects of being a refugee added further hardship and complication to an already horrible situation – whether it be a lack of childcare or no understanding of how the medical system worked – I recognised a way I could help ease the hardship slightly. For example, looking after the kids when Aziza was very ill and Amir was visiting her or simply being someone to emotionally off-load to. Conversely, they welcomed me into their family and were a huge support when I did my year out in Athens. This motivated me to continue as I realised that, even in a small way, I could do something to help. 

Your plans for the future? (e.g. when will you be able to return to Greece; your future studies and work in the area of human rights) 

Sadly my plans to return to Greece were cancelled last summer due to the pandemic. However, I hope to go to either Lesvos or Chios this summer and work in one of the camps there. Long-term, I hope to specialise in Human Rights and Immigration & Asylum law and work as a solicitor within this field. Additionally, I hope to be able to continue volunteering and eventually pursue a career within an NGO or Human Rights organisation which works with victims of human rights violations. 

Your hopes for the future? (In terms of the issue of refugee support and integration and broader area of social justice) 

My main hope for the future is wider acceptance and re-education in regards to asylum seekers and refugees. I think one of the biggest issues, perhaps the root of the problem that has caused the crisis and the lack of integration and support, is not the sudden increase in refugees but the attitudes of many of the leaders and general public within Europe. There is a wide-spread fear that refugees are anything ranging from money-orientated opportunists to hate-driven terrorists. In reality, the majority are highly-educated, motivated and generous individuals, who are fleeing the very people many others believe they are. It may be wishful thinking but I believe and hope that if people were educated on the reasons and stories behind the numbers, then we would have a much wider culture of acceptance. This in turn would bring about much wider support for asylum seekers and refugees and their subsequent integration, including their enrichment of our societies in Europe.   

Where can we find out more? 

- LSWB’s website (includes donation page and links to social media where you can find out more about what LSWB does): https://loveandservewithoutboundaries.org/ 

- My GoFundMe page for LSWB: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/help-lswb-support-refugees-during-covid19 

- Boat Refugee Foundation’s website: https://bootvluchteling.nl/en/ 

- UK-based charity, Freedom From Torture (where you can find first-hand accounts from asylum seekers in the UK): https://www.freedomfromtorture.org/real-voices 

 ~ Kristina von Kaehne