Here is a photo from our inclusion project in Athens. We started a series of activities with refugee children. We played in squares, like “Pedion tou Areos”, where a lot of refugee children gathered to play.  

It was fantastic to see how open the children were, even though they have been through a lot. They were open to play and to communicate. We felt that it was so important for us to be there and say, in our own way, welcome, you are one of us, we can live together, we can play together, we can make this world beautiful together. 

In this particular photo, there was a little girl who couldn’t follow the rest of the children in the activities because they were older. She needed someone near her to hold her little hand and help her be a part of the team. Her smile was the most beautiful thing, it followed me even when I left from there and went home.  

Inclusion is when you say welcome, when you hold someone’s hand, when everybody can play. Inclusion is when we smile together, when we say that we can make this world beautiful together.