IOCC continues helping people in Greece’s Thessaly region, where families are still recovering from the catastrophic flooding of September 2023. While immediate relief included potable water and hot meals for families, ongoing response is now supporting livelihood and learning opportunities.
The city of Volos was essentially covered by mud and water, damaging its economy and infrastructure—including public schools. On the largest campus in Volos, home to two technical high schools and the Volos Institute for Vocational Training, about 1,000 students learn from 200 teachers. In the storms, school buildings flooded and filled with mud, destroying a great deal of equipment and leaving many spaces unusable.
With its long history in Greece, IOCC is now helping in Volos. One recent project replaced ruined equipment in the hairdressing training lab on this large campus, allowing its hands-on courses to resume. Thanks to this IOCC support, some 75 students have returned to daily coursework with brand new tools and equipment.
Restoring this learning lab to service is a small step toward recovery from this disaster, but each step moves the community forward. Students are back in the lab, and having the renewed building in service again is a visible sign of hope for all the students and staff.
