The Lava Project is a Public Hygiene and Medical Support laundry facility for refugees on Lesvos.
Lesvos is one of 5 Greek islands where Reception and Identification Centres (RIC) were established to house refugees, often for several years, while they go through the lengthy and complex asylum application process.

We worked in Moria camp until it was destroyed by fire in September 2020. Since then the Greek authorities have established a new camp near the coast, which currently houses over 3000 people, many of them children.

The new camp has insufficient healthcare facilities, inadequate sanitation, limited water supplies and no laundry facilities. Refugees often resort to washing their clothes in the sea.

As it is impossible to wash clothes and bedding in hot water, bed bugs and scabies are widespread. This encourages the spread of many other diseases. 

The Lava Project was founded in June 2019 by volunteers to try to fill this gap. We work with medical NGOs in the new camp, who identify the most urgent cases, and then wash their bedding and clothing with a 24 hour turnaround time.

We also wash donations and other items for NGOs on the island as and when we can fit it into our schedule.