AGS Student Interns with a Refugee Relief NGO in Greece

This semester the NGO course started with an inspiring account by Ahmed Samy Lotf, who was invited by Professor Ruchi Anand to talk to his fellow students about his experience interning with a refugee relief NGO in Greece.

As part of his Master’s program at AGS, Ahmed devoted his summer to helping refugees from Syria and other countries with the humanitarian organization ERCI (Emergency Response Centre International). His internship encompassed two types of mission in two different locations: in Thessaloniki, in the North of Greece, he participated in an educational program for a refugee camp, where he was in charge of drafting the curriculum. On the island of Lesbos, one of the epicenters of the migration crisis, he participated in a special rescue program, helping boats of refugees ashore and providing assistance to facilitate their access to proper medical care, housing and other forms of aid.

This internship has allowed Ahmed to gain insight of the reality on the ground of a global crisis that has been at the forefront of the current international relations issues, one that has both deep humanitarian and deep political implications. In his presentation, Ahmed related this experience to the larger NGO sector and international relations arena.

This internship came as a natural milestone in a journey that started a few years ago when Ahmed decided to shift careers and leave business for a profession that would allow him to help others at a global level. This took him from his home country Egypt, through Turkey, to the American Graduate School in Paris to complete a Master's in International Relations and Diplomacy. As he is about to finish this program, Ahmed says: “Now I have the tools to enter the world that I need to enter, which is that of NGOs and International Organizations, to help better causes for a better world.”

Below are a few pictures of Ahmed during his internship in Greece (courtesy of ERCI)