Our Story

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In 2015, driven by war and persecution, over a million refugees began fleeing their home countries to go to Europe.

In 2016, we started our work after the EU shut the European borders, leaving thousands of refugees stranded on the island of Lesvos in Greece. Our founding members volunteered to teach children and youth in Moria and Kara Tepe Camps on Lesvos to ensure that these displaced students continued to get an education while their lives were in flux.

Our students ranged in age from toddlers to young adults. There was no real classroom, so we made do, teaching our favorite hands-on math, science, and English lessons as best we could to students of varying ages, cultures, and languages. We succeeded in bringing the joy of learning to our students.
As a result, we were compelled to turn our initiative into a larger project. With the help of Dirty Girls of Lesvos, an NGO working to help refugees, we were introduced to the founders of Together for Better Days, an NGO beginning a school for unaccompanied minors.

In 2017, we formed Refugee Education and Learning International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Starting with a handful of volunteers, we began work at Gekko School. We have since grown into an organization that has recruited and sent over 165 volunteer educators to Lesvos.

In 2018, we added the Girls Empowerment Program, providing swimming and biking lessons. We create a safe place where young women and girls can build self-confidence and learn important life skills.

In 2020, we created and implemented our Virtual Learning Program in response to the COVID pandemic. We have recruited almost 20 volunteer educators who are currently teaching English lessons online to 47 students located in 12 countries.

In 2021, we established our Scholarship Fund to support students who are struggling to continue their education.

In 2023, we began helping Afghan refugees resettle in the U.S.