FARMINGTON -- Countless refugees continue to escape their countries, searching for a better life. It’s a crisis overseas but one Connecticut woman refuses to turn a blind eye.
Jonna Paz, a former EMT and chef, is packing up for the second time and heading to the island of Lesbos in Greece to try and make a difference.
Paz said she was driven to take a month-long trip in January after watching news coverage of the refugee crisis.
“Seeing so many Americans talk about these refugees with fear, I wanted them to know that there was Americans that did care about them,” she said.
She went to Greece alone, rented a car, drove along the Lesbos coast until she found camps which needed her assistance.
“I said 'hi do you need help? I have medical background, I'm a chef, what can I help you with?'”
She met refugees from many places including Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia who were escaping wars, civil unrest and bombings.
“The wealth of talent of these people was incredible,” she said.
Many of them would come off the rafts and share that they were chefs, professors or dentists who had educations and degrees.
“At some point they run out of electricity, their schools are bombed their neighborhoods are bombed, a lot of their families are gone and they need to get what little they have left and get their families to a safe place.”
In January, she used money she raised to help the refugees, buying them shoes, two dozen propane tanks to keep their tents warm, and food. She even taught them how to cook.
Paz is hoping to do the same on her second trip in June, traveling on her own time and dime.
“I’m so thankful that I'm able to come and be part of this and be part of trying to make these people's day better for even a minute,” she said. “These people they're going through stuff we'll never imagine.”
Paz is hosting a fundraiser for the refugees on Tuesday May 17. It will be at Shish Kebab House of Afghanistan, located at 36 LaSalle Rd. in West Hartford. A portion of the food and drink sales will be donated to buying goods like baby formula, food and other supplies for the refugees she encounters at the resettlement camps on her upcoming trip.
She will also be open to sharing her experiences with guests who come.
You can also donate by clicking here to help her make a difference.