{"id":5021,"date":"2025-03-27T09:45:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T09:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos"},"modified":"2025-06-20T09:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T09:26:09","slug":"the-beginnings-lesbos","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos","title":{"rendered":"The Beginnings (LESBOS)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/span>
\n
\n
\n

WHO WE ARE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beginnings (Lesbos)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

If the image of little Alan Kurdi also moved you, you are one of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Become a member<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
<\/div><\/span>
\n
Who We Are<\/a><\/span> > The Beginnings (LESBOS)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Our first mission: Lesbos<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

By September 2015, we had been lifeguarding for years. But the photograph of little Alan Kurdi drowned on a beach prompted us to travel urgently to Lesbos to help hundreds of Syrian refugees and those from other countries like Afghanistan and Iraq fleeing wars and conflicts.We arrived on the Greek coast with \u20ac15,000 of our own money. We invested it in rescue work for a month. We managed to protect more than 20 boats a day, with about 60 people on each one, including the elderly and children. When we set out on the trip, we didn’t expect to receive donations, but after that, they started arriving.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Lesbos<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

What did we achieve?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

From September 2015 to March 2016, the date of the agreement between the European Union and T\u00fcrkiye to cut off the Lesbos migration route, we achieved:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

143.358<\/p>\n\n\n\n

people helped to reach the coast<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

10.273<\/p>\n\n\n\n

people rescued adrift<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

9.067<\/p>\n\n\n\n

people rescued on the cliffs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

475<\/p>\n\n\n\n

people rescued from the water at high risk of drowning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

We expand our radius of action<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

With the agreement between Europe and Turkey, the migration route through Lesbos was closed. This led to new, longer and more dangerous routes becoming established in the Mediterranean. Therefore, given the lack of action from official sources, we decided to expand our base to the Central Mediterranean<\/a>. To date, we have saved more than 70,000 lives in different parts of the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

If you believe every life is worth saving, get involved. Together, we can save many more.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Donate Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3282,"parent":4998,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-interior","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5021","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Beginnings on Lesbos: First Rescue Mission | Open Arms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It all began on Lesbos in 2015. Open Arms rescued thousands of people following the image of Alan Kurdi. Thus was born our mission to protect lives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Beginnings on Lesbos: First Rescue Mission | Open Arms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It all began on Lesbos in 2015. Open Arms rescued thousands of people following the image of Alan Kurdi. Thus was born our mission to protect lives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Open Arms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T09:26:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1772\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1181\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos\",\"name\":\"The Beginnings on Lesbos: First Rescue Mission | Open Arms\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T09:45:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T09:26:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"It all began on Lesbos in 2015. Open Arms rescued thousands of people following the image of Alan Kurdi. Thus was born our mission to protect lives.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp\",\"width\":1772,\"height\":1181,\"caption\":\"Open Arms Inicios Lesbos Salvamento\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Who We Are\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Beginnings (LESBOS)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\",\"name\":\"Open Arms\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#organization\",\"name\":\"Open Arms\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/BRAND.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/BRAND.svg\",\"caption\":\"Open Arms\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Beginnings on Lesbos: First Rescue Mission | Open Arms","description":"It all began on Lesbos in 2015. Open Arms rescued thousands of people following the image of Alan Kurdi. Thus was born our mission to protect lives.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Beginnings on Lesbos: First Rescue Mission | Open Arms","og_description":"It all began on Lesbos in 2015. Open Arms rescued thousands of people following the image of Alan Kurdi. Thus was born our mission to protect lives.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos","og_site_name":"Open Arms","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T09:26:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1772,"height":1181,"url":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos","url":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos","name":"The Beginnings on Lesbos: First Rescue Mission | Open Arms","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp","datePublished":"2025-03-27T09:45:06+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T09:26:09+00:00","description":"It all began on Lesbos in 2015. Open Arms rescued thousands of people following the image of Alan Kurdi. Thus was born our mission to protect lives.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/openarms-inicios-lesbos.webp","width":1772,"height":1181,"caption":"Open Arms Inicios Lesbos Salvamento"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are\/the-beginnings-lesbos#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Who We Are","item":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/who-we-are"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Beginnings (LESBOS)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#website","url":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en","name":"Open Arms","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#organization","name":"Open Arms","url":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/BRAND.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/BRAND.svg","caption":"Open Arms"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5021"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6583,"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5021\/revisions\/6583"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openarms.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}