In 2017 Collective Calling Co-founder, Paul Carr, travelled to Greece to help support refugees fleeing from the war in Syria. After witnessing that level of suffering first hand, he “refused to turn away”. The sense of helplessness turned into action as he returned to Spain to raise money for vulnerable families with children. Consequently, Paul and his wife, Gemma, officially registered Collective Calling as an international relief organisation. Since then, Collective Calling has responded to the emergency needs of refugees in Greece (islands & mainland), Serbia, Turkey, Spain and Tanzania.

One question that people always ask is: “How did you get from Greece to Tanzania, and from refugees to street children?” So let us explain: The camp manager in Greece, who Paul became good friends with, was relocated to the third largest refugee camp on the globe in Tanzania and invited Collective Calling to conduct an urgent needs assessment. The level of need was so high that it was difficult to know where to focus their help, ultimately Paul & Gemma made a decision to support the most vulnerable group they could see, which was Persons and Children with Disabilities.

During the 1.5 years working in the camp, they discovered that the need in the local community was very high also, if not higher, than the camp and after further assessments within the local community they discovered children as young as 5 years old were living on the streets. The devastating issue surrounding street children became apparent so after much prayer and careful thought, a decision was made to help rescue these children with the intention of reintegrating them back into a loving family where they belong. So in 2018, our journey began with street children in Tanzania. 

Since the inception of Collective Calling, which was inspired by the Syrian war, our focus is now helping to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate street children in Tanzania, alongside reaching children in Spain who are subject to high levels of poverty.