Kate Coyer Launches Grassroots Initiative to Help Refugees Access Free Wifi and Mobile Phone Charging

“I saw there was a need and thought there must be something we could do to help with communication needs quickly and affordably.”

Until September 15th when harsh new laws went into effect in Hungary, every day, thousands of refugees were passing through Keleti train station in Budapest on their way to Northern and Western Europe. A major difficulty for many of them has been to find means to access the internet and charge their mobile phones, which is vital in order to communicate with family and friends; share vital updates; access apps like Google maps, currency calculators, and language translation tools; news and information in their own languages; and to connect with fellow refugees. In order to help them, Kate Coyer, director of the Civil Society and Technology Project at CMDS launched a grassroots DIY initiative to provide wifi hotspots and phone charging stations for refugees who are staying at the Keleti train station in Budapest.

Read the full article on the CMDS website here.