My Refugee Journey – 3rd March 2016
Today Ive sort of got a day off to help my back recover, but I’ve already arranged to be with Nicolle Hodges from CTV (A Canadian TV Channel) who was going to volunteer from 4pm-midnight at Kara Tepe, helping with the tea, so we meet up before and we go together with her dad who has also flown over to see what is happening on the Greek front line of the refugee
crisis. Once at Kara Tepe I introduce them to a few people then give them a tour of the camp before heading to the tea point where myself and Luis show them the ropes about how the tea duty shift works. I then after a couple of hours leave. During the afternoon Nicolle and her dad who have brought with them lots of art stuff get an art class going in the middle of the camp next to the tea point, which I wish I had been there to see, as once I got back to camp later that evening all I heard from many of the other NGOs was how awesome Nicolle was with the kids getting them painting and drawing all afternoon.
All the art work was put on the wall of a plain white transport container, turning it into a rainbow of colour. An awesome idea that Im going to keep up whilst Im here in Lesvos.
So I’m back on camp to finish the night off with Nicolle and her dad serving tea and we’ve since recruited a new helper, one of the Syrian refugees on camp has almost taken over the tea point and he’s loving it, helping out, he has nothing, he’s fled war, we are here to help him and look after him and all the other refugees, but this young lad still feels he should help and almost like earn his keep.
So in all quite a quiet day, though I’ve had some more voice messages sent to me from one of my new Syrian friends who have now been at the Greek/Macedonia border for more than 14days sleeping rough on the streets under the thin blankets we’ve given out at Kara Tepe. He sent me three messages, the first was wishing he had never left Kara Tepe, the second was wishing he could be back in Syria wishing he would be killed, he wants to be dead, this is hard to listen to whilst I’m sat in a bar sipping on a cold Fanta. The third message his voice is sounding so bad that it’s hard to understand what he’s saying but it’s not good.
MB Photography 