Telling of our experience

We went to Lesvos for two reasons: to do what we could when we were there, but as importantly to tell the story when we returned so others could better appreciate the issues.

The Lincolnshire Echo followed our blog on their online edition and gave over three pages on Thursday 21 January, BBC Radio Lincolnshire had Rod Whiting interview me on his Breakfast show on 23 January (2hrs 10 mins in ) and Kate Hemingway interviewed us for ITV Calendar on Wednesday 27 January. Melvyn Prior interviewed us on Melvyn in the Morning on 3 February

Thank you all. There, but for an accident of birth, could go all of us.

The story of Moria

I guess when we think of refugee crises, we have in our mind a picture of the UNHCR and well known western charities working to improve the lot of those in their care. It is what I had expected at the Moria camp on Lesvos. The reality could hardly be more different.

A hand fund of individuals were volunteering at Moria in the autumn of 2015. They came to the realisation that the little that was in place wasn't working and so decided to 'do it themselves'. The Huffington Post records the remarkable story.

We experienced working with the light touch organisation which they set up. It does work, but it cannot live on air. Here is the link to its website where you can find different ways in which to support.

The view from the top of the hillside at the camp at Moria that the volunteers created. Below the tented area and queue of refugees for the clothes tent

The European context

Robina Qureshi writes:
IF YOU CARE ABOUT HUMANITARIANISM AND PEOPLE THEN NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND UP FOR GREECE.  
No man is an island. You can see how perverted the thinking of the rest of the EU is ... they think by building more borders they get security and stability but the fools still do not comprehend that after 25 years of fortress Europe they have managed to only create more insecurity and instability. By creating bottlenecks you get a crush. By creating free movement or at the very least a humanitarian corridor, you get orderly movement and progress. The singular difference between Greece and the rest of the EU is that Greece knows what it is to have 1,000,000 refugees (emptied out by Western European leaders hungry for other countries' resources and oil) pass through their borders. Greece is not prepared to put guns to their heads or stand back and allow the de facto drowning of babies and children and women and men because their people know what it is to be a refugee. Greece with its desperately struggling economy still has a heart while the rest of Northern Europe focusses on greed and consumer capitalism. If you care about humanitarianism, and about people, then stand up for Greece. Robina Qureshi



Austrian Official Wants Greek Border with Europe Sealed

The Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner suggested in an interview that the solution to the refugee crisis was to seal off Greece from the rest of Europe.

A story in the Financial Times claimed that the idea was a real plan, as European officials were discussing a plan to pump money into the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia to build a stronger border with Greece, blocking the flow of refugees north and effectively stranding thousands in Greece.

The new policy would shift the EU’s migrant frontline from the Turkish coast and the Aegean Sea to Greece’s northern border. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister who has feared such a move, has warned that his country could become a “black box” for refugees.

According to the Financial Times report, the plan was discussed by EU ambassadors after Miroslav Cerar, Slovenia’s prime minister, sent a letter to his EU counterparts urging “direct assistance” to FYROM to prevent “certain irregular migrants from crossing the Greece-Macedonian* border”. (*his quote)

Greece’s top migration official, Alternate Interior Minister for migration Yiannis Mouzalas, slammed the report, saying that it contained “falsehoods and distortions.”

But the Austrian Interior Minister confirmed that Athens could face temporary exclusion from the Schengen zone.

“If the Athens government does not finally do more to secure the (EU’s) external borders then one must openly discuss Greece’s temporary exclusion from the Schengen zone,” Ms Mikl-Leitner said in an interview with German daily Die Welt.

“It is a myth that the Greco-Turkish border cannot be controlled,” Ms Mikl-Leitner insisted.

“When a Schengen signatory does not permanently fulfill its obligations and only hesitatingly accepts aid then we should not rule out that possibility,” she said.

“The patience of many Europeans has reached its limit … we have talked a lot, now we must act. It is about protecting stability, order and security in Europe,” she said

And worse

This a post from Claudia Effe on Lesvos
WILD HORSES
Remove all of your clothes.  Dump them into a bucket with ice water.  Put them back on immediately afterwards.  Go sit into a refrigerator for the following four hours. We should stop referring to those fragile made in China killing instruments as boats. Add fear of drowning, hunger, and a shattered heart for having been forced to leave your child behind.

When the "boat" arrived to Skala with about 30 people yesterday, the camp was neatly combed and ready to welcome them, although it was in chaos a few minutes after their arrival. The refugees were not just a little sprayed with water.  They were soaked to the bone. One of them later said that he was shoved by the smugglers into the boat and ordered to drop his belongings.  His child was forced to stay behind.  Water had entered the joke-of-a-floating-device, and a baby almost drowned in it, if it wasn't for the other refugees reviving her en route.

I will never forget their lips as they walked into the camp.  They were almost blue, their teeth rattling, their eyes spirited, zombies, shells of a human. We took the women and children to a tent to change into dry clothes.  One of them was in shock, and cried “baby, baby.” She had been forced by the smugglers to leave her baby behind.

Another one, Ajmala (not her real name) unwillingly unleashed a herd of wild horses as she removed her veil, revealing long, shining, curly hair.  Her pure striking beauty would make any man go mad and start a revolution.  She also unleashed a storm of tears, most of them silent, in feeling so vulnerable and naked, and realizing the precariousness of her condition.  She was in my hands.  I struggled getting her clothes off to change her, and she could not help me because she was too cold to move. The kind of temperature of that bag of vegetables you forgot in your freezer.  All I could think of was a bunch of not very Zen-like cuss words.  None of my useless university classes taught me how to remove wet socks and put dry ones back on a wet foot fast enough.  The world was moving in slow motion, and I could not do one thing to make it go faster.

Ajmala princess of the deserts, beauty of the prairies, abandoned in my arms, does not want to remove her refrigerated bra. That’s too much loss of dignity for her to bear.  I hug her and whisper enti ameena, you are safe.  She does not agree with me, I can tell.  I should fake it better, but I know she is going to Moria Hell Camp soon.  She is pregnant and needs a doctor, but she must change her clothes now.  I shield her with a little towel from the view of the dozen of women in the tent, and command her to negate herself.

-----------------------------------
Did you feel anything reading this post? Are you alive? Then, please, spread it far and wide.  Show your love and humanity by donating to the heroic volunteers at the Lighthouse - Refugee Relief on Lesvos.

Article in the Lincolnshire Echo

I contacted the editor of the Lincolnshire Echo, our local newspaper, when I was on Lesvos and he got his reporter to follow the blog we wrote day by day. This article appeared on 21 January and contains extracts from pieces written both by me and by Maggie. The article seems to be attracting a good deal of interest and I will be speaking on the Radio Lincolnshire Breakfast Show in the morning.

It is all about raising awareness of the most appalling, and avoidable, crisis.

12 die on their way to Lesvos

AA photo

This report from Daily Sabah, Turkey:

Twelve migrants died when their boat sank off Turkey's Aegean coast on Thursday. The majority of them were Syrians and they were heading to the nearby Greek island of Lesbos from the shores of İzmir, a western city.

Coast Guard officials said a helicopter and three boats were dispatched to the area after a distress call. Four survivors were recovered from the sea by fishing boats while bodies were brought to the coast by Coast Guard officials. Crews are still combing the Aegean Sea for potential survivors as it was not clear how many people were aboard the rubber boat.

Turkish media reported three children were among the victims while a woman suffering from hypothermia and another from a broken arm were hospitalized.

The boat was some 13 sea miles off the Foça coast of İzmir when it sank for an unknown reason around 10:00 a.m. Migrant boats usually sink or capsize either due to bad weather or overcrowding, two factors that were apparently present in Thursday's incident.

Security forces detained two people in connection with the sinking on charges of human trafficking.

The Aegean route to Europe via Turkey is one of the shortest for migrants. Yet, it is also the deadliest as most take the journey aboard unsafe and packed dinghies, braving cold weather and strong winds. Some 806 people died in the eastern Mediterranean Sea where the Aegean region is located in 2015, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). More than 30 people perished in the first week of January in one of the worst disasters to befall migrants and their deaths en route to Greece were discovered only when their bodies washed ashore in Balıkesir, a northwestern Turkish city on the Aegean coast.

Though the death toll is dire and is expected to rise further, hundreds of thousands of others managed to reach Greece last year. This year may not see an end to the flow of refugees as the conflict in Syria, the main source of refugees fleeing to Europe, shows no signs of ending.

Hypothermia is killing refugees

Since we left Lesvos, there have been storms and many tents in the camp blew down. This was followed by rain and then by snow. Hypothermia is a major problem.

We receive reports form volunteers still on the island and here is one received today.

Between 7.30 and 8.00 am, a rescuers' boat brought to the port of Skala, a 3-4 year old boy with his father. The boy was unconscious and had abnormal skin color and the father was in a state of collapse. Volunteers saw the boy in the hands of a group of organization members, asked if any help was needed and received a negative response. They brought the boy to the community clinic at the port which was found locked. The door was forced open by a resident of the village, who was nearby and the boy was brought inside the clinic in order to diagnose his condition. Soon after, it was announced that the boy arrived dead at the harbor, and the possible cause of death was hypothermia.

Much later, an ambulance arrived at Skala to collect the body. It should be noted that, the rest of the family members were brought to the port of Petra (several kilometres north of Skala) by a boat of the port authority.

An hour earlier a Frontex vessel brought to the port of Scala a group of children and women who seemed to have been collected from within the sea (wet to the bone). Among them was a 35-40 year old woman with obvious signs of hypothermia. She was moved to the community clinic at the harbor from where her death was announced later.

The remaining refugees were not allowed to go to Platanos, which is a common practice for their reception and care, due to the intervention of a group of port authority officials who ordered that no one was allowed to leave the point until the registration process of all was complete.

I repeat all this could be avoided if the registration took place at a port of embarkation in Turkey. Surely the EU could set up an embassy.

There but for the grace of God or lucky chance of life

We see images of refugees on our televisions, but what is a refugee camp actually like? What goes on there? Is it something we need to know, or it is just one of those awful things that happen to other people?

If I am honest, three months ago I would have been in the latter group: it is awful, but…

Then my wife’s best friend went to Lesvos as a volunteer nurse. She returned saying that there was an urgent need for help, so she and her husband, my wife and I bought air tickets and booked accommodation to go out in January.

We have just returned and I am shell-shocked.

The numbers are staggering, nearly 500,000 people came through the little camp at Moria where we worked in the last year: babies, little children, married couples, single young men and elderly gentlemen and ladies. I put it like this since I had thought refugees were in some way different. They are not; they are like you and me.

They have fled tyranny in Syria, Afganistan and other places; we heard that the Syrian government pursue them even in the camps. 

They travel from their home country to Turkey with an initial onward destination of Athens. There are plenty of ferries running from Turkey to Athens, but they are not allowed to take these. Instead have to pay hugely inflated fares to smugglers to take them in groups of 50 or 60 the six miles to Lesvos in rubber boats certified for 30 people. It is dangerous, many have drowned and all get wet and cold. The smugglers insist that children are drugged to ensure they are not a nuisance.

Volunteers watch out for boats crossing, mainly at night and take the refugees in coaches to the transit camps. When they arrive the first thing is to get dry clothing; that is what we were doing. All the clothing is donated or bought locally with donations - there is never enough - particularly shoes and waterproofs. They are then given food, again all donated, before they engage with Frontex, the EU computerised border system. Young and old, they are made to queue for hours under the uncaring eyes of the hopelessly under-resourced local police. The police seem to have had time though to disrupt the volunteers in their efforts.

If anyone is ill, there are volunteer doctors and nurses on site. My wife took a man with an injured leg to the local hospital. The welcome was not warm and the wait long. This was in sharp contrast with the gentle care she received only days later when she broke her wrist. The doctors in her case asked how they too could volunteer. 

Once registered the refugees take a bus to the port to catch the ferry to Athens. At the time of writing, the storms have been so severe that no ferries are running and everyone is getting soaked yet again; all the waterproofs have gone and hypothermia is rife.  

From what I gather, the journey onward from Athens is even worse, with hostile police and razor wire fenced borders.

Amid all this horror, good things happen. The local Greek people, many of whose families sought refuge in Lesvos when they were thrown out of Turkey in 1920, are sympathetic to the refugees and welcoming to volunteers, in spite of being poor themselves. There are many volunteers, many young and from many countries, not least the USA. These people, and I count myself among them, have the opportunity to engage with each each and discover that the world is much smaller than they thought. Vastly more importantly we engaged at first hand with wonderful human beings going through hell. There but for the grace of God go all of us.

Published by the Lincolnshire Echo on line

If you would like to support please go to http://lesbosphilandmaggie.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/donations-needed-urgently.html or this link 

The crisis just gets deeper

A fellow volunteer posted this on Facebook about the impact of storms
THE TERRORIST WITHIN

It was like a war-zone at Mytilene Harbor. Interminable lines to get one item of clothes, only to be told that we ran out of them.  A child walks into the puddles of filthy water with only his socks on, begging for shoes.  Sorry, we ran out of them.  A woman asks for diapers, please, I have two babies, please. An elderly man begs for a warm jacket. His pants are soaked to the knees. We speak to them sternly. One line only! We ran out! Come back later! Don’t push! Min fadlek, please.

Zeus, the Greek God of Thunder, is angry at humanity and is letting it known, by pouring the skies empty. Hundreds of refugees are seeking shelter while waiting for the ferry to Athens. Judging by how many of them are laying on the floor, they must be living here and the ferry will never arrive. The stench of urine and sight of garbage trickle down my spine like raindrops, one at the time, until it is too late to realize that I have been invaded, possessed. Drop, drop, drop.

We are inside a huge, decrepit, dangerous building, the perfect backdrop for a movie about psychopaths torturing their victims. Exposed electric cables dangle everywhere from the ceiling, but there must be no electricity, or we would all be dead already.  A baby's shoe, a dirty diaper, a half-eaten soup, a banana peel scream to be noticed. It rains inside even when it slows outside. The ceilings are crying, the tears end up in the food that some volunteers brought to the refugees, then they become urine and soak the floors.  On that river, people too tired to care lay their cardboards and blankets.  Many in groups, as in a big camp-out, some in the immense solitude of their loss.  Because the common theme for all this humanity is loss.  The air is thick with cigarette smoke and the heaviness of apprehension.

I learn and forget and re-learn how to say “calm down,” “don't push,” “we ran out” in Arabic. I make myself look, really look into the eyes of the people in front of me.  I seek out the tragedy that they witnessed as if I could then extirpate it. I know that by making eye-contact I am giving them a false sense that I can do something about their particular need, materialize a pair of shoes, make an exception for their transgression of breaking the line.

I make my rounds with a tray of tiny containers with warm beans.  I imagine being a flight attendant, would you like some peanuts with that? I remember to smile while I go round and round, each time more grateful for the privilege of serving instead of the horror of being among the served.  I walk miles and approach a few women sitting on the floor with their head down.  Enti Mareeda? Are you sick, I ask. I don’t have a plan for what to do if they say that they are. But, I have learned to trust this multitude, because they are the survivors and the lucky ones, and they know it. They are one gentle soul shattered by a ruthless enemy.  They are the child that puts his hand on his heart and says no to a second ration of beans because he does not want to deprive anybody else.

They are not the Enemy. They are not the Terrorist. The Terrorist Within is our inaction.  The Enemy is our fear of opening our heart to help them.

Donations needed urgently

We worked with Ellie who has written this urgent plea. She is a brilliant leader and deserves support.

Dear friends and family.
I wouldn't normally do this unless it's to big companies but today the need is too urgent and need to be sorted too quickly.
The storms and snow have kicked in here in Greece and where normally we have been able to at least give the refugees shelter where we can in the camp , the stopping of ferries out of Greece-
( after registering here the refugees go on boats for a 12 -20 hour journey onwards to Athens or Macedonia for further processing)
- has left the refugees desparately waiting outside all night and day at the port for fear of missing the ferry that took them days and a lot of money to get a ticket for.
Hypothermia is already a big problem here even when they get to the camps, we now run the risk of double the cases and people getting extremely ill.
If we can keep them dry at least they might get through the next few days we could save them from this
Our raincoats and ponchos are now extremely low in supply and we are going ourselves to get what we can for them as we wait for more donations.
I'm basically asking for donations even a couple of quid so I can order in a big enough bulk load of rain coats and ponchos to get the refugees few the next few days.
The personal financial cost that as accumulated for the long term volunteers here is huge as they constantly dip into their own pocket to get supplies in and I want to help where I can.
I will get the items in regardless but if I could get any help towards it it would mean I can stay out here and keep helping .
I hate asking for money even for this good cause as you have all been so generous already with clothing donating but if anyone would like to give a couple of quid it will directly help on the ground here.
I have a PayPal account under email elspethje@yahoo.co.uk and I will of course share all details of what I get to prove I'm not just having a quick online top shop splurge!
Thanks guys and please only give if you want to xx

I know that in an ideal world there would be a registered charity to which money could be given. But this is not an ideal world and the need is urgent. We are giving to Ellie and I am starting the process of setting up a UK registered charity to support the work with refugees on Lesvos, but this will take time.

There is a German registered organisation, Better Days for Moria, which has taken the greater part of the burden of setting up the facilities. I am in discussion with them about finding a UK route. Take a look at their Facebook page.
Very many thanks
Phil

The morality of smugglers

A great deal of the evil of this tragedy comes from the action of smugglers and my friend Gael Lewis writes:

Last shift. Fewer boats so time to chat with a dignified and delightful Afghan family as I changed their men's' sodden clothing. It took them 4 hours to do the crossing this morning (normally 90 Mins) because the smugglers didn't put enough fuel in their teeny outboard. So another ramshackle wobbly inflatable overloaded with petrified refugees (you must have seen them on telly) came by and shared fuel. And we complain when our train is 5mins late.

Pleez! Let's put these people on  proper ferries or help them fix their broken countries instead of faffing about.

A Facebook report by Sirius is even more alarming

The lovely Greek people and their beautiful island

We have already reported the very positive attitude of the locals to the influx of refugees. People are friendly and accepting.

Lesvos is a big island and the refugee camp is but a tiny part. The island is mountainous with hill villages with holiday properties alongside the homes of local people living sustainable lives. Fields are full of sheep and goats. There are olive groves by the square mile and the olives are fabulous. Vines also, and we can vouch for the quality of the local wine.

Sustainable is my watchword.

The village where we stayed, Skala Kalonis, is a fishing village. The port has perhaps twenty boats which go out daily when weather permits. Even in January all the mini markets were open with fresh vegetables and fruit on display, leading us to believe that even in the winter this is a sustainable community. In the summer, the tavernas would be busy and the beaches full. In the winter we enjoyed excellent plain cooking of locally sourced fish, meat and vegetables.

Lesvos is a wonderful part of Greece. I love it.

Skala Kalonis where we stayed

Mytillini - the capita;

A coffee shop in Mytellini

The baker's oven in Skala Kalonis

The plight of elderly refugees

The day we left for home our friend Gillie Lewis posted this on Facebook:

Have said it before, one of the saddest thing to see out here are the elderly. No way should they be doing the journey! But desperation has driven them to leave their country. Today's example was a man of 70 who just sat down in the middle of the camp because he could go no further. He had had a stroke in the past and could not speak. He had his wife with him. He was exhausted. He didn't want to stay in the medical tent ,everyone is desperate to move on, regsiter, get to Athens and then the border. I persuaded him to rest 'for just an hour'. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Just how is he going to make it all the way to wherever??

And her husband, Gael, wrote:

Busiest day of our tour here. Eight and a half solid hours of changing shivering wet people into dry clothing. Getting to be a real Montague Burton at eyeballing their sizes. Gutted that we often do not have the right size shoes, or even any shoes, or we've had to send some fashion conscious lad away in baggy corduroys. The stoical way most of these people handle their discomfort is moving and humbling. Some may think we volunteers are doing great things but the real heroes of this tragedy are the families who steel themselves to make this dangerous and slow journey from camp to camp in search of the ultimate goal of freedom and safety.

Images

You can see some photographs of our experience by following this link to Images from our experience
It is hard to communicate just what it is like in Moria transit refugee camp on Lesvos. We hope that images will help

The attitude to refugees of the Greek people on Lesvos

Sadly many people in the UK are reluctant to welcome refugees. We wondered how the local people here felt having seen hundreds of thousands passing through and a good number settling.

The answer is to be found in the 1920s when many Greek families had to flee Turkey and make the same crossing to Lesvos. The descendants of those refugees hold the memory of what it was like and so they understand what those from Syrian, Afganistan and others are going through. They would have crossed in much safer boats; not the inflatable craft certified for 30 typically carrying 50 or more. They would also not have been ripped off by smugglers or hounded by coastguards.

When Maggie went to the hospital, the doctors who treated her asked how they too could volunteer. The woman in whose holiday accommodation we are staying is full of sympathy for the refugees and of support for the volunteers. She is, though, certain that a political solution must be found.

Talking to fellow volunteers, the view is certainly that what we are doing is a 'sticking plaster' and what is needed is an end to the violence and then massive western investment to make those beatuftiful countries, from which people have fled, places where they would want to live.

It is not easy. Tourist bookings are way down. In fact most of the island is unaffected and still the beautiful place people have been coming to for years. Perhaps it also needs to be said that the refugees are people like us, many are poorer that is true, but just as wonderful.

My friend, Gael Lewis, adds this:
.Back in Blighty, last bulletin from the the EU border. I asked a Greek lady on lesbos whether the lesbosians were for or against the refugees (the island is trashed in places by their presence and tourism is down ) she said they were overwhelmingly sympathetic, I asked why. She said it was partly because half of them had been refugees themselves (nearly a century ago many thousands of Turkish speaking orthodox Christians were expelled to the Greek islands in exchange for a similar number of Greek speaking muslims who were forced over to turkey) these wonderful Greek people haven't forgotten . It's also because the islanders are pretty decent people

Recycling

An enormous amount of clothing and blankets and shoes are left on site each night by refugees who are moving on. These are cleared up and bagged, sadly together with the rubbish. My job today was to sort the contents of the bags between rubbish and recycling. Not nice.

The cost of recycling through the commercial laundry is not cheap, reputedly E24,000 a month. It would be awful to throw everything away. Washed clothes are given out to refugees with wet clothed. Recycled shoes are less sUccessfuThere.

Everything else is put out for rubbish. There must be one hundred bags waiting for the bin men, who will only take the contents of the wheely bin. The cost to the local authority is huge.

This is big problem.

The oddities of a refugee transit camp

Nearly a thousand people sleeping leaves a whole lot of UNHCR blankets to pick up and send for washing. My job for today!

Walking up and down what is known as Afgan hill, I met a wide variety of refugees and migrants. I say migrant since the Nigerians I talked to, delightful young men, were simply seeking a better life and were frustrated by the visa process. It is hard. For Nigeria, it is hard to lose talented people. For European countries it will lead to overcrowding. The conundrum of the 21st century.

Looking at faces, there are the facial attributes of North Africa, the Middle East, but also what looks very much like Chinese. Someone suggested that any one might be a member of ISIS.

Of one thing I am certain, a border policy based on making entry as dangerous as possible is wrong.

Maggie's blog for yesterday.

We now have several refugee helpers which is great as they can translate. One of the most difficult things here at the clothes station is saying no to people who come back. We only have enough clothes to clothe the wet people from the boats. Often they will come back for more and we have to refuse and they don't understand why and can get very insistent. Not speaking their language makes it so hard and must make them think we are being mean. Often they have no understanding of the fact that we are volunteers and the clothing and shoes are donated.

One busy night we were dressing a large group of women and children. When they were dry they have to leave to make room in the tent for others.

Imagine the scene: these women are cold and traumatised by a dangerous journey and it is quite cold in the tent. We have blankets to keep them warm while we run back and forthright finding a full set of clothes to fit them.  Sometimes they turn things down because they don't like them. There are piles of wet clothes on the floor, babies crying, children shocked or sometimes hyper. It is chaos really and there are more outside wet waiting. The group in the tent did not want to leave until everyone was dressed. Luckily we were able to get an Arabic translator, a lovely French girl who explained everything to them; what a relief.

Yesterday, as you will have gathered from Phil's post was eventful for me as I slipped on a very muddy floor in the clothes tent and broke my wrist. The Greek hospital was great but it is very painful at the moment and it is my right wrist!

I feel so annoyed not to be able to work for these last two days.

Refugee self help

The Afgan refugees with whom we have worked most are remarkable. We came across one women with two tiny children who had traveled mainly on foot the 3,000 miles from Karbul. They are then met by hostile Greek police who make them wait for hours in the open to register. To make matters worse the EU border agency computer system keeps crashing.
Another way in which they have been remarkable is in their willingness to help. They act as translators, they do the work we do in handing out clothing and saying no! They have also helped in my round of emptying bins of rubbish. Were they coming to the UK we would benefit hugely.
Maggie broke her wrist this afternoon and the Afgan young man with whom I have been working was as caring as a son. Maggie is fine but frustrated. My feelings for the Afgan people are even stronger.

The last two shifts

I, Maggie HW,  am part of the team that manages the women's tent where all the women and children change when they are wet from the boats. This varies so much from completely soaked to just having damp feet. We have very limited resources so must give dry things only to the most needy.  It is heartbreaking not to be able to give everyone what they would like. All these families wet or dry are traumatised by their journey.

Last night we had a very wet Afgan family with mother and six children from around 12 yrs to 5yrs. Two of us volunteers welcomed them to the changing tent, they were so grateful  Mamma started to cry and they then all started. We hardly had enough arms to hug them all and there were tears all round. We got them all dry and then sent them all on their way.

Today had very different challenges. I had a family with a very sick 10 yr old who had to be rushed to the medical centre, all on top of a traumatic journey maybe with no food for a couple of days.
Another family had been on the beach, a one year old wandering on her own was found by sister volunteers. They reunited her with her father and two siblings around  2 and 5. The father had been driving the boat from Turkey.

Later we discovered that their mother had been killed by snipers probably in Syria. The two sister volunteers followed them to the camp and made it their personal responsibility to look after the family.

It is common for the Turkish smugglers to make the travellers drive the boat the10 km to Greece with no training at all making it an even more terrifying journey. This poor father had been made to drive.

Families and heart break

Maggie will tell her own stories. I have just these.

Last night we worked from 4 until midnight. As darkness fell so did the temperature. The day had been fine and many boats crossed so much so that further tents had to be found in which people could sleep. The UNHCR ran out of blankets and we provided some donated sleeping bags. I sent a young couple with a tiny baby into the night to find somewhere to sleep. I imagined my own children and grandchildren. It is awful.

Earlier a man had come for dry shoes, so I thought. He pushed forward a boy of perhaps ten and I found shoes and socks. I turned to help the man and another small boy was put in front of me. This went on until all five sons had been found shoes. The man's feet were clearly wet but he refused help; what a great Dad, fine man.

A couple spoke to me in very good English (mostly it is sign language and the odd word) and they showed me their son's bare feet. I was lucky enough to find some shoes with cartoon characters; the little boy was delighted, they were from his favourite film. Father was a pharmacist and hoped to find work in Germany. I fear for countries who are driving away their best people like this. 

Then the rain and oh what rain

A day or two ago We witnessed a storm when the camp was largely empty. Today refugees flooded in with the rain. Everyone, everywhere was drenched. Everything we hand out is given to us either in kind or by donation. We spent donations on buying ponchos and other waterproofs but the numbers were so great we couldn't keep everyone dry.
Our job is to provide clothing to replace that which became wet on the boat crossing from Syria. We struggle to have enough for this, let alone the need to replace clothing wet with rain.
These people could cross from Turkey by ferry to Athens and cut out Lesvos altogether. The EU government must act to stop this insanity.

Out came the sun

Thank goodness for a day of sun. The camp was buzzing with the activity of people clearing up. I paired 600 wet shoes which will now go to be washed and dried. Others sorted wet blankets and clothing also for the wash. Tents that had been taken down to avoid wind damage were put back up. The store was re-stocked.
Only just in time for a boatload of refugees all with soaked shoes - such a waste and all because the boats can't use a port because the coastguard will send them away; land on the beech and a blind eye seems to be turned.
This is the EU border policy in action: make it as difficult as possible!
There are 500 volunteers here, possibly more. At least half a dozen languages can be heard with English as the common strand. Most as young and clearly able. Is this a waste of their time and talent? I think not; the experience will stay with them for a lifetime, giving a context to the news of refugee crises which I suspect with be the common strand of their adult lives.
Maggie made the women's changing room so much better, so much so that a whole group of women nearly refused to leave it. It transpired that they had been travelling together for two weeks and were reluctant to be parted. There are so many stories.

Mud

It was very windy last night so we didn't expect any boats and none came. Instead we had a massive storm which flooded the areas where tents had been. I now know why the ancient Greeks thought the gods were angry.

We had to put down pallets so people could walk around. There is slimy mud everywhere.
 
Tomorrow the weather will be better and so many boats are expected. The day was thus spent restocking: baby vests, all sizes of shoes and trousers, jackets, warm tops for both men and women. It is mind boggling.

The process is interesting. New volunteers learn from from those who were there when they arrived and then teach those who are to follow. We are now the 'experienced' ones. Tomorrow I am in charge of issuing men's clothes. This means that I have learnt when to say no!

I did speak to Save the Children and found a little of how the major charities operate. (The site where we are are all small organisations). For the big boys the first issue is getting recognition from the Greek government as an NGO, those who are still waiting, including Save the Children, have to find Greek partners. Partnership working seems to be the watchword, with charities from many countries seemingly working together effectively.

Between a rock and a hard place

The focus of the camp is to get the refugees arriving from Turkey registered and on their way to their final destination within the EU as soon as possible

 Some 465,000 people passed through Moria camp in the last year. Until October they slept in the open air in an olive grove until they could be registered and given papers to travel on. Apparently the grove was as crowded with people as if it were a music festival, but with traumatised people quite unaware of where they were or where they were going. The olive grove now has no olive trees since the were used for firewood as the nights grew colder. There were no facilities and so the land is now polluted with human excrement and cannot be replanted and used to grow olives for at least ten years.

In October a group of volunteers said enough is enough and they approached owner of the olive grove to lease it so that proper facilities could be brought on site. It seems that in spite of the hostility of the government this was allowed to go ahead. The group formed a charity (Better Days for Moria [on Facebook] ) to take the lease and to crowd fund for the facilities needed. The funding via Facebook was very successful and so there are now tents for food, clothing and medical facilities. A number of different groups work under the umbrella of the main charity including the one for whom we are working Positive Action in Housing 
.
The refugees waiting registration now sleep in plastic sheds put up by the UNHCR. The UNHCR would like to put up a properly resourced UN refugee camp, but the Greek government are refusing to admit that they have a refugee camp on their territory - it would be/is the first in Europe since WW2. It seems that the lack of cooperation by the Greek government might not be unrelated to their tense relationship with the EU bureaucracy in Brussels. So the facilities are basic in the extreme. The plastics sheds surround a former prison with 12ft high wall and razor wire. The feeling is oppressive and those escaping oppression at home must feel that they have only fund new oppression to replace the old.

For this reason the work of us volunteers is to make the refugees as welcome as we can before they embark on the next part of their journey.

Compassionate 'no'!

This morning I was interviewed on radio Lincolnshire and could tell what I saw: the refugee camp with people sleeping in tents and coping with mud and rain. I then continued on the morning task of picking up rubbish and securing the tents against the wind.
The rest of the day was spent saying no to young men wanting new boots, because we simply do not have enough. Having said that a good number were trying it on. There were tales of new shoes being sold and the men coming back for more. It is hard to be tough, but necessary.
I return though to the main point: all this is unnecessary. As a matter of principle refugee status is granted, so why make the refugees come across in dangerousq boats paying excessive amounts to the smugglers.

Rainbow compassion

There are college kids from the USA, uni students from Ireland, expats of many nations  from other Greek Islands. Listen and your hear French, German, Dutch, but also Arabic and Farsi. This is a gathering of people from many nations.
And whom do we serve.
Syrian refugees are 'processed ' separately. We are meeting Afgans and Morocans (whom I can speak to in French). I talked with a young Iranian on his way to Germany. In honesty I suspect he was an economic migrant whom Angela Merkel will welcome with open arms.
Is this to be the story of the 21st century.

The camp - day one

Have you ever seen a refugee camp. The one we were working at today was exactly that: tent, washing lines, people huddled round fires burning in oil drums, but also children playing on a slide that someone had given. This is to say nothing of the vast array of clothing, but also bags of wet clothing waiting to be washed.
The first bus arrived with a boat load of refugees. The men queue and my job is to make sure the do so in an orderly way. It isn't raining and so they are good humoured. Many have shoes soaked through and we have so few shoes that most can only be given socks. Some have wet trousers and no jackets. Some are really fussy and won't accept the clothing we have on offer - too bad, it is all we have.
All this is unnecessary. Were the refugees processed in Turkey only four miles across the sea, they could arrive by ferry dry and warm. Better still they could cut Lesbos out of their route and go straight to Athens en route to their final destination.
More tomorrow and rain is forecast.

The politics of compassion

An afternoon exploring the island gives much more of a flavour of how the crisis is being addressed.

To begin with, it was individuals and small charities who received the refugees from the boats. It was make shift, but worked. Then the large charities moved in and provided much needed infrastructure including buses and better accommodation. The most recent addition is a wealthy American charity which has seen fit to try to take over a large part of the operation. Thus far with limited success. It is all politics.

Anyone new to the detail would be surprised that the refugees cannot be helped until they have been accepted. This means that they must walk up a long hill from the beach and wait their turn. Volunteers do everything they can to mitigate this harshness.

Of vital importance for the safety of the refugees is the presence of the coast guard, mainly young men and women. It seems that the funding for this is in danger.

One major project is the reuse of a derelict hotel. A team of volunteer builders is on its way from the UK. This will help but there is much money needed and many complex details to be worked through, not least Greek building regulations.  

It is clear that politics looms large, but in spite of this great work is being done.

Arrival

What is immediately apparent about the island is that it is not wealthy. It is mountainous with potholed roads and shabby housing. This is not a place resourced to accept thousands of refugees, yet it has.
We hear from our car hire company that refugees have been making the treacherous crossing from Turkey for years, certainly for the twelve years that she's been here.
Driving away from the airport we come across the first boatload of relieved refugees about to board a bus to take them to the camp. A little further on a family is walking along the road with obvious smiles of relief.
It is strange to be in Greece in the cold, and cold it is. We arrive at the village where we have booked rooms and are thoroughly warmed by the welcome. Now to explore.

A contrast

I had to visit Blue Water shopping centre (which is vast) to buy some waterproof trousers (irrelevant).

I was met by the engine room of the 21st century British economy. Heaven help us if all these people stop spending.

A little bit more of the picture is needed since I had spent the morning reading Adair Turner's excellent book Between Debt and the Devil in which he issues a sober warning about excessive consumer debt, actually all debt. 

I suspect that the scene that will meet us in Lesbos will offer a striking contrast. Interestingly, one of the points that Turner makes early on is that great inequality of wealth and income is bad for the economy. Well, that's what we have now.