For the month of January, my team is serving with EuroRelief on Lesvos Island, working to provide aid to the mass of refugees entering Europe through Greece to escape war-torn countries. Lesvos is only about 5km from the Turkish coastline, making it the prime entry point into Europe. Despite the rough conditions to cross, many of the refugees will spend their life savings to travel across on little dinghys that are not made for the ocean. We’ve only been here for just over a week, and we’ve already heard stories of boats filling up with water as they cross, and others that never make it across at all. It’s a dangerous trip, yet the hope of a safer life is waiting for them on the other side.
We are staying in the little town of Molyvos, which is a home-base for many of the volunteers here. It’s a prime destination spot for tourists during the summer months, and would normally be a quiet little town during the winter. The locals here are so supportive of the volunteers, and although they have been helping the refugees that travel through Lesvos for years now, they continue do what they can to help. We see this as the local restaurants have stayed open and local hotels have offered housing to the volunteers at a discounted rate.
As there are a number of different relief organizations here on Lesvos Island, my team has worked at two different camps within our first week and have rotated through a few different shifts. Our first two shifts of working at camp were fairly quiet as high winds and thunderstorms kept many refugees from crossing, however as conditions have improved, we have seen so many refugees come through.
The last few nights my team has been at Moria, which is one of the larger camps on the island where the refugees stay until they can register and then take the ferry to Athens. At this camp, my team has been responsible for helping families with young children get into the housing structures in camp, and then getting them the food, clothing and blankets needed for the night.
While we get to meet and help so many people during our time in the camps, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know these boys over the past few days. The boy on the far right is Noraden. He is only 9 and doesn’t speak a word of English, but he quickly became my best friend. I first met him and his family at a camp called Sykaminias, which is the transition camp between where they first come onto the island, and Moria, which is where they have to stay until they can register. My team was then at Moria the next two nights, which allowed us to see him and his family three nights in a row, which was such a blessing.
Noraden has been such a light in a place where most people have seen such great loss. From pushing the carts of food when we pass out dinner, to helping me carry bags of personal belongings and blankets down to the rooms, Noraden is always by my side and ready to help. His big smile has made all the difference in this first week of being in the camps. While I’ll miss seeing his face each night, I pray that his family can get out of the camp and on to Athens so that they can continue on their journey.
It’s only been a week at camp, and as volunteers we have already been so blessed by getting to work here. Everyone here has been so appreciative, and although the work is exhausting both emotionally and physically, nothing quite compares to the feeling of being able to serve others in this capacity.
