In 2013 I spent some time during the summer in Beirut, Lebanon. It was an amazing trip and was very eye opening to just how big the world is. Part of the reason I wanted to go was to learn about the cultures of the world in their contexts and not through the lenses of American media or American comfort zones. Little did I realize I would actually get to watch world history begin to unfold right in front me.
One of the things I had the privilege of doing there was working with an NGO who provided food for refugee families coming to Lebanon for safety. At the time their main focus were Iraqi refugees who had been displaced by the wars there, but while we were there we were told that Syrians would soon be flooding into Lebanon and to other countries around the world.
The first waves of refugees had already entered the country and the women could be seen begging on the streets for money with their children laying on the sidewalk next to them unconscious. We asked about this and the host told us that they were more than likely refugees who came there with no source of income or means to feed their children. More than likely the women were there without their husbands and had nowhere to turn but to the local gangs or mafias. The kids were more than likely drugged to look like they were in serious need so that people would give more. We were told not to give money because it would go right to the mob bosses and further drug trafficking and violence in the city.
The inhumanity of the situation was heart wrenching, but little did I know that that was just my first encounter with the Syrian refugee crisis. Fast forward to a month ago… The crisis is still going on and the number of displaced Syrians is growing everyday. We are in Romania and being called into a quick and unexpected meeting. We’re told about the opportunity to work in Greece at a refugee camp instead of somewhere in Bulgaria. Long story short, we end up deciding to go to Greece and help this refugee camp that is in desperate need of hands and feet.
We’ve been at it for two days now and it’s easy to see why so many people come here for short term trips that turn into long term trips. The work is plenty, but the workers are few. They never know when they are going to get hit with nearly 200 new arrivals like they did yesterday on our first day and there is already new situations everyday that have to be resolved just in the refugees everyday lives. The camp itself is a former prison turned refugee camp. To put things into perspective, the prison was designed to hold 1,800 and right now there are more than 5,000 people living there and growing.
It’s an incredible sight to see and the heart strings are yanked on every second you’re there. We’ve heard stories of families being killed in wars, mosques being attacked with women and children inside that end up getting their throats cut, a father being gunned down by American forces, and the list can go on and on. Logistically the camp is a nightmare. I helped clean a toilet and bath house area today that hadn’t been touched for 4 days, but is used by hundreds of people. It is an experience I will never forget, shoveling a pile of trash over waist high into trash bags and also shoveling human waist from behind the shower house because they had nowhere else to go.
These things are no ones fault, it’s why we’re here. The spirit of this camp is something intense. Theres desperation, anxiety and anger. As a matter of fact we saw our first fight break out tonight in one of the housing sections. Telling families that we have to move a family of four in on top of their family of six is one of the hardest things to do. The housing here is incredible and some handle it better than others.
But despite all of that there is a freedom here within the camp that can be felt as well. A human side to all of the chaos. Children run around playing everywhere and will come running up to you so they can proudly use the one word of english they know, “Hello”. After a quick high and/or low five they run off and continue playing. They don’t know what’s ahead of them, they’re just happy that you’re there. Some of the adults have also been very welcoming and the contrast between what I saw in Lebanon and here is striking to me.
Kids running around happy and able to be kids and not drugged up on a sidewalk somewhere by mafia dealers. In a lot of ways this is a hard situation, but in some ways this is a better life than what others have had to go through. The thing that has stuck out the most about the camp is the amount of underlying hope that is present in the hearts and minds of everyone here. I just hope the situations that got them here will be resolved soon and families can be reunited again and homes can be rebuilt in every sense of the phrase.
