The refugee transition point/camp holds about 300-400 people, maybe 500 if we really squeeze people into every available space and they snuggle close. However, even if we reach capacity the boats from Turkey are still flooding in. Which causes refugees to congregate in front of the camp waiting to get in.
As we bus people to the next camp the inside frees up a bit and we can let more people inside. Each bus holds about 50 people and they come about every 45minutes.
My job as well as my squad mate Kelly Anne was to stand at the gate of the camp and regulate the flow of people that come as the busses take people out.
Imagine a camp behind you with 500 people all freezing starving waiting for blankets, food, and a bus to the next camp.
Now imagine in front of you 800 more people all with wet clothes, hungry, some with small children, all desperately wanting to get inside.
With about 200-300 people all standing in a line about 6 feet wide and 50 feet long.
Now imagine trying to take a single family from the front of that line into the camp.
The very moment we would grab a single person to come inside the entire crowd would shove forward. Kelly Anne and I with outstretched arms desperately trying to hold them at bay.
These people are clearly suffering, some completely drenched, some who haven’t eating in days. But if we don’t say no then chaos will surely ensue.
This atmosphere continued for the next 5 hours, during which 5 women passed out in front of me and I had to carry them to the medical tent honeymoon style. One women was passed out for 2 minutes with an extremely low pulse. Not minutes after bringing her in I had to bring another and then another. Some with heart conditions some who simply had not eaten in days.
I hated saying no, I hated watching people make themselves puke just to say they were sick so that maybe they could get into camp faster. I hated physically pushing people back and shouting no when they so clearly needed help, and I hated that I had no way to help them.
But if Kelly Anne and I didn’t then who would? Someone had to be the bad guy, I am thankful that in those hours we were strengthened by God and by each other to be those people.
People are suffering here, it goes far beyond the snit-bits you see in the news, I have watched thousands of people move through this camp only to start a long and hard journey.
I Pray that these people continue to meet people like myself and my squad and the amazing volunteers we worked with along their journey who will continue to care for them and show them love.
