{"id":2198,"date":"2025-01-29T14:16:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T14:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haella.nl\/foundation\/?post_type=news&#038;p=2198"},"modified":"2025-02-11T15:05:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T15:05:31","slug":"beauty-earthquakes-and-the-shadow-of-the-refugee-camp","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/haella.nl\/foundation\/news\/beauty-earthquakes-and-the-shadow-of-the-refugee-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Beauty, Earthquakes, and the Shadow of the Refugee Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When people hear \u201cLesbos,\u201d various associations come to mind: a beautiful vacation island, a vast refugee camp, or the home of the poet Sappho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lesbos is indeed a beautiful island, where kindness, tranquility, and simplicity set the rhythm. It\u2019s a place where one can find oneself, surrounded by expansive vistas, basking in the sun, and simply feel happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s also a place of nearly constant earthquakes, most of which go unnoticed, though some are felt. Last week, my bed and windows suddenly began to shake during a prolonged tremor measuring 5.1 in magnitude\u2014unusual even for here. The advice: take cover under a table. Fortunately, my tiny rooftop dwelling has a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then there\u2019s the massive refugee camp, currently housing around 4,000 people in tents and shipping containers. In April of last year, there were only 1,000. When severe weather struck after the earthquake, I could only think: how must it be there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m here visiting Fenix, where I\u2019ll be volunteering in the camp for several weeks, working on stories and films, and seeking ways to engage people in the Netherlands with the harrowing ways Europe handles those seeking safety, and to support the courageous organizations making a difference here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fenixaid.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fenix<\/a> &#8211; Humanitarian Legal Aid is a remarkable organization. Driven by a deeply felt mission that refugees should not be approached as pitiable or, worse, as criminals, but as people like you and me with the right to a dignified existence, they provide assistance in various ways. They help individuals navigate the asylum application process informedly and overcome the immense obstacles placed before them. The stories are harrowing and heart-wrenching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What struck me most profoundly are the additional challenges faced by traumatized individuals, which often means they cannot or dare not speak about their experiences because it feels like they might fall apart. Yet, in the procedure, they must. Suddenly, these experiences must be laid bare, as they often form the basis for approval. This is incredibly difficult for everyone, but especially for LGBTQ+ individuals. If you\u2019ve been silent about something, particularly your orientation, for a lifetime, you often lack the language for it. Then, to suddenly have to discuss it during an interrogation is, in my view, nothing less than mental torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tomorrow, I\u2019ll accompany Aron from Fenix to the camp. It will be a balance of what I can and cannot share (strict rules apply in the camp), and photography is also prohibited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This morning, I had an extensive conversation with Maaike, Fenix\u2019s coordinator. So brave, young, and passionate, along with her team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is an enormous privilege for me to be here. I hope that, in a very different role than usual, I can contribute something, no matter how small, that makes a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Contribute? See below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fenixaid.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fenixaid.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When people hear \u201cLesbos,\u201d various associations come to mind: a beautiful vacation island, a vast refugee camp, or the home of the poet Sappho. Lesbos is indeed a beautiful island, where kindness, tranquility, and simplicity set the rhythm. It\u2019s a place where one can find oneself, surrounded by expansive vistas, basking in the sun, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[25,20,22,23,21,19],"news-category":[18],"class_list":["post-2198","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-earthquakes","tag-fenix-humanitarian-legal-aid","tag-lesbos","tag-refugee-crisis","tag-trauma","tag-volunteering","news-category-field-experiences"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Beauty, Earthquakes, and the Shadow of the Refugee Camp - Haella Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/haella.nl\/foundation\/news\/beauty-earthquakes-and-the-shadow-of-the-refugee-camp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beauty, Earthquakes, and the Shadow of the Refugee Camp - Haella Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When people hear \u201cLesbos,\u201d various associations come to mind: a beautiful vacation island, a vast refugee camp, or the home of the poet Sappho. 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