The wind has died down. The sun is shining. At 9 AM, we leave from Mytilini to the camp a few kilometers away. Upon arrival, we check in with the Greek police. Name, organization, time. Then, we walk to the container (all NGOs in the camp have one or more containers). Many people greet us, and many children are busy playing\u2014with sticks, stones, or nothing at all. A little girl brushes her teeth at the knee-height taps and waves as if her life depends on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After arriving, Aron and I go on outreach\u2014knocking on the doors of people who are on the list of recent arrivals to invite them to the information session. If no translator is available, communication happens via a translation app on the phone. It\u2019s a bit clumsy, but no one minds. The invitation to the info session about the procedure, the uncertainty of Syrians who have no idea when decisions will be made again, questions about appeal procedures and waiting for travel documents\u2014it all comes up. And always, after the conversation, there is a friendly smile. A connection has been made, and you can feel it. So many people know the people from Fenix. There is laughter, greetings, and quick check-ins about how things are going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we return to the container, a man is clearly unhappy. It takes too long. He can\u2019t do anything. A young man comes by who still doesn\u2019t have his travel documents, while all his friends have received theirs long ago. Most of them are now in Athens. Marina walks with him to the passport office, which is also inside the camp. Another man is visibly nervous. His wife is from Sudan, and for people from Sudan, the process moves quickly. He is from another country and hears nothing. I type an email in English for him to the asylum committee, asking for information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time the session is supposed to be over, more people arrive with new questions. The people from Fenix help everyone with angelic patience. They cannot influence the official decisions, but they ensure that people are as well-prepared as possible\u2014that they know what to do during their interview and what to arrange if their application is rejected. Fenix also offers a kind of presence\u2014a space where people can wait. A cup of tea, a cookie, some attention\u2014it helps, even if just a little, with the unbearable waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few mornings a week, I am a jack-of-all-trades. Making tea, typing emails, running errands, and mostly listening. I am not working here. I do not interfere with Fenix\u2019s policies. I am here on sabbatical, volunteering on the side. I am learning a lot from this. And at the same time, I am doing very little\u2014which I am also learning from. Yet, I cannot help but write and come up with new plans. After four weeks, the Netherlands feels very far away. This place is a world of its own, with the unique slowness and kindness of an island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026where by now, I chat with Litza from the little coffee shop nearby every day and try to get her to stop giving me cinnamon cookies. And where the Somali woman on crutches, who asks me for a bus ticket from Mytilini center to the camp, smiles warmly, and I go and buy her one. No fuss about whether I should or not. Just do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I receive many messages from people saying they find it brave of me to be here. But that\u2019s not true. I am here to reflect, to find inspiration, and to do the things I simply cannot help but do\u2014writing, listening, learning, imagining. That is a privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truly brave ones are the people in the camp. Those who made the decision to leave their homes. Who carry horrific stories of escape. Who sit here with their children because making a dangerous sea crossing and arriving at a camp with far too little space was still better than staying. They are the courageous ones, the people full of hope, with eyes that either shine with a sense of future or have gone dark from losing it. Organizations like Fenix make a difference. I see it every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Want to contribute?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Donations can be made to: The wind has died down. The sun is shining. At 9 AM, we leave from Mytilini to the camp a few kilometers away. Upon arrival, we check in with the Greek police. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"news-category":[45,117],"class_list":["post-2301","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-category-humanitarian-aid","news-category-volunteering"],"yoast_head":"\n
NL40ABNA0138983186<\/strong>
In the name of: Haella Stichting<\/strong>
Reference: Randen van Europa<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"