Our time in Samos, a beautiful Greek island that has given us even more experiences, culture and love, given us heartache, shown us humanity at its best and at its worst, been beautiful and tragic all in the one breath, has come to an end. We will never fully leave the island behind in the same way we have never ever left Gaza behind but it is time for something, somewhere , someone else for us.
Samos, a small island in the Dodeconese became home for 2 years. Firstly an unofficial camp on the Malagari port and later in a terrible, inhuman, tent filled, waterlogged, scorching hot, barbed wired encompassed camp on a mountain side which for all its brutality and hardship housed people with hearts and souls bigger than any war and any of the consequences of war.
Samos island camp is inhumane! It is an overcrowded, underfunded, barely spoken about, hidden away shame of the EU, UN, EASO and all the authorities who are greatly waged, salaried and granted to take care of those seeking refuge there. The money is not spent where it’s needed. The air-conditioned, sheltered and perfectly decked out offices of the large NGO’s, with high-speed wi-fi and soft furnishings are not where people have pledged their money to. The grants are not to be wasted on the copious amounts of frappes and cappuccino that are delivered in a constant stream during the “office hours only” shifts of those with a clipboard.Compare this to the metal cabins that heat up like ovens housing whole families, with no shelter from the sun , no running water, air-condition, fans or even a chair to sit on, or the cheap pop up tents that also house families, held down with rocks with no electricity, beds or room inside, or the designated slab of concrete with a piece of foam mat and a sleeping bag for others. A piece of UN tarpaulin thrown over a fence and tied in front is not fit shelter for anyone and certainly not worth the price no doubt being claimed for it.
We have seen child protection teams from several organisations having to get information from volunteers on the status or even the whereabouts of the unaccompanied minors they are allegedly taking care off. We have seen individuals from said NGOs crying and trying to find ways to discreetly break their own rules as they can see for themselves that so much more could be and should be done, and would be if this “crisis” had not become a business ( one of the biggest growing businesses globally right now is in the “humanitarian field”)
The volunteers in the camps are tired and unappreciated, though not by those they help. They are the epitome of the humanity needed and shown , they are the grafters, the workers, the listeners, the fighters . They are the ones keeping spirits up, sitting with survivors, burying the souls lost, comforting the lonely , the sick. They fight for right, for help, for basic and for urgency . They do so not for a step on a career ladder, not for a salary or even for applause but they do it because it’s the right thing to do, because they know, because we know, that only circumstance, politics and geopolitics , War , conflict and the greed and business deals of others means that right now it is “them” and not “us” but who knows where the next War will be…
Regardless of your views on religion or politics or whatever the latest excuse for not wanting to help or not being outraged about people being treated with appalling heartlessness is, which of us can say we believe any one should live in conditions that should have disappeared decades ago. Who finds it acceptable that women must rinse out and dry soiled pampers and sanitary towels for reuse because the one! allocated per day is not enough. Who are any of us to tell a woman she can not have baby formula for a hungry child because she should be breastfeeding, even though her body is malnourished, weak , fearful and no longer producing milk for whatever reason. Would any of us want to lay our child to sleep at night in a box on the floor, where spiders, snakes, mosquitoes and dirt are already in abundance. What man will not fight and shout for the right for his family’s story to be listened to, believed and helped. What man would not have escaped the wrath of war after his wife/sister/ daughter/ mother has been brutally raped, his sons killed or imprisoned, his children forced to take up arms in the hope their remaining family members may be spared.
Many of those seeking refuge are well-educated, affluent families with all the knowledge of heading into a world of racism, xenophobia and hatred , knowing whats ahead is more death, fear and uncertainty but a little bit of hope that you may be the one to make it, or even better , you may be the one to make it back home eventually, is surely better than the absolute certainty that staying home is staying in hell!
Refugees want refuge! A temporary safety until it is possible to reunite with their home, families, countries. They bring with them so much more than the bare contents of a backpack that has no more than a phone, some pictures and if lucky a child’s favourite toy, they bring a diversity of culture, tradition, music, stories , language, recipes. They bring a chance to unite a world full of colour, of taste, of sound which mixed with our own cultures, integrated by us all would be a world a hundred times better than a world of segregation, fear, ignorance …. for all of us
So , yes , We have left even though so much more needs to be done. But we could not do anymore. The onus must now be on those with the money, the staff, the capabilities and the duty to do what must be done there and in all the camps. We are broke. We are tired. We are not quitting, just taking a rest. A short one.
We asked so many times for your help and we always received it. Your support, your donations helped us and more importantly those you hoped to help so much and so many times that we could never thank you enough. Samos still needs your help, our help and we will still do what we can from Ireland.
Thankfully we have family here willing to put us up or perhaps put up with us, for a few weeks ,as our lifestyle choice means we are pretty much nomads , without an address of our own, but with an abundance of friends worldwide, of every religion, culture and colour .And so though penniless ,We are 2 of the richest people we know because of that.
Thank you all…
For Majida, Bettina, Janne, Yiannis, Manos ,Anastasia Nael and so many many more…
