I have been repeatedly impressed by the generosity I’ve seen so far during my first month of volunteering at refugee camps in Greece. It’s amazing how some people, especially those who have so little to begin with, show such a willingness to give and to help others. Some examples:
- Patients are asked to bring a translator (a friend or neighbor) when they visit the medical cabin in Moria if they don’t speak English themselves. A lot of people don’t do this. There are refugees who volunteer to work as translators for my NGO, but they are free to come and go as they wish (we don’t want to put any demands on them). So sometimes a refugee who doesn’t speak English wants to see a doctor, and we don’t have any Arabic/Farsi/French translators available. Sometimes there are other patients waiting who speak some English, and they agree to translate for another patient (someone they don’t even know). I’ve seen this happen several times, including one incredibly sweet young man (Mustafa) who majored in English in Syria and then left his country after graduating. After getting sucked in to helping 4 or 5 patients (besides himself), he finally asked, during a lull in patients, “Can we go now? My wife has been waiting for me for an hour.” (He has since volunteered to be an official translator with our organization.)
- When I do a social shift in Moria, which means walking through the camp and chatting with refugees for a couple hours in the evening, some of them have offered me tea, or even food (some of them cook their own dinners over open campfires because they don’t like the admittedly undesirable food given out in the camp). They are crammed 20 adults into a shipping container cabin and receive about $100 a month from the Greek government, yet they still want to show me some hospitality. I’m amazed (and I always refuse, as graciously as possible).
- I was waiting at a food truck outside Moria Camp (yes, some refugee camps have food trucks outside them) one night to join the medical team on a night shift. The temperature had dropped into the 70s and a wind had picked up. A man offered me his jacket. I assume he was a refugee (and not a volunteer) because that’s the primary clientele at these food trucks, and also the more likely population to think a jacket is necessary in 70-degree weather. I didn’t need a jacket, but I was touched nonetheless that he was willing to lend me one.
- Speaking of food trucks, the medical team working the evening shift usually eats dinner at Stratos’s food truck. Stratos is a gray-haired, friendly Greek man (who makes delicious falafel!). He never charges our medical team for bottled water. He also provides several electrical outlets so refugees can charge their phones there.
Stratos, taking an order from one of our doctors.
- Another Greek man, Nikos, owns a restaurant outside of town and invites refugees to a free lunch every day. He’s involved with several other charity projects on the island to help refugees.
My volunteer team patronized Nikos’s restaurant one day to help support him and his charities.
- In the better camp, Kara Tepe, NGOs give out snacks every day. Once, while I was working a shift on kids activities, popsicles were given out. Fareed, an incredibly friendly 16-year-old who often comes to board games in the evenings, brought me a popsicle. THESE ARE MEANT FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN!! He wouldn’t let me refuse it. (I took it and then gave it to a little girl when he left.) This is the same young man who volunteers to coach soccer for little kids in the camp, and whose sister gives basic Farsi lessons to volunteers.
- I helped out on a self-care campaign in Kara Tepe, handing out pamphlets advising refugee families how to take care of themselves. A Turkish/Kurdish family lived in one of the cabins I visited. I told the woman of the house that her earrings were çok güzel (Turkish for “very beautiful”). She said she made them in the camp and then started TAKING THEM OUT OF HER EARS TO GIVE TO ME. I told her teşekkürler (thank you) many times, but refused to let her give me her earrings.
I’ve written before about encountering the kindness of strangers while abroad, but this is a whole other level. The medical volunteers are using their vacation time and expertise to offer badly needed help at refugee camp clinics. Greek locals are providing services to help refugees in their communities. And, what I find particularly impressive, is the refugees themselves. They are displaced people seeking asylum to start a new life in a new country. They have little money, few possessions, and every reason to be self-interested with concern for their own questionable futures. But still, they have such big hearts.
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