What can an individual do? All of us were stunned and saddened by the refugee crisis.
Dennis and Marjonneke and Julien and Daniel volunteered for a mid-October week on the Greek island of Kos (a major entry point for refugee boats from Turkey). They traveled from Nederland with 400 kilos of child carriers, shoes, and winter clothes collected from friends and colleagues. The boys’ schools had adopted the trip as a “project”. On Kos, the entire family worked through a Greek NGO, distributing supplies and food. Dennis said afterwards that he had “…lived ten years in a week”.
Later in 2015, Dennis and Marjonneke spent a long weekend working as doctors on the Slovenia/Croatia border. And in May 2016, they (with the boys and Byron) traveled to mainland Greece for eight days of work in two camps.
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Oinofyta is 55 kms north of Athens. The camp there had 83 residents in early May, all from Afghanistan, more than half under 19 and almost 1/3 under 10.
There was no school when we arrived. Community leaders said that they wanted one, so we helped get a tent organized with desks, chairs, whiteboards, and supplies. The camp also had no record of exactly who was there. One of the residents therefore did a quick “census”, after which he and Byron created a database of simple demographic, medical, and educational information.
And because residents had no regular access to a doctor, Dennis and Marjonneke had plenty to do. Their days were full of routine exams, distribution of medicine, and checkups for the six women who were pregnant.
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Ritsona. 25 kms beyond Oinofyta. The camp there had c.800 residents in early May, about 90% from Syria. Many NGO volunteers were eager to set up educational programs, but basic supplies were missing. We therefore got in tables, chairs, and whiteboards. And even though we had to leave before most school activities got started, our colleagues sent us photos.
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