Only 10 days to go till I travel to Idomeni and my 7 year old asks if he can come … ?

As the days creep towards 20 April when I arrive at the Macedonian/Greek border, my emotions are a mixed bag of which I find increasingly hard to explain.  I just know in my heart that I am doing the right thing, for me, my family and the few refugees I may be able help to make their life a little more bearable.

Today, Alexander (my youngest son of 7 years old) and I spent a couple of hours writing cards.  Each card is decorated and has Arabic writing (OK – I did my best!!),  Arabic and Farsi good wishes plus a dove of peace and some golden patterns.

Each of the cards is from a person or family who have donated to the campaign I am running – to raise funds to spend on the ground when in Idomeni.  The card will be placed in a small bag containing a few items for the children in Idomeni.  I am eternally grateful to the people who have donated, as I have funded myself to go and have very little left.  These funds mean that together we can make more of a difference.

During our card writing – Alexander looks at me and says “can I come with you mummy? Daddy will be OK staying here with Joseph and Ben”.  The words started to come out my mouth .. “No hun, it is not a place for children”….

I only got as far as .. “No hun….”.  I thought of the thousands of children trapped at the Macedonian border, or in detention camps (prisons) across Europe, its hard to fathom how this can be allowed to happen in Europe.  I corrected myself internally and answered “no hun, …….mummy will be working all the time”.

I am not a politician and I don’t feel I have a voice loud enough – even in our democracy – we are not heard.  I have written press articles, been interviewed on local radio, contacted MPs , written blogs/facebook and twitter updates – even got approx 2 min on Question Time – but my voice/ our voices are lost in the wind and this humanitarian disaster continues to unfold.

This is why I am writing cards from all my kind hearted donors, to show that we do care – that we are not the cold hearted, self interested humans portrayed by our Government.

Many may say – “a few cards, a few hundred quid, 9 days of help – what good will that do?”.  The truth is – I just don’t know what good it will do.  However, I do know that if we – do nothing, say nothing whilst we have the means to do something and the voice to say something then we will not change anything.

As well as much needed funds that my donors have provided, they have provided so much more. By donating, they are making a stand, standing in solidarity and for this I am very grateful.