Dear Doctor Stones,

It was nearly 5 years ago I met you, on a petrol forecourt.. in a makeshift camp in Northern Greece. The place was Hara Hotel. The place akin to hell.. The place overflowed with fear and pain. The place was bursting with bubbles of hope.

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You had escaped war, left your home… to find safety and the hope of a new life in Europe, but just before you arrived the borders closed. You were young then, your dreams burned fiercely in your bright eyes. We struggled to communicate with words, but we communicated with shared humanity.. laughing, smiling and working together every day – you not knowing where you would go next – me knowing I would leave soon, leaving many special people I had met in that place.. some I would never have contact with again.. But .. luckily, there were many I would have the pleasure of knowing for years to come.

We worked together with Northern Lights Aid – an organisation with dignity and compassion at its heart. Providing food, cooking facilities, water, tents, clothes and most crucially compassion and a voice to the many people who found themselves there, at Hara Hotel. Your smile was permanent during those 2 weeks I knew you.. it wasn’t fake .. it shone across your face .. I did wonder what was hidden behind that smile, but I also knew instinctively that you wanted to feel joy and hope – not share pain and hopelessness.

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I still smile when I think of how you got the nick name ‘Doctor Stones’, a badge you wore with pride. The tents were erected on concrete, so when the wind blew – they were in danger of collapse or blowing away. We would search for big stones all around the forecourt to weigh down the tents and protect people and belongings as best we could. You were .. by far the BEST at this .. hence the name Doctor Stones. I remember you laughing so much as you told me this, you were always Doctor Stones to me.

Now you are in Germany, you have been studying hard, you speak German, you speak English .. and next year you tell me you want to study medicine at University. I don’t know why this makes me cry – I think because it makes me so incredibly happy. You have climbed so many mountains and I am in awe of you Doctor Stones.. I know in a few years you will be a Doctor of people not stones.

Yours with love,

Emma