Solidarity for refugees

A part of my heart remains at Harahotel

I am on the train home after 9 days in Northern Greece and Macedonia.  I met some truly amazing people both volunteers and fellow humans trapped in the camps of Harahotel, Eko Petrol Station and Idomeni.  If you have the time, funds and heart then I urge you to volunteer. The need is so great and without volunteer groups,  people would freeze or starve to death .. This is a fact and not an opinion.

I will spend the next few days writing posts on some of my experiences and some of the people I met.. to spread this human story .. This growing humanitarian disaster..

My experiences range from sitting with a pregnant woman in her tent, holding her hand and playing with her toddler who was upset .. knowing that something was wrong…  waiting for the ambulance to come whilst the gale force winds blew.. we held hands as she lost her baby .. she still smiled at me and thanked me for being there …. to sitting and chatting with a group of Syrian women outside their tents (using photos and hand signals) on a beautiful Greek evening … drinking chai and eating delicious food cooked with the food and cooking equipment provided by the team I was working with.

Yes I have felt a complete roller coaster of emotions during this time and will try to convey this to you as best I can .. .. just as soon as I can order my thoughts .. now as I approach my home and my family I am so excited to see them .. I have missed them so much ..However,  I have left part of me back at the Harahotel with these truly amazing people thaf I now consider as friends and family .. They are still there, in limbo ready to meet the next volunteers .. who like me will leave them and go home to their other lives… how I will now adjust to life in England I am not sure ..I have changed .. but for the better

A day in the life of ..

I have missed a couple of days on my blog .. so I will try to write something about the last couple of days ..

I have been working with Northern Lights Aid and Aid Delivery Mission over the last couple of weeks . Both groups have charismatic and dedicated people working here full time..  Each morning we pack a shopping bag with essential items,  the items change on a daily basis. The package is designed for a family of 4, containing fresh or dried food, sanitary products or cleaning products. It helps people to become more independent, cooking and cleaning for themselves. 

Also ADM run a huge operation to deliver freshly cooked hot food to a variety of camps in the area. Many thousands of people rely on this food each day to survive as no large NGOS or government officials are present at Harahotel or surrounding woodland areas and many do not have cooking facilities

This is a huge logistical task and both deliveries cost €5000 per day in total. 

This all happens in the morning .. in the afternoon we take orders from 20 people for essential things they need.  Then in we go to a warehouse where all donations are sent and try to fulfill the order for the next day.  There is a shortage of some items such as shoes and  ladies dresses .. so these desperate people are often disappointed the next day, however they gracefully move away, just one more hurdle to jump over. They will have to wait another day hoping to be again one of the lucky 20 who get to request clothing.   We also do additional requests for newly arrived people who have nothing.  The items are packed at the warehouse, usually in the dark using a head torch. 

All children (under the age of 11 are given a tub of rice pudding at around 7pm) provided for by Save the Children. . These are distributed carefully always trying to make sure all the kids get one ..

Late evening at around 11pm .. the tent patrol volunteers get prepared . Filling a car with blankets and sleeping bags and small tents .. These are for people who arrive in the night or who do not have shelter for some reason.  These supplies are very limited and so are distributed carefully ..

There are not enough volunteers here to complete all the work required.. This can be quite heartbreaking . When people come to you needing something but you don’t have the time or resources to provide it .. its horrible to say  “no”  or “maybe tomorrow “..

Yesterday with funds provided by my lovely donors I bought 240 bras and 240 pairs of knickers. (As inspired by the amazing People in Motion charity) .. I dragged them tent to tent in my huge suitcase. It was so amazing to spend some time with the women in the camp.  These beautiful arabic ladies so happy to receive new underwear.. we laughed and chased away the men whilst they chose their size and colour.  It’s totally nuts here . There is no other word for it  and yet our government does nothing to help these people.  What is the conclusion of this inhumane and barbaric story ? From here it is hard to tell but I won’t stop ever until it’s resolved .. not ever !!! I am too tired to write about today and the damage to wind, rain and cold brought to the camp .. that’s one for tomorrow ..

There is no doubt thay history will judge our Goverment and EU leaders very harshly .. but in the meantime our fellow humans suffer every day. Wake up NOW…

So The House of Commons voted not to accept the 3000 lone children in Europe .. I simply cannot believe they would be so completely inhumane .. This was nowhere near enough help and yet they still rejected the proposal.

I am so so  incredibly ashamed of my government right now .. its 2.40am Greek time and I am just back home after making sure that all the people at Harahotel have blankets and sleeping bags  and tents . we don’t have enough to give everyone what they need though. Some families sleeping 8 in a 3 man tent .. yet they are the most friendly hospitable people .. bringing you chai and delicious food cooked with their rations we hand out .. now it is pouring with rain and very cold .. Some of the tents will inevitably leak causing real problems for these families.. I worry for them tonight .

In addition .. the owner of the hotel (who is not a nice man to say the least)  switched off the water supply today.. as an emergency measure the groups I am working with ..Northern Lights Aid and ADM  brought in bottled water and a bowser of water .. still washing is a problem without water on tap . .

The majority here are children and there are a number of pregnant women .. I am in my guest house listening to the the
heavy rain with a very heavy heart .. This is no life for these people . Some arrive with nothing apart from the clothes on their back .. It is obsene that the EU are not doing more to help .

These are people .. human beings who have endured some awful situations in war torn countries ..  yet self interested politicians seem to be unable to do the right thing and welcome them into Europe .. shame on you Europe shame on you ..

My morning in Macedonia and  Polykastro before 10am today ..

This morning started very well.. first the Macedonian taxi driver who takes me to the border brought me a traditional Macedonian breakfast of homemade tomato/aubergine /pepper sauce, bread and a kind of very thick savoury yoghurt .. such a lovely gesture wanting to show some off traditional Macedonian food (which was delicious).  Then I headed over to The Park Hotel to drop some things off to Elaine from People Motion .. she was sitting with a young boy of 4 and an elderly man, the little boy’s mother had been killed, we were unsure what relative the older man was.. probably his grandad ..

Elaine asked if I could get a kids pack out of the car which I did ..  The boy was very grateful  .. he kissed my hand and thanked me .. but he found it very hard to smile.   The expression on his face was one of deep sorrow which will be hard to break and soften. Elaine had ordered them breakfast and the man made sure that the boy ate as much as he could .. They were both very hungry but the man always made sure the boy ate first… again they were so grateful and thankful. 

The man had broken shoes so I got some women’s trainers (the only suitable ones I had) in his size from the car and some good sandals for the boy. .. They were more prepared for their journey than they were an hour earlier .. but seriously .. What will become of them now ?  What future do they have ? 
The 4 year old boy and the elderly man caring for him will be forever ingrained in my brain . I will never ever forget either of them and I wish them well on their journey ..This world is unnecessarily cruel, greedy and inhumane. . It angers my very soul x

Wake up Europe and the World  to this obsene travesty of justice.

Ok .. how can this place be described .. its tricky to put into words and I have seen only a tiny slice today ..

I headed over to Elaine from the People in Motion charity today at Park Hotel in Greece.  She has pretty much put her life on hold to help with this humanitarian crisis.

Yesterday there were gale force winds across the country and many tents were flattened . An Iraqi family turned up at the Park Hotel homeless with only a few bags and no money. There were 2 women (one was around 4 months pregnant). A man and 3 children under 3 years old. One a baby of 5 months . Elaine vacated her tent so they had somewhere to sleep for the night.

When I arrived this morning Elaine told me this.  With my donors money I bought them all breakfast and bottles of water.. Then Elaine and I went over to a warehouse (full of donated clothes) to try and get some suitable summer clothes. She also sourced a bigger tent for them as their tent they had with them was far too small for their needs .

The family then needed to get back to the camp where they had come from .potentially a long walk away in the sun . . With bags, a tent, water and 3 very young children, a pregnant woman and one man and one woman .. I have a hire car but was unable to offer a lift as I could be arrested for people trafficking. . Wtf..
Again with my donors money I managed to get a taxi for the family and they went on their way .. to what .. I do not know ..

Then we went shopping .. Elaine said that bra s and knickers were really needed by the women in the camp so we went and bought 9 packs of 24 bras and a pack of 24 knickers for 600 euros .. again thanks to the people who donated to my fund .. 💜

We went to distribute them in a camp at a petrol station (EKO) about 30 min from the border.  .. Elaine was right .. They went so quickly ..

Elaine then did some personal shopping .. This is asking a family what they need, making a list and then going to find or buy the items .. time consuming but much needed.

The camp consists mainly of families desperately trying to remain hopeful for their future. . This situation is obsene .. really it is ..

One little note about the children . Wow .. They are beautiful , loving, resourceful, playful, friendly and they are children just like any children .. They deserve more than this.

These families are in limbo .. waiting and trying to gain asylum. .This process has been made pretty much impossible by the authorities ..

One guy said to me “I just want to go somewhere where my children can be educated and have a future and where we can be in peace ” .. he is a mechanical engineer and his wife is a maths teacher .. I need to tell you their story in another blog ..

Hello macedonia .. be kind to me I am British….

The journey went very smooth .. just .. right up until the moment I entered Greece .. just as I was feeling like a confident, independant travel savvy woman ..

I left Manchester at 4am this morning .. The guest house owner drove me to the airport . . He asked where I was going and when I told him he looked visibly shaken .. he was quite emotional about it and refused to take any money for the taxi journey .. such a sweet man.

I picked up my little car at thessaloniki airport only to be told they won’t authorise it to cross the border into Macedonia. . What with that and the fact I couldn’t get my sat nav or phone to work .. meant the journey to Macedonia was rather tricky .. It took hours and I got lost over and over again. If it wasn’t for the kindness of the Greek people I would still be driving in circles.

All of a sudden I came across some of the makeshift camps close to the border .. tents and children playing trying to Eek some joy out of their situation . Quite a contrast against the bright blue sky and mountains on the horizon.

Eventually I arrived at the border …. I parked up and walked over to border control .. i felt very nervous approaching the border guard .. thanking my lucky stars i had the right passport .. I can’t imagine what it’s like if you don’t . I really can’t .. the Greek Guard gave me a severe telling off after asking me were I was going, I replied Macedonia. He angrily said there was no such country and crossed it out on my map . It’s FYROM he said tersely.

Border control

Then i walked across the border along the road with my luggage .. to the next border control leaving my car in Greece. I flagged a taxi down and he took me to my guesthouse insistent on doing a deal to taxi me each day to the border . I was a little suspicious as he kept repeating that he wasn’t part of the mafia, so I told him I was too tired to make this decision and took his card.

At the guesthouse. Now shattered and hungry I found out that only big supermarkets take euros ..I kicked myself as this should have been so obvious. I hadn’t planned for this, in fact I hadn’t planned very well at all. The owner saw my face and offered to exchange 50 euros into the local currency.

The upshot of all this is that .. I no longer felt like a confident independent travel savvy woman .. However .. yet again I felt the balance tipped in my favour when it came to my passport and all that it entitles me to do and all the places it entitles me to go ..

My passport and Macedonian money

Packing donations the Moria way and telling human story on Local Radio…

After washing and drying numerous pairs of trainers – I have been packing them – The Moria way.  When I was working in the warehouse at Moria camp (Afghan Hill), this is how the shoes and trainers were stored ..

Its only days to go until I travel to Idomeni, I am pleased that I know some volunteers over there.  I think it will be very different to Lesvos, but I do feel prepared.

As I have said before, as well as providing practical help I am also trying hard to get the human story told.  To help break down the walls that keep being put up, walls which are designed to keep refugees out and to show them as somehow less than human, less than equal. Today I was interviewed by Monica Winfield at BBC Radio Leicester, the link is below if you are interested in listening  – my interview starts around 2hr 41min.

Interview with BBC Radio Leicester – from around 2hr 41 min

Trying every avenue available to say . “this is just not good enough” !!

Yesterday I met with my local Conservative MP – Sir Edward Garnier.  I spoke to him for around 20 minutes.  I am not naive, even though he agreed with much of what I said, I was aware that I had no concrete commitment from him as I walked out of the door.  It is what comes next which is the real test..

I asked Mr Garnier if he could speak up in the House regarding the inadequacy of the UK response to the refugee crisis, champion the cause as my MP…. some issues we talked about below;

UK Policy to accept 20,000 refugees in 5 years; Mr Garnier talked about the policy of the UK policy to accept 20,000 refugees in 5 years, taken from the camps in Turkey/ Lebanon, the policy designed to discourage people putting their lives at risk to cross into Europe. I said that the UK response was woefully short of what we should be doing and told him that, clearly, the policy had failed as tens of thousands of desperate people continue to make the journey and you cannot discourage people in this way as they are fleeing for their lives from war torn countries.  I asked Mr Garnier whether he thought that the policy was a failure, he agreed with me that it was.

Germany’s initial ‘open door’ policy a failure; Mr Garnier talked about the problems in Germany following Angela Merkel’s initial offer of an open door for Syrian refugees.  About how the large numbers entering the country had caused issues and unrest with the population, and now Germany are having to rescind the offer.  I did get (a little) irate at this point, I said that at this point in time, it was the perfect opportunity for EU leaders to pull together and provide an EU wide solution.  Instead, Angela Merkel put her head above the parapet and all the other EU leaders looked at their feet and sat on their hands and did next to nothing, leaving Germany high and dry.  The EU states seem to fighting for bottom place in relation to this humanitarian crisis.  Mr Garnier neither agreed or disagreed with this point.

The EU / Turkey deal; Mr Garnier told me that he knows quite a lot about Turkey.  He talked about the human rights abuses and lethal fighting between different religious groups.  He agreed when asked that Turkey was not a safe Third Country for refugees.

The vote for the UK to accept 3000 unaccompanied minors later this month; I asked Mr Garnier if he would vote to accept these children and speak up for them in the House of Commons.  He said that he would if it was shown that there were places they could be cared for.  I instigated a discussion about the vast number of people in this country who have the willingness, capability and resources to foster these children.  So many people want to help, OK – safe guarding is paramount, but it could be done and the Government cannot hide behind bureaucracy.  I think he agreed with me on this point, but again was a little non-committal.

I told Mr Garnier that the primary  reason I felt compelled to go to Lesvos in January and now to Idomeni was because I am utterly ashamed of the UK response, if the Government were refusing to help then I would stand up and do it myself.  I said that the Prime Minister’s language when talking about this crisis did not help – he seems proud of being able keep the refugees out and refusing to agree to any quotas.

Mr Garnier asked if it was of use, going out as a sole volunteer, as it is just a drop in the ocean (not those exact words but similar).  I said that I thought it very important as well as providing some help and showing solidarity – I have the backing of generous donors to buy food / supplies when I am there.. Also I will report back the truth of what is happening on the ground – to counteract negative press coverage.  I said that I had to go as my Government had failed to act.

Mr Garnier took the address of this blog, so hopefully he will read this and speak up on behalf of humanity.. if I can I will attend his next surgery and see if any progress has been made.

If anyone is up bright and early tomorrow I am being interviewed on BBC Radio Leicester at around 8.30am … LIVE (help)

Emma

x

 

 

 

Children’s goody bags – extending a hand of friendship, love and peace from the UK .

Due to the incredible generosity of donors , I have put some money aside to provide 40 goody bags for some of the children trapped in the camps.

To donote – gofund.me/2hu2768k

Today, thankfully, the swim bags I ordered to put goodies in and well wishes card (hand written one from each donor) arrived.. This weekend my youngest son and I will spend time packing them. Each bag including contents will not cost more than £4 each and will include; bouncy balls, animal face masks, mini soap, biscuits, crayons, colouring book, lolly. .. anything else I can pick up for a reasonable price in Greece/Macedonia as my suitcase is getting full with trainers and waterproofs 🙂

As I have mentioned before the cards are so important.. They are from my family and every other individual or family who has helped with this campaign.   I will not stand with our Government or the EU regarding their inhumane policies and I will not passively let them continue without taking some practical action.  The cards are a hand of friendship, a sign of peace and love .. I thank the donors so much for helping to extend love from the UK

 

“Is this really Europe?” Out of the mouths of babes …..

https://www.gofundme.com/2hu2768k

Sunday – my world was rocked .. seeing the pictures from Idomeni and commentaries from people I know in the area – I felt sick to the stomach.  Children and innocent people in pain and suffering from tear gas and rubber bullets.  All of this in Europe.

One child said in horror, to one of the volunteers in Idomeni;  “is this really Europe?”.  

I imagined what it would be like to be that child, leaving my home, leaving my country and everything I know behind. I imagine what these children have witnessed and the fear they have experienced at such a young age.

Then I think of the parents, all the time trying to reassure their children that the perilous journey is worth the risk. That Europe is safe, they will find refuge there.  They wont hear bombs or guns or be afraid for their lives any more. Its worth it; leaving your home, leaving your country, leaving your friends, taking a dangerous journey across the sea where many have died, using all the family savings to pay smugglers….. its all worth it because, you will be safe and you will have a future.. Yet they are far from safe and their future very uncertain.

Europe has not been a safe haven and these fellow humans have not been welcomed.  On Sunday some refugees in the Idomeni camp attempted to break through the border into Macedonia.  The Macedonian Police reacted with indiscriminate and brutal force, injuring the young, old, infirm as well as the individuals who attempted to breach the border controls.

Yet Europe is quiet as a mouse .. you cannot hear condemnation of these brutal actions as our Leaders shuffle their papers around and mumble about the right to defend borders.  These actions are inhumane and should be condemned, and yet they are accepted by those in power and brushed under the carpet.

 

 

I also thought to myself “Is this really Europe?”

When I was in Lesvos in January I had the great fortune to meet a charismatic and  kind priest who had spent time and resources helping the refugees arriving on Lesvos.  Father Christophos had compassion for all humans whether Muslim, Hindu or Christian and is outspoken about the failure of the EU to provide a safe haven for those fleeing war.

Father Christophos was arrested yesterday in Norway for staging a peaceful protest with a handful of protesters outside the Norwegian Embassy.  Again I thought “Is this really Europe?”

But there are glimmers of hope.. the The EU parliament agreed today that a more centralised approach is needed to accept refugees into Europe . There is a possibility of EU quotas .. my fingers are crossed .. It is non binding at the minute .. but there is hope of a solution.

There is also hope in the many people who have compassion, who don’t want to be divided and who don’t allow themselves to swept along by the anti refugee rhetoric.  My amazing donors, a wide range of people , who have now donated £2K to the Idomeni fund (and £4K was donated to the Winter Lesvos fund in January) .. to them I am incredibly grateful – gofundme page;  https://www.gofundme.com/2hu2768k 

I had a wobble yesterday after experiencing some hateful remarks from a Troll on twitter.. hateful, ill-informed and ignorant -yet the hate dragged me down… i received virtual hugs from all over Europe and someone told me to listen to Johnny Cash – Wont Back Down, so I did ..and I recommend you do too – good night 🙂 x