LONG day!  But good- first off CTF is the NGO we are working for and they are a really fabulous organization that has well over 100 volunteer employees around the world assisting not only in their mission but also teams that are on the ground.  There is a group called “well being” and yesterday morning they checked in and wanted to know how we all were doing- I though a picture speaks louder than words:

Actually the team has been so great- eager to help and learn, everyone is open and interested in learning all they can about what this word “refugee” means.  We map out our days the evening before and we realized the 4 camps we were scheduled to visit was just to much- factoring in getting lost (like EVERYDAY) and getting to a camp and basically not wanting to leave, we decided to just go to 2 camps.  GPS coordinates were provided which someone (jill) mistakenly took the wrong ones from a text message (jill) that may or may not have been (jill) the reason for a 3 hour “little detour” (as the incident shall be called hence forth).  We got on the road at 8am.  Weather was cloudy and misty/rainy.  Perfect for driving.

We had been told the camp was on the side of a lake- great, we soon approached a lake but we guided up a mountain AWAY from the lake by our Google map.  Now this is where you may be thinking “why don’t they turn around”, well in my experience the craziest location is often where the camps are located: in an industrial park reeking of natural gas, in a field tens of miles away from the nearest town…………the road climbed, then climbed ……..

By babbling brooks- from asphalt to a graded road, still we climbed.  Until we reached where the GPS told up to stop and when we did there clearly was not going to be a camp.  Which we all were actually VERY thankful for- the thought of people on the top of this mountain being forgotten would have haunted all of us all winter.

The scenery was breathtaking, we passed a village literally carved into the mountain side.  We stopped to take pictures of the shrines that dot the country side and the beauty of the clouds below us.  Maybe not the drive we were expecting, but beautiful and memorable non the less.

We did eventually find the camp!  On the side of a lake as CTF staff had told up.  When you enter a camp I go and and greet the Greek military people, am usually ushered into the little office to give them our passports- calls are made, “no” is said many many times, still I sit, smiling, waiting.  Kind of like chess.  Finally our contact Sam drove up.  The team had been distracted by the 9 puppies playing by the entrance- we had bought dog treats a couple of days before since we were seeing so many dogs- some very skinny, non neutered and often in the most random places- in the middle of a highway, on the side of the road sleeping, in a store front…….

Sam was from Guernsey island (yes the very one from the book a few years back) he actually was there with his mother who has worked in aid work for many years most recently in Greece but also in Haiti.

What an amazing team- in less then a week the mom Sarah had taken over the distribution of aid- made a boutique (where people can come and pick out clothing), a food store, a sorting room and a holding room for donations.  Another example of ordinary people from around the globe doing extraordinary work with no pay, obnoxious hours, for sometimes months at a time and always with love and joy their work.  Truly amazing and inspiring.

The camp has been set up for families and unaccompanied minors.  There were over 500 people at the camp with 130 children under 5.  This was a “good” camp, no tents, in rooms with electricity……each family had a room usually with bunk beds for sleeping and mattresses on the ground for sitting.  While not ideal much better then the tent camps where mothers who once had state of the art ovens, stoves, televisions, dishwashers…..are now forced to live as if in Medieval times, cooking by fire, washing in tubs, fetching and heating water . The first mother we

visited had a 4 week old baby and was just recovering from a very painful tooth extraction- it had become infected soon after she gave birth-that baby was so cute!!!!

The next baby we met was just 5 weeks old but was 6 week premie, so tiny!!!!

This mother had 2 other small children 3 and 1-1/2 and she was alone in Greece while her husband was in Germany.  Cannot imagine.

There was a young man (17) who came up to ask Sarah a question about getting some clothing – she shared with us that he had cut his wrists the day before and had been taken to the hospital. With barely any medical help for the refugees psychological help in non existent.  He had an unprepared cleft pallet which she said has been very hard for him as it is hard to understand his speaking.  That compiled with being alone in a foreign land at 17- seriously, wth!  Imagine how desperate you are as a mother to send your most likely 16 year old when he left, to a foreign land to make a new life because in Syria where he came from there is no hope.

But still on the side of lake (NOT the top of a mountain) mothers nurse babies, coo at them, older siblings love on the babies and crawl into the baby boxes for fun.  Still smiles and love in the most bleak of circumstances.

On the way back to Athens we stopped at the camp by the hot spring to drop off aid for babies we had collected on Monday in Athens and to deliver the soccer balls and volleyballs that had been requested.  It was a quick st0p and we soon were back in Athens for our last 4 nights.

 

 

The team has gotten into an easy and familiar rhythm, up for breakfast chat about the day, figure out coordinates on the 3 phones that work here in Greece then head out.

Today our 1st stop was at another Yizidi camp-this one supported by an Arizona NGO. Both Aline and I volunteer at a refugee support non-profit in Phoenix and this NGO is located next door to where we volunteer!

 

We were only about a 30 min drive to the camp and used that time to try and call our contact. We could get ahold of her so I had us pull up the road from the camp entrance. Two big vans were hard to hide, and easy to find for the kids. Like pied pipers as soon as we stopped our vehicles, we could see the kids come running in our rear view mirrors. Smiles and “hello friend” rang out. Kids know that vans mean aid and that aid may mean something they could use!

It is always amazing the number of kids that speak at least basic English- many of these kids have not been in school for years but clearly someone has been teaching them.

Our contact came out and she went and asked the notoriously difficult camp manager if we could bring in baby boxes- yes. What@!!! Yes!!!

 

This NGO has a warehouse space they have rented to support the camp. She asked us if we could help transport boxes from the warehouse to the camp. All aid distribution happens differently at at every camp. Some are setting up a “boutique” style distribution where certain days certain tent numbers can come to a space were clothes are displayed as if in a boutique. Other just choose what goes to what tent, others don’t have access to aid.

The day before the whole camp of 400 had been given access to the warehouse and they picked out the items they needed from boxes: shoes, pants, shirts….these boxes were labeled and since the NGO only has 1 teeny tiny car, it would have taken them a week to transport all the boxes. We unloaded both of our vans and started packing up the boxes. Ming won the biggest helper award- she had 2 boxes at her feet and one on her lap for the drive back to the camp.

We were able to pull into the camp to unload, this is always the easy part.

 

People come from all over to help unload. We then had some time to go hand out a couple of baby boxes!!! The 1st baby we saw was 10 days old- it was sooooo tiny. She was #5 for this mother. The baby was in a handmade cradle, clearly made out of an old pallet. I asked to hold the baby-and as a true mother of 5 “yes” was the easy answer. Like a feather! We were able to get some photo’s of the baby inside of the baby box. It was so cute the older siblings would come over

 

and kiss the baby. Clearly loved and now will have some basic baby goods and a safe sleeping space.

Walked around the camp a bit- mostly tents, with gravel and mud between. As you walk down the rows of tents you smell the fires burning- sometimes warming water to bathe with, other times the smells of veggies cooking. Women bend over plastic bins washing clothes, clothes are hung from every rope available-just like home, the wash is never all done.

We loaded up and headed to a Jumbo for another run-

 

we were getting some soccer balls, volley balls and looking for a bike. To late in the season for bikes so we grabbed some scooters. The next camp I had visited in May. It is located in the middle of fields and was not very friendly to visitors last time- this time included. The protocol to get into a camp changes with the whim of the leaders in the camp. Even giving them 2 days notice was not enough, they needed 4. We asked if we could distribute the baby boxes outside of the gate and shrugged shoulders was the answer. We took that for a yes.

The afternoon light was fading and ideal for shooting so Tariq set up his backdrop and the NGO that supports the pregnant and nursing mothers gave us a list of the 5 families with babies under 3 months and the 3 pregnant mothers.

 

They all came out to grab their boxes and if they had a baby we got to ohhh and ahhh over it! We had a refugee helping us, his English was excellent- we asked him if he had had his resettlement interview yet- the 1st step in the long path to be settled. He had had it 2 weeks ago. Refugees list in order of where they would like to go- they get to choose 10 places. His 1st choice was Ireland because 1. he wanted to improve his English and 2. he wanted to go into tourism and hospitality.

We asked where he was from “Syria”, “Is you family here”, “No they are in Syria”. He was a 20 year old boy who looked much older than that who had crossed by himself to resettle. All of his family was still in Syria. Once again…….I cannot imagine.

We are heading back to Athens tomorrow after stopping in 2 camps on the 6+ hour drive back. Out to dinner then back to the rooms to get packed to move.

 

We organized the vans and left a bunch of our extra aid here for the warehouse that is housing the baby beds. They support 2 camps here in Northern Greece and we know the items will go to where they are needed most.

 

We finally got to see the baby boxes-one of the main purposes of our trip!  They are located in a warehouse about 5 min outside of Alexandreia and supported by an amazing NGO- once again my hope for a future was shown in the volunteers who have left their lives and love ones to travel head first into this humanitarian crisis and work.

Roll up your sleeves kind of work, sorting clothes and donations is the furthest thing from being fun and exciting.  But like us, they are driven by the faces of this refugee crisis they see everyday- knowing that sweater they are folding will keep a mother warm, the pants a toddler dry, those 4″ stiletto heels………….ok, not so much!  Remember the group you are donating to when you throw that item into your donation bag!

The baby boxes were on 2 pallets, the baby boxes needing to be origami-ed  together, all of the other items added:  onesies, washcloths, bib, hat, mittens, mattress, wash cloth……we TOTALLY rocked it- in an hour we had the 20 boxes we needed for the morning, swept up our work area and we on the road to our first camp!

Once again the camp we visited was after we had twisted and turned down urban roads, in an industrial area to an old warehouse with tents set up inside.  Nuture Project (NP) works in the 2 camps we are going to today.  They work with pregnant and nursing mothers- we had a bit of a problem getting into the camp.  OK, the military guards did not want us there.  But with many smiles and shrugged shoulders he let us bring the boxes to NP’s iso box and then NP volunteers went into the building to have the mothers come out.

Joy of joys, babies.  Like really cute babies.  The kind I had to tell one of our team that “no, he will not fit into your carry-on”.  It is so true that the magic of a baby is felt by so many.  Older children would ask to see and kiss the babies, women want to ohh and ahhh.  Such hope.

Our next stop was to a Jumbo to load up on diapers and wipes to add to the boxes- so very thankful for the maps on our phones that led us 15 min away straight to a Jumbo!  Once loaded we headed out to the 2nd camp of the day.  NP works in this camp also and said it would be MUCH easier to get in.  Apparently George the VERY proper police man did not get this memo this morning!  He was NOT a happy camper.  Knowing how to play this game, lots of smiles.  He let us set up across the street from the camp entrance- we had no more than 4 camp NGO’s come to see us to see what we were doing.  A person with NP had just thought the other day how great baby boxes would be for the camp- she was so surprised to see us show up days later with just what she was thinking!!!

We returned to the warehouse to pack up more boxes for the next day- again we totally banged them out in record time!!!

Thank you for all your love and support- we are feeling it over here in Northern Greece!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not much sleep last night- but with a cup of coffee was ready to hit the road!  We indeed had a lovely room across from the crashing sea- we had a great breakfast and headed off in our loaded vans to the 1st of 3 stops today.  We had some phone business to attend to, the CTF phone we were given to use was not letting us open it and my extra phone with a Greek SIM card had me locked out.  We found the 2 different carriers for the phones within steps of each other and were all set to hit the road.  First a stop at a couple of bakeries to grab snacks for the road.

The winding road up to Petra, a camp of Yiziti on the site of what once was a psychiatric hospital.  The drive was breath taking with a zig zagging route up a mountain.  This would be my 3rd time visiting this camp- in March the population was 450, today 1450.  The growth was staggering.  Where once were neat rows of UNHCR tents was now an additional miss match of tents set up on every flat surface.  Our goal was to check on the baby boxes that had already been delivered to the camp to see how they were being used, what was working and what was not.

First thing was to unload our loaded down vans with the aid we had packed the day before in Athens.  Our contact Emma was gracious and kind- she works for an NGO that supports the camp- she quickly found a resident who led us to a number of camps where babies resided.  As it has rained the night before we traipsed over muddy paths, slipped down hand cut out stairs between different levels of the camps and jumped over running open lines of water.  Always with a child’s hand in ours.

At one point I swore I saw a hoof print in the mud, but thought I must be seeing things- only to find out later that wild boars come into the camp at night.  Imagine meeting one of them on the way to the port-a-potty half way across camp in the dead of the night.  We visited about a half dozen tents- dinner was being cooked over open fires made in discarded oil cans.  The air rang with sounds of “my friend” being called to you from the children, from many directions- always said with a huge smile and usually with a request to follow them to see something they wanted us to see.  To meet their mothers, to oooh and aaah over smaller siblings.  Smiles, so many smiles.  The living conditions are so much less than human it is hard to describe.  Epically horrible, soul tearing.

The tents we saw were neat and orderly, with blankets stacked against the walls of the tent, used at night to ward off the soon to be killing cold.  Supposedly this camp will be moved down off the mountain as the roads will be impassable with the coming snows.  It was supposed to happen 6 months ago……..nothing yet.

We are so fortunate to have 2 professional photographers with us- Rachel is from CO and specializes in children’s photography.  Tariq Tarey is originally from Somalia, he himself a refugee as a child.  He takes portraits of refugees……huge haunting images.  Tariq set up a make shift photo studio- is white sheet backdrop taped to the side of a school building.  His subjects were mostly men and boys- they would pose, mostly not smiling.  Eyes burning into the camera.  At one point he asked for some women models.  I saw a pregnant woman walking, about 7 months, walking with blankets balanced on her shoulder and carrying 3 bags of winter clothes in her other hand.  I motioned for her to follow me,  “no, no” was her answer.  With a smile.  “Pleassssseeeee” I said………..I took her blankets and bags.  She was wearing a head scarf.  Tariq is able to speak Arabic.  Discussions were happening…………we could not follow the words, but the actions spoke much much louder than any words.  With encouragement from the surrounding men we saw her defiantly fling her head scarf into the group of men.  Her stare into the camera was breathtaking- you could feel her energy burning into the camera.  Tonight I learned that she had been a sex slave- a common occurrence among Yiziti women in their war torn home lands.  The child she carried was not conceived in love.

As we were driving away from the camp one of the men came to speak to our car- Tariq translated- the message was loud and clear.  “Please tell the world that we are here- that we need help, do not forget us.”  Soul crushing words when we know that less than 1% of the worlds refugees will ever make it to America.  The children want a hand to hold, they have requested marbles, socks and warm clothing.  In that order……..their requests delivered with a “my friend”, a huge smile, trusting eyes looking up at you.  These are the faces and voices of the refugees.

We left the camp, all of us changed.  Our next stop was a much smaller camp that in March was full with 450 refugees in tents spread out over a summer camp facility.  Today just 45 refugees call this home- Kurds.  All have moved into the camp main building- out of the cold in anticipation of a soon to be winter.

Our final stop was with a new NGO comprising of 5 very ambitious and lovely Brits the have worked with refugees in France and now in Greece.  Their warehouse lacked electricity or heat, but their commitment to the refugees and this crisis were fantastic to see.  It gave us all hope that perhaps not all is lost- I look forward to watching them grow and expand- their mission is one of pure love and light.  Both of which are much needed in these camps.

We arrived at our hotel for the next 3 nights after getting lost only a few times-  we found a restaurant near by that was owned by a Greek man who also lived in Casa Grande for 15 years.  Such a small world.  Tomorrow we will go to the warehouse where the baby boxes have been delivered and start getting those put together for distribution that will take place the rest of our trip.  Hope in the new lives that will fill these beds.

 

 

It always is amazing to me – to leave loved ones, climb willingly into basically a tin can and hurl across the planet to another land.  Uneventfully arrived in Athens – 18 hours after having been dropped off at airport.  

Rita (CTF carrythefuture.org Greece Coodinator) happened to be at the airport meeting her brother and his wife who were arriving on my flight!  Also at the airport was 1 of my 4 team mates for the week- Rachel from CO!  Rachel and I got into our rental van and drove to the hotel to meet the rest of our team.  

We are Team 19 for CTF- our main task is to distribute baby boxes and supplies to newborns and their mothers-
Team 19!  Dinner was with Rita and her brother and his wife- the team had been taking on Facebook for the past few weeks so it was nice to finally be able to meet face to face!

Aline and me got up earlier then the rest of the group so we headed over to a local Jumbo for what would be 2 trips today.  We loaded up 2 carts with items for a new baby due in a camp Rita works in and the Warehouse in Athens was out of baby wipes!  

We had our 2nd rental van delivered and headed out to the warehouse to load up for our 5 hour drive to Northern Greece- The vans were PACKED with warm weather clothing to take to 2 of the camps up North The drive was nice- sky was overcast with intermittent rain- we stopped at a camp about 1/2, one that Zach, Rita and I had visited in May- the camp is located in such a beautiful setting- the boys came running up as soon as we arrived, we were looking for a count of the number of baby boxes we could return with- we also promised the boys “foot balls” and one of them asked in almost perfect English- “maybe a volleyball for the men to play with?”  Children, kids…. living far from their homes in a foreign land.  But so very quick to smile, to joke around.  It is impossible to imagine what they have seen in their short lives- and yet they never stopped smiling .We made our 2nd stop of the day at a Jumbo to load up with soccer balls,soap and shampoo a camp had asked for- our hotel is at tje sea side, we can hear the crashing waves below our hotel room.  So thankful to have this time to spend these days here in Greece.

It has been 5 months since Zach and I returned from our trip to Greece- in those months the plight of the refugees has never been far from my mind.  In June I took the position with Carry the Future (CTF) as their Baby Box Coordinator.  In April while in Greece with CTF’s (AMAZING) Team 8 the plight of the babies was in the front of our minds- it was during a brain storming session that someone thought of the Finnish style baby boxes- after WWI Finland had one of the worlds highest infant mortality rate- great minds got together and figured out that the babies needed a safe space to sleep.

Thus the Baby Box was born- fast forward to today.  Every expecting mother in Finland at about 30 weeks into her pregnancy receives a box from the Finnish government filled with everything you would need for a new baby, mattress, onesies, bibs, hats, clothes, diapers, necessities, tights, blankets……….everyone gets and uses their boxes.  From the queen of Finland to the Roma in their caravans.   Today Finland boasts the lowest infant mortality rate in the world!

CTF seeing the great need as a consequence of babies being born to refugees in tents in camps in Greece, started concentrating their efforts on these

newest little refugees.   To date CTF has delivered 55 boxes to new mothers in camps and I will be leading a team to Greece in a few days and we will be delivering more baby boxes as 200 baby boxes are in Greece waiting to be distributed.

Our team includes 2 amazing photographers who will be getting as many images as possible to help in fundraising efforts.  In June- 10 days before World Refugee Day, CTF was able to raise $20,000USD which has been used to purchase these 250 boxes.  On the ground in Greece our team will be using fundraised money to purchase items to put into the baby boxes to help the Greek economy.  Items like:  diapers/wipes, receiving blankets, pads for mom…….the out pouring from supporters has been amazing.  We have had a pajama manufacture donate, a woman has sent 200 teddy bears to go into the waiting boxes, a collection of winter baby buntings happened in the UK which will keep these new babies as warm as possible!  I’ve been  busy knitting baby socks to add to the boxes.  It truly has been a global effort.

If you are interested in donating money for me to purchase items in Greece it would be appreciated.  I am thankful for my village who will be helping Rob out when I am gone- my parents who are always my biggest cheerleaders and friends who listen to me go on and on about the refugees and their plight.  Especially in these times of fear of refugees and of immigration, let us all remember that it is our ancestors who also were immigrants, maybe even refugees.  It is because our forefathers left their homes and family in search of a better life that we all are here today.

In solidarity-

 

Decided to move to the airport hotel tonight as our flight left at 6:00am.  We had breakfast, got packed up and headed to the van.  Organized what aid we had left and headed to the port to work once again with The School Box Project: https://www.facebook.com/theschoolboxproject/

The kids were REALLY busy.  With the rain over the weekend – I am sure having to be stuck in their tents made for very active kids.  Lots of fights- Zach went and played soccer with the boys and I got out the coloring books and pens.  New faces today- but many of the same old faces.  As the little ones would drop into my lap while I sat on the ground coloring and sharpening pencils, everyone of them had damp clothes.  Thankfully the sun was shining and I am sure the mothers and sisters were busy washing clothes after the rainy weekend.

We got to see one of the HUGE ferries leaving the port area- amazing!  We still had the  stroller we’d brought from the US so after the School box closed for lunch we went over to the Stone ware house to find the baby caravan. It is run by Amurtel Greece, they have a camper parked on the side of the Stone warehouse where mothers can come and visit the midwife, get supplemental food, vitamins and bath their babies. The woman working was very thankful for the stroller and when asked what else she needed she said the CONDOMS! She has over 1,000 being delivered later this week and the mothers were in desperate need. She was leaving a bit early to bring 2 young mothers with possible yeast infections to a Greek Dr that does pro bono work with them.

We next headed out to the Warehouse to get another load to bring to the Stone warehouse at the port and try and get some food and items needed for the baby caravan.  It was not to be- Katarina was not in, and when I spoke to her by phone she said that all requests must come directly to her by email- such a frustrating bottle neck.

Later in the day Shawn who is an American helping out with the food project and warehouse duties at the Stone House warehouse at the port called me asking where the items he requested were. I told him what was happening and gave him Katrinias’s contact info. Many of the volunteers do not rent a car, instead they rely on public transportation (which was on strike over the weekend)- remember they are 20 somethings on break from studies or lives taking time to volunteer.

I also received a call from the people making food in the Stone warehouse I wrote about earlier in the week- on our layover in Paris one of the project founders called me on my Greek phone because they had heard about me having access to food- their donations were running up and they were in need of food.  I too gave them the low down on how requests must be made and told them that there was lots of food in the main Warehouse.  Here I am a mom, from Phoenix, Arizona getting calls- this totally encapsulates the issues everyone faces- no real person in charge, volunteers foreign and Greek isolated on the ground working 7 days a week doing amazing work under very difficult situations.

Since we still had the van we were asked if we could bring a load over to Skaramangas the camp that has houses the refugees in the Ikea pods.  We loaded up and headed over to deliver- since their main big warehouse is not done being secured they are using a small pod to store necessities.  A Norwegian NGO was working on getting it secured and were to start this week and finish within 2 weeks.

We then headed to the airport to turn in the van and check into the hotel.  Our flight out of Athens was delayed, which would have made us miss our connection in Amsterdam.  Headed to the airport at 5AM and KLM let me go on an Air France plane connecting thru Paris.  We did miss our connection in LAX to Phoenix,  but I was able to purchase super cheap tickets to Phoenix from LAX.  We landed at 5PM Phoenix time, had enough time to go home take a show and head to Mae’s school for their “Memory night” that started at 6:00pm.

All in all we visited 13 camps/squats, drove 1,250 miles and I would say it was a great trip- I imagine heading back in Sept or Oct when the kids are back in school.  It was such a gift to spend the time with Zach- on the cusp of adulthood, and see what a great person he is.

I will keep up with our amazing Team 8 from Carry the Future and will continue to get updates on the ground from people in Greece.  Thank you for taking time out of your day to read a little bit on what is happening  in Greece- this crisis needs to be spoken about and the refugees advocated for.  This situation is not going to resolve for many years.

 

825 miles, 1 night in a 1 star hotel, 8 camps, 2 refused entries into camps (could not even get into the town of Idomeni and after driving around Nea Kavala we were kicked out-no problem, we handed our aid just outside of the gates to a local NGO supporting the camp) and a thermal pool visit.

We were up about 8am- the band played only until about 1AM.  The hotel was packed with a bus tour group and a team of kids in a taekwondo tournament.  We still had about 1/2 of the van filled with aid to hand out.  We headed straight North toward the Macedonia

border which is the site of a camp called Idomeni.  As the crisis unfolded and the borders were closed people got stuck at the border and in squats near to the border.  After about 40 minutes of driving in beautiful country side we came upon the Eko gas station squat- tents set up around a high way gas station- 1100 people.  The rains from the day before made for a very wet and muddy camp.  We found the kitchen and asked if there was a warehouse.  The tent that was making supplemental food had maybe 8 people chopping veggies – maybe 1/2 were foreigners- the rest refugees.  Everyone looked tired.  “No warehouse” was the answer.

The refugees came up to us “shoes?”.  They then would point to their wet clothes and down to their shoes.  We quickly started distributing shoes- about 100 people were standing in line- we maybe had 100 pair.  We gave out all of our shoes- but many people were turned away.  It is heart breaking to be shown a barefooted toddler’s foot – only to not have that size shoe.  Rita plans to return next week and will have mostly shoes to distribute.

We slowly drove thru the camp on our way back to the highway- this was by far the worse camp we have seen- everyone is waiting for the border to open.

Next we started toward Idomini and on the town outskirts in the middle of a bridge was a police stop.  We provided our papers (passports and id’s) only to be told we could not enter.  Rita will work on getting registered with one of the groups allowed into the camp before she returns next week.  There are about 10,000 people living literally on the border blocking the rail line that links Greece with the rest of Europe.

We turned around and headed to another camp near by.  We passed another gas station

with refugees camping- such a mess.  New Kavala (a camp built for 2500 but housing 3979 people) is a camp controlled by the Army- we initially were let in to drop aid in the warehouse but were quickly told to leave.  It looked like wood have just been delivered- everyone was going to 2 dropped piles of cut wood and bringing, dragging back to the tents.  Everyone had a fire going in front of their tents- to boil water for tea and for warmth.

As we were leaving the camp we ran into a refugee that works with a NGO that has a warehouse near by and they support the camp.  He gladly took our aid- the most

successful camps/squats are those that are self governed.

Next we headed to Cherso- a camp housing about 1000 people.  White tents lined into the horizon on an old Army base.  Seeing my red vest the Army person at the gate waved us toward the Red Cross tent.  We quickly were assigned an interpreter and he helped get the warehouse opened by the Army.  As Rita and I were dealing with getting the aid unloaded Zach went off and started a soccer game with some kids that had been playing with a flat/broken ball.  He used our last soccer ball (until our next visit to Jumbo).

 

The young kids helped us to unload the van- they wanted so badly to help.  Sometimes a really small child would grab a really big box, we all would laugh at how silly it was.   We unloaded the rest of our aid.

A flock of cranes were flying overhead- circling the area.  This camp, like many was

literally in the middle of nothing.  Perhaps there was a water near they were looking to land at.

Our next and last stop was to be at a camp located in the city of Thermopyles- about 3 hours South of where we were and about 2 hours from Athens.  We easily found the camp in what looked like an old abandoned hotel.  Next to the camp is a sulphur thermal bath that anyone could go and use- the smell of sulphur was strong and a sign warned not to be in the water longer than 15 min.  A car load of Romanians braved the cold and were soon swimming in the river.  We headed up to the camp.

Distribution was happening by a group of people (mostly from England) who looked to be Anarchists.  A pregnant woman came up to us and I asked how many pregnant women were at this camp.  She grabbed my hand, led me into the building, up the stairs to a room where she knocked and a very pregnant woman answered the door.  On the way up the stairs we passed a mom holding a new baby- 1 month old.  Found out that there are 7

 

women pregnant in the camp, no Dr has visited for pre-natal.  They are transported to the hospital once they go into labor.  I told them, now 3 pregnant women had arrived, that I would try and send the midwife up to them.  Chloe who we had dinner with earlier in the week visits camps with a midwife.

We headed back to Athens, dropped Rita off at her house and headed back to the hotel.  Got back about 8pm and quickly headed out to dinner.

Had such a great road trip- Rita has a long list of camps and needs for the north part of Greece- a good start for adding onto her lists.

Zach slept most of the 5 hours back to Greece- he woke up and waded in the thermal waters.  He is doing really well- and has been such a great help.  He does get nervous when people crowd around- but we just tell him not worry.

Don’t think he will make this a regular part of his life, but his eyes have been opened to this crisis.

 

 

 

Woke at 4:30am, before my 4:45am alarm.  WAY to early, but we wanted to get on the road as soon as possible.  We were picking Rita up at 5:30 to head up to the Northern area of Greece near the Macedonia boarder to visit camps.  It was to deliver the aid we had loaded earlier and to scope out the situation for Rita’s work with  Carry the Future and her nonprofit Allied-Aid which will be distributing sun screen in the very near future.

The Greek highway system is toll based, which means they are lovely.  We stopped after about 3 hours on the road at a restaurant to grab some coffee.  Rita had bought some goodies for the road trip at a bakery near her house as we were leaving Athens.  Greeks celebrate “name days” more than they celebrate birthdays- today was a very popular name day so bakeries would be busy all day.

It literally rained all day, our 1st stop was a return trip to Petra- this is the Yazidi camps we had visited last month.  We quickly unloaded the aid, spoke with a few people and headed out.  The road to Petra is a zig zag road up a mountainous road.  We came upon a shepherd, his 2 working dogs and about 50 goats.  It was like a post card.  We patiently waited for them to pass- and since we went the wrong way on the very narrow mountain road, got to pass them again when we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

Rita had done some amazing work on collecting data for all the camps located in the Northern part of Greece.  Our goal was to visit as many of them as we can in 2 days.  The 2nd camp we visited was literally underwater.  It was a

newer camp-2 weeks old with a couple of different NGO’s supporting the camp.  There was a big problem in that 1/2 of the tents were under about a foot of water so the volunteers were scrambling to get dry clothes from their warehouse which was surrounded by water, up to a central distribution point.  All the while there were heated conversations going on with the refugees- I assume over the fact that so much had gotten ruined in the rain.  As we unloaded our aid into the warehouse I have no idea why we are still not stuck there as the van got stuck in the mud-like really bad stuck!  Back and forth I went until the van finally made it up to a dry patch of land-

As the squats are being emptied, these camps are springing up all over Greece- there are currently over 60 camps with more planned.   We next went to a camp that was entirely set up inside of what looked like an old factory.  About 1,00o people with more arriving daily.  The tent ropes were hammered into the cement.  This camp was also new, and given the fact it was out of

the rain we spent a couple hours here.  The new camp director from a Norwegian NGO who was American was there helping to settle literally newly arrived refugees just getting off buses from Idomeni.  Her parents were visiting and you could tell they were driving her crazy.  When the parents heard we had shoes in our van they had Zach try and find some shoes for a couple of the kids that either didn’t have any shoes or had inappropriate shoes on – a cute 7 year old boy with girl shoes on.

We also passed out about a dozen baby carriers.  Even with this being a new camp it was already bustling- a “store” was set up outside one of the tents, people were walking between the rows of tents selling items and as the call to prayer went out, we saw the prayer tent.  About a 20 pairs of shoes outside the tent and people facing Mecca and praying.  We got to hold and love on some babies, our hands were always full of little hands dragging us from tent to tent to show us the tents with babies in them.

We stopped at another camp near to this one and we were told that they had a warehouse full of items- well this is what the Army officer told us at the gate he was guarding.  So no aid delivered here.  But part of the bigger picture is less than 5 miles away a camp with nothing and then this one with to much.  That will be the biggest hurdle moving forward is aid distribution- apparently there are some warehouses in these parts but as always getting aid to camps is a big issue.   Most of the aid has been focused up here on helping the 10,000+ in Idomeni, but they are trying to close Idomeni and the other squats down and getting people into these more “permanent” camps.

There is what sounds like a 15 piece Turkish band playing in the hotel room across from  ours- no, like for real.  And for real…….REALLY loud.  Somehow I only packed 1 of my ear plugs so should be interesting to see if we get any sleep.