Two weeks have passed since my last update. I’m finally feeling fully recovered from the Covid and busy as ever. I continue to teach English and with my style of teaching (a lot of exaggerated drama and bringing in fruits, vegetables, and many items we learn), have become a favorite of the women. My class size has grown from 8 to 42 at last count.
Above, one day in class we discussed a bigger topic: ‘Things That Can Never Be Taken Away From You”. It was a very interesting class and the women acknowledged that family, their hijab, their thoughts, their culture, flowers and even the sound of birds singing would always be theirs to hold regardless of their situation. It was a beautiful afternoon, and all the women (reflecting at least 9 different countries came up after to hug me and each other).
At the women’s center in Lesvos, I met a woman from Gaza (there are many many refugees from Palestine, and Gaza in particular). She told me her story of having her ancestral property (passed down over generations) bulldozed by Israeli settlers. Her family lost everything they had ever owned. Together with her husband and brother, they walked through Palestine, escaping through the desert, and then through Egypt and Libya, where they were able to catch a plane to Turkey. From Turkey, they tried 3 times to come across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece, only to be beaten and towed back into Turkish waters. And…she was 8 months pregnant during all of this. She now has a one month old baby. Heartbreaking… Halima is in the picture below in the red hijab.
Daily there are more refugees trying to escape violence, conflict and persecution…seeking safety and hopes of a better life for themselves and their children. They find a way to Turkey, work and save money to pay a smuggler and then brave the waters of the Mediterranean in overcrowded and unsafe boats that lead them to Greece. Many seeking refuge, never find it…losing their lives trying to reach a safer land. And sadly, the Greeks who deny turning back refugees seeking asylum have been videotaped doing just that. See this NY Times story:
Below are more pictures from refugees here in Lesvos where the streets are filled with their new faces in awe and appreciation of their new life in Greece, despite how bad it is and the hopes for a better future. I have picked many of them up in my tiny rental car…we all squeeze in and they are so happy to get a lift from a foreigner. They have to pay 1 euro each way for the bus, and so I have been purchasing hundreds of euros of bus tickets to give away to those I meet. They are a much appreciated gift..
Below is Salina from Somalia. She has six children. She and her children and husband were turned away 4 times on the sea, but finally arrived and she gave birth to her baby 3 days ago, severely underweight. They loved the green scarves that I gave them… And, the other picture shows some Somali women laughing in the street. There are many Somali women here because they are killed and raped by Al Shabaab in their country.
And finally Fatimata…the woman from Mali who arrived alone last month, after losing her best friend at sea (drowned in front of her on their trip over). I ran into her one morning in the little city center of Mytilene and she was crying as her phone had broken. I went to the shop of a Greek woman, Evi, who has fixed mobile phones for refugees for me over the years. She tried to fix the phone but it was hopeless as the mother board was broken. Fatimata cried as she lost everything…all her contacts, all her photos of immigration papers. I drove her back to the camp and then went back and purchased a new phone for her and with the help of Evi we were able to transfer the contents of her phone. When I eventually got back to the camp and called Fatimata to come outside (volunteers are no longer allowed inside), she came out. She now cried and cried as she was overcome with shock over being treated so well by a stranger. Her photo is below..
A tiny gesture from me, but a huge gift to her in the desperate life she faces…
Lexine