So much has gone on since two weeks ago when I last wrote. I have been every day in the camp from morning until night and then often on the weekends, I have been making trips to the refugee camps outside of Athens where many refugees are being moved. I teach English, help with a women’s group in the afternoon in the camp and when needed, run the little clothing room which consists of clothes that have been donated mostly from other EU countries. Other things that I have been doing on my own time: providing support for two Syrian fathers whose wives were killed back home and who are…
First Week back in Eleonas Camp: April 24, 2022
Hello Friends, I arrived Athens four days ago and have been busy every day in the camps and on the streets. There are many families and children on the street…many more than there were six months ago when I was here. I have heard from other volunteers that Afghan, Syrian, Iraqi, etc. families are being told they have to leave their small apartments (which were provided by the Greek UNHCR and Ministry Dept) to make room for Ukrainians who are now arriving. So sad. Is one human suffering more needy than another? Inside Eleonas Camp, there are about half as many residents (now about 2200), and no one knows what…
Sept 30, 2021 First Update Refugee Camp
It has now been a few weeks since I have been working in the refugee camp in Greece. I am in Eleonas Camp, which is on the outskirts of Athens. There had been two other camps (Skaramanga and another) but they have since closed down. Moria Camp is still in existence but they are letting in few NGO’s and pushing back refugees that are trying to make it over the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey. Eleonas Camp was built to hold 700 people, but now houses around 2,000- 3,000 refugees. It opened in August 2015 and was the first official temporary camp for asylum seekers in Greece, located right next…
Ready to fly out tomorrow to Athens.
I am ready with three bags packed with medical supplies, kites for kids, small stuffed animals for infants/toddlers at the medical clinic, and many other miscellaneous items. Thank all of you for your generous support. I will keep you abreast of my journey. Lexine
Moria Refugee Camp Pics
Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos, is 4 miles from Turkey and is a gateway between the Middle East and Europe. Migrants running from war, persecution, torture, as well as the consequences of climate change, pass as they travel from east to west, hoping for a better life in Europe. Built to house about 3,000 people, it is now home to more than 13,000 (including an estimated 1,000 unaccompanied minors)—more than it has ever held. The refugees wait, sometimes for more than a year, for the slow wheels of Greek bureaucracy to turn, to review their asylum applications, to send them to the mainland for a decision. What is Moria? It…
Attacked by Fascists
Lesvos has been flooded with fascist groups that have been blocking all of the roads, beating up refugees, NGO volunteers and journalists. Yesterday after our medical clinic worked our 9 hour shift, we were told by our director that we could not safely drive back to the village where we stay as there were gangs of fascists blocking all of the main roads. In a caravan of 8 cars, we headed down dirt roads behind the refugee camp, trying to find alternative roads and paths back to the town of Mytilene. As soon as we got back on the main road, a group of about 50 heavily armed men with masks (with metal…
Medical Needs in a Refugee Camp
February 2020. I had spent months gathering donations to purchase medical supplies (over the counter medications such as aspirin, Tylenol, Motrin, bandaids, splints, diabetic test strips, anti-fungal medications, etc.) as well as mobile phones, iPads, and hundreds of small stuffed animals to give the young children receiving medical care in the clinic. I flew with 4 extra large-sized luggage bags filled with as much as I could carry. Kitrinos Clinic is the only medical clinic inside the refugee camp, housing 13,000 refugees. Five doctors, several nurses and EMT’s and myself as the social worker. We worked six days per week, 8:30 am – 5 pm. It is hard to describe…
Helping migrants in Tijuana
Spent ten days volunteering between a legal clinic (Al Otro Lado) and a medical clinic (Refugee Health Alliance). So many refugees fleeing violence and persecution from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador (also many Haitian and Cameroonian refugees).
Tijuana volunteer work
Heading to volunteer at our border, Tijuana, with asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors. Will be at two different clinics with an MD and volunteer I met in Lesvos. We are both excited about helping more refugees stuck closer to home. The world is a very challenged place these days…maybe it always has been.
Voices in the street
Sharing street talk found all over Lesvos Island.
Home For All
Yesterday I began volunteering for Nikos and Katerina’s Home For All NGO. They are a beautiful couple who have been feeding, clothing abd providing a respite for refugees since the crisis began here on Lesvos in 2015. Yesterday, although a day off at Home For All, we unloaded a huge truckful of donated new sleeping bags. We enjoyed a lunch together by the sea, then made dinner meals which we delivered to the volunteer nurses and doctors volunteering inside Moria refugee camp. Today will be a much fuller day. Here is a video showing Nikos & Katerina: https://youtu.be/6zwckpUHUfE
Phone Donations
I wanted to thank you for all of your electronics donations. Today I gave one of the phones to a refugee and he literally started crying and got down on his knees in appreciation. He also asked to say thank you in a video (attached). A phone or laptop is a lifeline to refugees. Also this young girl (age 17 from Afghanistan and without family here) was crying on the road. I picked her up, took her for tea to talk (I thought she may have been raped or attacked inside the refugee camp…very common occurrence here), but she had had her phone stolen (a phone here is a lifeline…