Katherine, pointing, carrying a child as she leads them from the shore to the camp.
My Australian friend Katherine posted on her Facebook page...
'Yassas' from Lesvos, Greece
Katherine, an actor and voice actor, her husband Ian, a director, and their two children, Amira (17) and Noah (15), decided to spend their Christmas vacation on the ground in Lesvos to help the Syrian Refugee crisis. She arranged a fundraiser on GOFUNDME and raised AU$8000. They paid for their own airfares and accommodation. I interviewed Katherine, here are her experiences...
Q: What prompted this?
A: Back in September 2015 when the refugee crisis really hit the news I was incredibly frustrated that the world leaders couldn't come together to try and ease the problem. I also couldn't understand and greatly disagreed with Australia's treatment of refugees in particularly off-shore detention centres and the 'turn back the boats' policy. I volunteer at the Asylum Seekers Centre in Sydney where I meet some pretty incredible people. Many have come to Australia by boat and I shudder to think what they have gone through.
Ian and I felt like we could do more than donate money, like we had to 'go help'. So we did.
Q: What is it like there?
A: To give you an idea, it was extremely cold last weekend, down to -4C/24F overnight. We heard that a couple of nights earlier at the the Moria Refugee Camp, a 7-month-old Syrian baby lying next to its sleeping parents kicked off its blanket. The parents woke to find their precious little one dead.
The news spread so fast through the NGO network, and The Starfish Foundation sent us to help at their Donkey House Clothing Warehouse ... it's next to a donkey farm, hence the name. Our job was to sort through second hand baby clothes donated from around the World, searching for baby sleeping bags to send to Moria. It doesn't get anymore real than that!
Q: Tell me about your day?
A: Today it was very chaotic at the harbor to start with. It was 9 am. Several rescue boats carrying refugees were coming in. There had been a capsize and other boats were sinking or in difficulty and needed assistance coming to shore. I heard some cheers and clapping from the refugees as they docked.
Children were wet, shivering and crying. They were so scared. Some had hypothermia and were being attended to by the ambulance. I was changing the nappy of a 3-year-old when I noticed he became even more lethargic and I called to the ambulance technician who said he should be checked over once more. One child had what I think was her name and family contact details written in Arabic strapped with masking tape around and around her arm over a sweater, I guess as her identification in case something happened? Little toes were white with cold and 'pruned' like having been in the bath too long. I don't know how long some of these people were in the water.
Then, I had to get 41 non-English speaking people to form a line and move away as another boatload was coming in. I found one young man who could speak a little English who remained as my translator for the next 5 hours. He was from Damascus, Syria and I think he was saying he wants to go to Switzerland. He asked if we could be Facebook friends.
I was in charge of my group for hours, continually promised that the buses were coming ... and then we would wait some more. Families were calling loved ones, retelling the story of their harrowing trip across the water from Turkey. Their faces were still showing the terror.
The sun was bright but the adults were damp and cold having not yet received clothing. They would change their clothes at the camp. While we were waiting for the bus, I had some sandwiches to pass around. The kids played by the water, some caught tiny fish in their water bottles. I particularly connected with a mother wearing a black chador and hijab. She had four children. While one was sleeping, she went down to the water's edge, washed her feet, retied her head scarf, and found a 'quiet spot' to pray. Two of her little girls (who earlier I had helped change) came and clung to my hands and rested their heads on my leg. 
Getting on the bus, they were all thanking me, one very well dressed light skinned young Syrian man and his Albanian wife asked if I could come with them to the camp. I think by then they identified me as someone who would look after them. As the bus drove off many were waving and blowing kisses to me. It was an incredible day.
Q: You started a GOFUNDME page for this?
A: Yes, and so far we've raised over AUD 8000 and it's still going. It's for emergency supplies for refugees. Many of the donors are strangers and are incredibly generous and supportive of what we're doing. It gives me great courage know I'm representing all these people here.
When we arrived, Ian and I met with Melinda McRostie, founder of The Starfish Foundation, and learnt that their greatest needs at the moment are good waterproof walking shoes for men and women, socks for adults, and bunk-bed vinyl covered mattresses for the Moria Camp. Starfish is expanding its good work into Moira to improve conditions. A volunteer told me, when she ran out of men's shoes, all she could do was offer socks and plastic bags to tie around wet and cold feet. I've also seen a man wearing Crocs and a foil emergency blanket for socks. Will he really walk through the European snow in Crocs and foil?!
Melinda told me that they often run out of adult socks, and that the mattresses in the Moria dorms are so disgustingly unhygienic she wouldn't let her dog sleep on them. Providing new wipe-down mattresses will reduce the risk of disease and give refugees a better chance at rest before continuing their journey.
Ian and I researched local Lesvos vendors for shoes and socks and found two suppliers sympathetic to the refugee crisis and offering 20 percent or more discounts. We've intentionally sourced shoes made in Greece to help the country's economy. A major sponsor has just donated new mattresses.
Q: How have your children reacted to this?
A: We worked at a childcare tent / playground at the Moira Refugee Camp. Firstly, when you arrive at the camp it's awfully confronting. People everywhere. The camp is housed inside old army barracks -- tall wire fencing topped with large rolls of barbed wire -- hardly inviting. It can cater for 800 people (with shelter) but last week they had a population of 6000, so the surplus sprawls out across the adjoining olive farm. There's not a blade of grass to be seen, having been trampled by thousands and thousands of feet. When it rains or snows, everything turns to mud. The so called 'lucky' ones outside the fencing have simple tents to sleep in, the very unlucky ones have been out in the open. On the day we took the kids, there had been a storm overnight. The strong wind had blown down many tents. Mud everywhere.
One of the NGOs has erected a children's play tent. It was heated and filled with kids having fun drawing. My two teenagers loved it! Noah (15) made a strong connection with a stout little 3-year-old Syrian boy wearing hand-knitted trousers. His name was Yousef, Yousef told an hilarious story to Noah all in Arabic, blissfully unaware that Noah had no idea what he was talking about. Noah said he laughed at what he thought were the appropriate places. Amira had little girls crawling all over her. They drew pictures for Amira (17) and wrote her name in Arabic. Both kids used Google Translator to try to talk to other children. 
Amira 17, with phone, and Noah 15, blue parka, communicate with the children via Google Translator
That night Noah commented that he had started to have second thoughts about going to the refugee camp, but is so glad that he did. He loved playing with the kids, especially Yousef. Amira later got a little emotional when she was talking to me about the day. She said "Mum, I don't know why people in Australia are afraid of Muslim refugees. The media makes them out like they're something you should be afraid of. They're just like us." Since this day both Noah and Amira have wondered how the children they met are getting on. Have they got to Athens and beyond? Are they warm? (Especially when the cold wind blows at night).
Q: How much longer are you there?
A: Ian and the children have gone home, but I'm here until the end of January.
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