Diary from Lesbos. Our first 24 hours in the island
Alarm clock at 7 am and we go to warehouses.
We meet Greece, Ireland, Spain, Czech, and USA in the looks of the volunteers running towards us, happy to receive our help. There is a big desire to help. In Lesbos mountains of clothes waiting to be useful again. An old sock is lively to life in a baby Syrian. A colored scarf turns into a Hijab and a Manchester’s t-shirt into the uniform of a young Afghan.
We work together for hours and to understand us we don’t need to know English because our affinities prevail and our eyes meet, imagining another Europe. We pile, divide and organize the items. We left the warehouses satisfied and aware to have done our utmost; this is confirmed by the unexpected and pleasant story of 2 funny Spanish volunteers looking for clothes for a baby, arrived with her dad at Pikpa’s camp. (one of the center for refugees run by independent volunteers) without her mother, stopped in Turkey. The appointment is for the morning after because in the afternoon the emergency is at the port.
We arrive at 17 pm to help these people, but at the same time when we look around we realize that many volunteers are not able to solve a war’s tragedy. Children with bare feet, women without coats, shy young girls looking for support for their personal care. Their life contained in few bags and in a small backpack. They don’t laugh, they don’t want to joke, but they say “thank you”, because every little gesture is a big gift for them. On the contrary, the children run, laugh, eat sweets and wear a smile.
20 pm: departure for Athens. Another step towards serenity.
Tsipras’ Europe is not so different from the other closed borders that oblige migrants and refugees to wait. Greece is forced to welcome because of its beautiful sea that doesn’t accept gates, but it chooses the absence institutional and the presence of army and police forces who regard with discomfort the volunteers flying to the island's roads.
It is dark, we come back home and the alarm clock will ring at 5 am. We will start our new day at the beach waiting for new landings. Meanwhile, Europe offers billions of Euro to see them anymore.
(By Alessandra Aldini and Arianna Torre)
Second day in Lesbos
Alarm clock at 5 am to join the control groups on the beaches. It is raining. It is useless to go there, migrants will not arrive because with the bad weather risks increase. In addition to the Turkish military attacks, also there is stormy sea. I spoke about Turkish attacks because a young migrant told me about these tragic episodes.The Turks intercept the boats, overcrowded of migrants, and sometimes they break their engines, or worse, they approach the boats with the sole purpose of causing further damage. This is the deal with Erdogan. Europe pays and migrants must not cross the sea...
