Wednesday 25 November 2015

Gaining Even More Ground

I think that this is truly one of the happy days of our deployment.
This morning we were able to inform Emily and Vassili (pictured here with Polis and Maria) that they were the successful candidates and they will be starting to work for The Salvation Army on the 1st of December.
Emily will be the overall coordinator of The Salvation Army's response to the refugee crisis in Greece. She will be coordinating with UNCHR, the IOM and other NGOs so that The Salvation Army will be offering its services in filling some of the gaps that exist in the humanitarian response.

Vassili will be the hands-on man running the Day Centre, coordinating and recruiting volunteers and together with Emily and Polis and Maria strategically plan the Army's response to the need.

What a great moment to finally have identified and recruit these two wonderful people. Both are excellent people and very well qualified. Truly we are fortunate to be able to employ them.

Another wonderful breakthrough today was that we finally identified a warehouse (pictured here).
It has been a long struggle in trying to secure a space that we can use to store the donated NFIs (non food items) that we need to pass on to the refugees. It is a 900 square meters warehouse in a good location and on the same side of the city as the Salvation Army hall.


So now Polis can finally smile. Help is at hand, the warehouse is soon to be in place and The Salvation Army's response can be constant, well coordinated and targeted.

Ethan dressed up in his Emergency Services vest is a picture of hope for a better tomorrow.


Tuesday 24 November 2015

Gaining Ground

Due to the lack of an internet connection at the flat in which we are staying I have not been able to post anything here for a few days. This evening  I have stayed behind at the Salvation Army Corps in order to use the internet but there are many things that have happened since by last post and it's hard to know what I should write here. I didn't have dinner yet and my tummy is complaining but I feel that I must stay behind and write something on this blog. If not everything makes sense just put it down to tiredness and hunger, but hey what is this compared to what our refugees go through?

I think looking back at the last few days I can say that, although slowly, we are gaining some ground in our humanitarian response to this great crisis. Yet the suffering continues and for some people things are getting worse.

I enjoyed sitting at a gathering of Churches Together in Athens with the focus on the refugee crisis. It was touching to see the Church being passionate about responding to this humanitarian crisis. Many reported of wonderful ways by which they try to help our fellow human beings who find themselves in this great march.
Also ways were explored of how we could coordinate and do more. For a number of churches the Safe Passage concept is becoming the driving force behind their response.
It was a great encouragement to me and to many others to see the Church working together.

"Happy to Help" are words that you may have seen on the T-shirt of a young shop assistant but they are words that best describe my contribution to the Clowns Without Borders.

Being new to Athens the Clowns were rather nervous about performing at the square without having someone's backing.
I gladly offered that backing as I watched them put a smile on the weary faces of a great number of refugees.


A number of volunteers from the Netherlands came this morning to help us. They are all social work students and they have come to Greece for a week to offer their help.
They helped us distribute sandwiches, clothing and sanitary things to the refugees at the square.
They were also available to talk to people.

I can never put it across enough what it really means to many refugees to be able to talk with someone.



The are now finally in Europe.

What are these Europeans like?
How would we be received?
How would we be treated?
Would I be valued as a fellow human being?
Will I be treated with dignity?

Certainly these are questions in many minds and just a simple chat paves the way for a welcome that many refugees long for.


"Heart Break" is the only way that can describe the story of many like Shahin Nasari, pictured here in the middle:
You may have followed on the news that after the Paris massacre several countries are closing their borders to all but Syrians, Afghanis and Iraqis.
FYROM is refusing entry to refugees who are not from these 3 countries. So in the last 2 days nearly 2,000 migrants/refugees are turned back.
Some are protesting at the border, others see no other way but to come back to Athens and see what to do next.

Shahin was registered as Iranian upon his arrival to the Greek islands, although his wife was registered as Afghani. Now they are stuck and don't know what to do.
Mike, from Karitas (pictured here with Shahin's family) took them over to their home to have a wash and to try to arrange some accommodation. Then hopefully some agency like the IOM may be able to help them.
This change at the borders will create a great deal of more distress and agony for many on this great march.

Let me finish with some good news this evening:
I am happy to report that approval has been given by headquarters for us to hire a shop very near the square. Also last night we were able to interview and select 2 candidates who will be employed to work based at the centre. More details to follow, but for now it is a matter of slowly gaining some ground.

That's it. I'm off back to the flat to get some dinner. Let's see what Rick has cooked. Poor fellow he has to put up with my vegetarian whimsies.







Friday 20 November 2015

Joy in Times of Trouble

I was asked to help sing some songs at the Parent and Toddler group of the Athens Salvation Army the other day.
I suppose having sang nursery rhymes at toddler groups, at least once a week for many years now, it puts me in good stead for leading such an activity.
Normally toddlers have fun during our singing together and for some strange reason I seem to have fun too. My enjoyment comes from seeing others happy. To me, singing with children in Athens who probably don't have much opportunity to be entertained, is a special thing. Real life entertainment that doesn't come out of a large TV screen is something that even very young children do appreciate.

You may think that being deployed with the International Emergency Services of The Salvation Army should only be about distributing food or tents or providing shelter and so on; what does entertainment have to do with emergencies?

Today at the square I met a group from the Clowns Without Borders. I had never met them before but only heard about them; I heard how with their presence they changed the whole atmosphere at the Eidomeni camp in a big way.

Anna, a young lady from Barcelona, explained that they had been active in Eidomeni but as more team members arrived, they were exploring the possibilities of being active in the Athens camps and possibly Victoria square.

I got to thinking how
these clowns are just little people, they are not part of the big players like UNHCR or IOM or the Red Cross. They volunteer their time (any funding they receive goes to pay for tickets, accomodation etc.) and yet they make a great big difference, what little they have to offer goes such a long way.

Isn't this a great lesson in life? We don't all have to be presidents or prime ministers or great famous people. God has given each of us a gift and he calls us to use it to bless others and bring glory to God.

In big humanitarian crises such as this, a clown may help put a smile and release the tension in an otherwise very stressful situation.

That little boy of long ago only had two fish and five small pieces of bread and yet he offered to Jesus the little he had and with this 5,000 men were fed (plus thousands of women and children - sorry they only counted men in those days).

We've all got something to contribute. Prior to leaving the UK for my deployment I attended a meeting for the establishment of the Medway City of Sanctuary.  It is a group that promotes a welcoming attitude towards refugees in our communities. Even if you could be a person who offers a warm welcome it surely goes a great long way in establishing peace in our communities and a better tomorrow for our children.

Monday 16 November 2015

Peculiar Volunteers

Today we may have gone on "business as usual" but I knew that at times I was under the watchful eye of some camera. The cameras didn't come for me but for Paul O'Grady who came for the day with his film crew to film the Athens Salvation Army's activities with the refugees.
Paul is working on a series which will be broadcast by the BBC in March or April and will probably be called something like: "The Sally Army and Me"


Paul helped to make sandwiches and then came with us to the square to distribute them to the refugees. Later on he and the team went back again to give out rucksacks to the refugee children.
We are grateful that the media is drawing public attention to our cause and we pray that The Athens Corps of The Salvation Army will have all the resources that it needs to meet the need present at Victoria square.

Today at the square I got to speak to two Afghani brothers (23 and 16 years old) who were born in Iran but have taken the opportunity to join the great march through Turkey and Europe to Sweden. I've heard of their hardship along the way. Crossing the Iranian border in to Turkey they had to stay in a small cottage near the border until it was nearly midnight and then they were smuggled as they walked through thick forest over a mountain. After many hours of walking through the night around 50 refugees were picked in a small van that drove them for several hours to Izmir. They explained how all of them could just stand in that dark van packed up like sardines, unable to move. Yet as they said the most harrowing experience was the boat crossing; although the sea was calm, there were way too many people on that plastic boat and waters were getting into the boat. They were relieved to arrive in Lesvos and be welcomed by the people at the shore.
Certainly many people are making money through this outburst of human suffering.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

A "criminal's" day

Today I was told by one of the residents of the Victoria square area that I am a criminal. "All of you who work with these NGOs at the square" he said "are criminals". "You are the ones who instigate these wars that misplace people in order that you may continue to get funding to carry on your work".

I was accused for many things in the past but it's the first time that I was told that I instigate wars in order to stay in my job.
I tried to tell this local resident that he must differentiate between politics and humanitarian aid but I wasn't getting anywhere, so I had to just walk away.

It was after a long morning of helping to unload a 6-tone container of NFIs (non-food items) that arrived from York. There were masses of clothes for men, women and children; hygiene items, tents, sleeping bags and all kinds of useful items to help refugees on their great march through Greece.

A great number of volunteers gave a hand including Rachel seen here carrying a heavy box. Rachel and her husband Paul with their two children will be leaving Greece soon to go to the Australia's Salvation Army college for officers. We were grateful to receive help from volunteers of other NGOs as well who came to our rescue as this container had to be unloaded within 2 hours or we would incur more charges.

The good news is that we have now located a shop just a few steps from Victoria square that can be used as our day centre. I hope that the contract will be signed soon and that we can start using this space to offer our services to the refugees.

In the afternoon Rick and I went to the Red Cross headquarters to sit at a coordination meeting led by UNHCR. Again we received a clearer picture of how things are in regards to the refugee crisis.

Mrs Morelli (UNHCR's Senior Operation Coordinator ) said that she does not foresee a slow down on arrivals. One third of all arrivals in Greece took place in the month of October alone. Although we don't see a slowdown in refugees arriving in Greece we do see more shipwrecks. We were told that 29,000 refugees were stuck in the islands from 2-6 November because of the ferry strike and this of course places immense pressure on the islanders.

Winterisation is very high on the UN's agenda and on ours as well. As I wrote before, Jan has organised in Holland two truckloads of scarves, hats, raincoats and socks but the storage is our big problem. We are still praying for a big enough storage space for all the aid that is ready to come our way.

Sunday 8 November 2015

Demonstrations

Sorry I haven't been writing for the last few days.
Our team from International Headquarters has grown smaller as there are only two of us left now: Major Rick Shirran from Canada and myself.

Paul and Miri, two of the Athens corps members worked hard to prepare a flat so that  Rick and I could move and stay there for the next 5 weeks.

The Canadian Major gave a hand as well together with Rik and Polis to clean and prepare the place.

There is no wifi in the flat yet, which makes it rather difficult to carry on business as usual and making blog entries had to take second place, unfortunately. I do hope that in the near future we'll get back into our routine.

Last week there has been a ferry strike which has left refugees stranded in the islands and the Victoria square has been rather quiet.

On Friday after the refugees started appearing back at the square they were confronted by a group of local residents and the neo-Nazi organisation Golden Dawn. They were expressing their displeasure of the refugees' presence back in the square.

Thank God, very soon another group of people appeared in support of the refugees. I couldn't quite tell who they were but most seem to be university students.

Both were crying out slogans, the music was loud, anger was rising and the situations was tensed.
The police had to form a barrier between the two groups.


The refugees seemed confused and helpless.

The residents were shouting: "Give us back our life and our dignity." Obviously the great number of refugees in their square has left some residents upset and angry. What can one say to them?

We can try to understand the local residents who have been inconvenienced in recent months. Yet these people who have come to our country have been more than inconvenienced.  They have travelled over sea and land in search of a place of refuge for them and their families.

If we could only put ourselves in the other person's shoes we will not be so quick to condemn and protest. Thankfully no incidents of violence were reported and the square is continuing to be a transit route for many refugees.

I believe that soon I'll have some good news to share about a project that we will be starting. Watch this space....





Monday 2 November 2015

Frustratingly Slow Pace

If I could put words to my feelings today I would say that frustration would be at the top of the list, and I will explain why; but first let me say that yesterday at the local Salvation Army corps we meditated on David and Goliath.

We were told by Polis that we can't fight a giant with the same type of weapons as his. David didn't go against him with sword and spear but just with a sling and some pebbles and in the strength of the Lord. You can't defeat malice with malice but you can with goodness and love.
Things keep arriving for our distribution to the refugees. For many days now we've been receiving parcels from the Netherlands but today we had our fist shipment from the UK. Tunbridge Wells Corps did a Greek evening and collected things to send over.
I was told that they went to a shipping company to get things shipped over and it so happened that the owner of that company was a Greek Cypriot. When he heard of what the things were for, he offered to ship everything for free.

Our frustration (and especially Jan's, who is trying to organise all this) is connected to the fact that we are still waiting to hear about that very large warehouse that was offered for us to use. There are several track-loads of goods ready to be shipped over and we just don't haver the storage space yet. The slow pace of my motherland can be frustrating some times.

Please pray with me for a storage space as soon as possible. Also please pray with me for the building we are trying to locate near the square which we could use as a Day Centre. Funding has been already offered for starting this project but it all just takes sooooo long.