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.
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.
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