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.