The moon above Vasilika, beyond the extreme

Nathalie Bini​ is a climber like you, like us. We met her at Melloblocco. Maybe you've even met you at a crag or in a gym. Between one sports climb and a boulder problem she graduated in medicine and then - before specializing in orthopedics in order to, as she says "fix the hands of all climbers" - she volunteered to work in a Syrian refugee camp at Vasilika, Greece. Her first experience there ended on 5 October.

Nathalie will return to Vasilika in November. In the meantime she has come to the conclusion that recounting what she saw is "just as important as going there”, which is why she wrote this short essay which we have published below, coupled with the following appeal: ”1300 people who fled from the war possess absolutely nothing, including 500 children, they are preparing to pass the winter in tents, without heating and cold water. If everyone donated even just one euro, I could buy a water heater for hot showers and warm clothes for everyone. Climbers, shall we do some magic? Thanks!”

Climbers, mountaineers, walkers... what d’you reckon? Do you want to spend the next 5 minutes reading what Nathalie saw and experienced at? And perhaps even help do a little magic, something beyond the extreme...

THE MOON ABOVE VASILIKA by Nathalie Bini

Vasilika, 5 October 2016, 19:00.
A birthday is being celebrated in Hangar 1. With Nazmie and Erica, two volunteers I met there, I step in and search for the thirdtent on line B.

“Assalam Alaikum Mama” “Assalam Alaikum my friend..”

A little boy is running around, he is the two-year-old prince of the party. We get invited to the celebrations, music is being played in the background. Mama is hanging a wire of coloured lights at the entrance of the tent. Her smile is trying to cover the sadness that you could read in her eyes. It’s her baby’s birthday and she is trying her best effort to make it as close to a normal birthday as possible, defying the odds and the situation she lives in.

My name is Nathalie, and I am here to tell you about a reality so close to our homes, and yet so far from being properly covered and narrated by European media. I very recently spent two weeks as a medical volunteer in a refugee camp, located on the outskirts of Thessaloniki city, near a small Greek village, Vasilika. I joined MAM beyond borders and Firdaus, two associations that are currently active in Greece. 1300 people, 500 of whom are children, presently live in this camp. They are Syrian arabs and Kurds who, after fleeing their war torn country, found themselves stuck and stranded in refugee camps in Greece, since the now strictly controlled Greek borders were closed months ago. These people faced long marches on foot, a life-threatening journey across the sea separating Turkey from Greece, and at their arrival in Europe were deported to temporary camps first, and to government-controlled camps afterwards.

I wasn’t prepared to see what I witnessed there. The reality was far worse than what I had ever imagined. Words cannot fully describe the amount of difficulties that refugees face on a daily basis inside the camp.

Many kids, women, men, bore the signs of the war on their bodies, as many had still pieces of bombs stuck in their arms and legs, under the skin, causing them neurological issues and incessant pain. People suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, and many had nightmares at night: what they saw and lived through haunted them at any hour of the day and night. They fled home with not many personal belongings, and many lost all they had in the dangerous journey to Europe. Unfortunately they are doomed to stay in these refugee camps for many months to come, due to bureaucratic and political reasons.

Nevertheless they still have hope for a brighter future.

In Vasilika camp tents are located inside hangars, and in each tent live at least 3-4 people. 1300 people use everyday common showers and chemical bathrooms, installed outside the hangars. They don’t have many clothes, and that is a main issue now that winter is approaching. Rats are everywhere, and fresh vegetables and food are available only for the very few who are lucky enough to have some money left to buy them. The rest have to rely only on the food provided by a EU funded private company that has been delivering everyday, for the last 5 months, the same nutritionless ready-to-eat food. The quality of this food is very poor, and personally I wouldn’t feed with this food even an animal.

Hygienic levels in the camp are very poor, and in this dusty environment many kids suffer on a daily basis from asthma attacks and viral and bacterial infections (moreover infections spread very fast through the camp population). Patients with cardiological or metabolical pathologies have been left untreated for months. Many kids are underweight because they don’t eat enough and therefore don’t grow properly.

Refugees don’t directly receive money from anybody, as many might think they do. They are not even allowed to work, as a UN resolution set restrictions on this issue many years ago. Most of the refugees had a job that they left to flee the war, and now use they craftiness to help fixing the camp, and making it a better place. That’s also the only thing they can do in the waiting for the bureaucratic process, that will hopefully lead them to other European countries, to go through. Women try their best to make the tents as comfortable as possible, and some men have even built swings for the kids using some pieces of wood and cloth. There are also some barbers and hairdressers in the camp, and a little coffe shop was set with the help of volunteers.

Big humanitarian organisations are present at the camp for only few hours a day, and unfortunately bureaucracy makes their actions slow. On the other hand ,MAM beyond borders and Firdaus are present at the camp all through the day, trying to meet the unanswered needs of 1300 people. Thanks to our continuous presence refugees have learnt to trust us and rely on us for support. MAM beyond borders and Firdaus is active in the distribution of clothes, and now that winter is approaching people who are still in the waiting to receive something warm to wear come to us asking if they will receive anything at all, afraid of being left behind. We constantly reassure them that everybody will receive warm clothes, and to trust us and to have patience. We built a little waiting area outside the spot where we distribute the clothes, and we tried to make it as comfortable as possible. Each person coming for clothes is greeted by volunteers with a smile and is helped to find something of their size and taste. The smiles on people faces when they leave with something fitting them warmes our hearts.

We believe that it is of the utmost importance dignifying people as human beings in such a precarious situation, where they feel mistreated and desperate.

The reality is that what we do is just a drop in the ocean of the needs of these people, but it is better than nothing, and it is a way to give them some relief. Erica, Nazmie and I would have liked to stay helping in the camp 24 hours a day, because the things to do, and the people to visit as a doctor, were never ending.

That’s why I decided to go back to Vasilika in November, and that’s why I am trying to make everybody aware of the miserable situation refugees live in.

What can YOU do?
It is very important is to stay informed of what is happening just a few hours of flight from your home, in Europe. I would like you not to believe the retorics of some European political parties that state that all refugees are terrorist, rapist, thieves, or that they receive great amounts of money by governments. These things are simply not true, and those who benefit from wars are not the civilians who are forced to leave their destroyed country. I would like you not to raise barriers between you and people who speak different languages, and have different cultures. After all we are all human beings, and we are often too quick in judging others.

You can help us with donations, thanks to which we will be able to buy directly in Greece, at a lower price and avoiding luggage costs, what is needed by refugees. Things that are going to be desperately needed now that winter is coming, are warm clothes, shoes, boilers to have hot water and personal hygiene products. Every money transaction will be documented through receipts and photos. Receipts will be available for tax return purposes, or simply as a proof of how your money will be spent. Even a little donation can help.

You can also join MAM beyond borders and Firdaus as a generic or medical volunteer. Everybody can be of help, the work to do is a lot. As a volunteer you would also see with your own eyes the situation these camps are left in. I assure you that it is a life changing experience.

Vasilika, 5 October 2016, 19:30.
That evening we volunteers left the camp at 19:30. The dusty air was filled with the screams of the children playing, and the darkness was starting to cover the camp and its inhabitants. A crescent moon was shining up in the sky, smiling at us, and we stood there with our heads up mesmerized by this sight. You just wondered how something this beautiful could be seen in such a desperate situation.

That moment I fully realised the importance of our work as volunteers, and how we represented a light of hope and relief for the inhabitants of the camp.

I sincerely thank with all my heart whoever will help them,

Nathalie.

TO DONATE CLICK HERE

INFO:
www.mambeyondborders.org
www.associazionefirdaus.com