Lesvos, Dec 23

I asked Google and confirmed that it is indeed the 23rd. This is my fourth day volunteering. Night shifts are broken into two (12-4 & 4-8am). I've been signing up for the 4am shifts and though they are supposed to end at 8am, that is just when the activity usually begins. So, I usually stay to at least noon - once most of the refugees have moved on to stage two. Each day is special and somewhat different, but it is still a blur because once the activity starts, it is constant for four hours or so. I'll start with this morning. I came to the camp at about quarter to 4. Different from the day before, there were not only volunteers around fire, but three young refugees. I was informed that a boat had come in shortly before and that there were families asleep in the tents. The three young men were similar in age (17 and 18), but different in character. To be fair, one was near nodding off, another seemed rather serious and though his English was good, he didn't seem interested in talking. The third was an entirely different story. He seemed so happy and excited. He spoke English and told us how he left his mother and two younger sisters back in Syria. He said his father was dead (We didn't ask how). He said that it is very dangerous for a man of his age in Syria because the army is desperate to recruit young men. I asked if it were Assad's army. He said there were many. The quiet young man chimed in with, "Mafia." "Mafia" was also the answer when we asked who was responsible for getting them a boat. Best I could make out, transportation is $1000. They pay with a sort of PayPal once they make it here. That keeps business flowing on the Turkish side I suppose as refugees there get word of safe passages. The trip across the water takes just over an hour. The Spanish Coast Guard (Proactiva) took them to the Greek shore as their motor had died. The happy young man said they had come upon another boat with a dead motor. I'm not sure if it's a ruse or not, because, as I understand it, by (Greek) law, the Coast Guard can only rescue boats in distress, so, at some point, it helps to be in distress, if you will. Also, regarding nationalities, the refugees I've encountered have not just been Syrian. They have been Afghani, Iranian, Pakistani and other, even Turkish. I hope I'm not releasing any secrets here. I think it probably helps to be either a Syrian or an Afghani as these have "most-favored-refugee" status. The night saw no more activity, but at dawn I heard of a large wooden boat coming to the harbor. I grabbed some thermal/mylar blankets and headed down the road with the camp doctor, Margo (from Wisconsin). A large group of volunteers from Platanos was there. Platanos is a group that does what we do at Lighthouse, but they have a political slant. They are self-proclaimed anarchists from Greece. Take that to mean what you will. But with ridiculous laws that compell refugees to break the law and cooperate with "the Mafia" to make to Greece, maybe some anarchism is in order. Walking from camp to Goji Cafe from whence I am writing this, I looked out on the water and saw the huge ferry that brings people to and from Lesvos and Turkey. My understanding is that it costs 5 Euros. How ironic is that?! Back to this morning. With mylar blanket in hand, we watched the boat come in guided by Spanish Coast Guard in the water in wetsuits. A tiny baby was handed down off the boat. It was emotional for me. If that lifeguard had slipped and that baby fell into the frigid water, it could have been the end. I asked Margo if she had seen the baby. She said she watching to see if anyone was in distress and asked me to see that the baby was responsive. The baby was bundled in his father's arms and both were content. I managed to get the lifejackets off a couple of kids and wrap them in the mylar blankets. They looked rather stunned, but once joined by the rest of their family, their comfort level increased. This group went to the Platanos camp. Another boat soon followed that came to the shore of our (Lighthouse) camp. I was instructed to help (adorable Norwegian) Audar distribute dry clothes in the Men's Tent. I happily did. He is so low key. Nothing troubles him. Once that was under control, I looked in at the Women's Tent where it was chaos as usual with screaming babies and women sometimes a little particular (fashion wise) as to what they wear. We're not Macy's, so we have to insist, if it fits, it's what's in these days. Unlike gender neutral me, among the refugees there seem to be women's clothes and men's clothes and little overlap. Knowing how cold it is and not knowing their accommodations in the coming days, we try to bundle them up as much as possible. Sometimes the little ones are just barely peering out from wearing a shirt, a jacket, a coat, a hat, mittens and a scarf. We gently shoo them out so we can gather up the wet clothes and separate them into bags of socks, "trousers" (as the Aussie "Dirty Girls" call them) and "general." The shoes are put up on the rocks to dry, or sometimes they line the road next to the beach to get more sun to dry. Even if the "trainers" (What Aussies call sneakers) get washed later, transporting them to the laundry dry means less weight. BTW, see pix of people involved with "Dirty Girls" at this LINK Julie helps them match socks. Susan Sarandon came to our camp and is pictured at the Dirty Girls link. She has given donations to our camp and others. I saw her when she came to the camp. I said, "Susan Sarandon, you are here. It's not just a rumor." She replied, "I'm here." I'm a big fan, but I didn't want to fawn too much as I could see she was getting plenty of interaction with folks. Dirty Girls is such a great concept. It costs money to launder and deliver all those clothes. Consider donating. The two women of Dirty Girls - Alison and Emma are fantastic! But, back to the camp. Once all their needs are met, we have to encourage them to move along to the buses that arrive to take them to stage two up the hill. It's pretty amazing the transformation that takes place - 1. wet, cold, adrift in the Aegean Sea; 2. shuttled by strangers to the shore; 3. Lifted to shore by Aqua Man; 4. Wrapped in metalic looking "blankets"; 5. A short walk down the road and into camp; 6. A sit by one of three campfires for warmth; 7.a tent where clothes are taken off and others put on; 8. A sip of hot tea or soup; some cookies, crackers or a granola bar; 9. Another stop by the fire for the men - only because I have only seen them go there; 10. Then it's good-bye with maybe a cup of milk for the children while they await the next bus. They go from wet and scared, to dry and comfortable within the span of an hour or two. It's really great to be a part of making that happen. For them, for now, all is well and they've survived the most arduous part of their journey - hooray!