As many of you will know, myself and my friend Deirdre spent a week at the end of May working with the refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in the camp at Piraeus, near Athens.
We were humbled by the generosity of parishioners and other friends in their support of our mission. I thought I would provide an update for this month’s “Parish Matters” to let you know how we got on.
I didn’t know what a “refugee” would look like. I suppose I had some preconceived notions. The first lady we met – a beautiful 38 year old mother named Zahra from Syria – was pensively gazing out over the water as we arrived into camp. I was struck immediately, in my ignorance, at how “normal” she looked. How articulate. How educated. She was a mother like all mothers. Anxiously chasing after little Yussuf as he tore around the compound. You’re not supposed to have favourites, but we couldn’t help ourselves. Zahra was a lady whom we bundled into a taxi later that week and attempted to get her into the embassy in Athens to get an appointment to plead for her transit to join her husband in Germany.
We were also struck by the 26 year old IT Professional from Iraq, who speaks three languages and who wants to be an inventor. We were very touched by the 21 year old economics student from Syria who interpreted intelligently for us when we spoke to people with no English. A fantastic support to us was Ahmed, a member of the Syrian national football team – now a refugee – who sleeps in a tent by night and helps the volunteers make the tea by day. And we were devastated by the 21 year old who had walked for four months from Pakistan, who was deeply traumatised, who had his only possessions stolen from him overnight, and who had just received news that his niece had been killed back home.
There is so much to tell, so much to write about, and so much work to be done. So much so, that Dee and I have made a decision that we need to go back there. So we are giving up our summer holidays this year and going to return to do what else we can to help. We are making it our mission to help these people. Our work must continue.
We are hosting a talk at Robin Hill House in Cobh (Dee’s home) on Tuesday 21st June at 8pm. We will share images and memories about our work with the refugees on that occasion, and we will talk about our future plans. Everyone is welcome to this gathering.
Finally, we need to raise further funds to do this effectively. The generosity of friends and family thus far has been incredible, but our efforts will continue.
My friend and I are very grateful to the Parishioners of Douglas Union for their interest and support.
Janet Dillon
