This is an update sent to us by one of our Greece mission volunteers. His next post will be posted immediately after this, with photos taken just yesterday.
11/29/2015
Hi all,
Lively day today with lots of boats. It was the first time that the new team was all together. The first boat that we met was along the road to Scala. The weather was beautiful but the refugees came ashore wet and shivering.
We then went farther down the road where other boats were arriving but there were plenty of volunteers there. As we were about turn around and head to the harbor, our Greek lifeguard friends shouted, “Stop that car!” A small pickup was leaving the scene and we gave chase. It was some locals who had stolen a refugee’s backpack. We overtook and stopped them and the lifeguards gave them a tongue lashing.
The bulk of our day was spent working two groups brought to the harbor by the Coast Guard. Their boats were taking water so of course they were soaked. One guy had been in the water alone for over an hour and was found by chance.
The end of the day was spent with a shift at Oxy camp but Nick and Olivia just saw a couple of kids there with Tarek translating. We filled the time until the end of the shift sorting meds.
Regardless of the agreement with Turkey we don’t expect things to quiet down…
That’s all for now
Brian