The descent to the island seemed fairly straight forward to me. A bit of turbulence,, some shaking, but nothing that had me worried. I was curious as to why most of the passengers were praying and crossing themselves and a huge cheer roared out when we touched ground and came to a halt – including from the flight crew. It was only later I heard that for the last several days all landing attempts had been unsuccessful and that one flight actually was turned sideways and came close to hitting the mountains surrounding the airport. I felt very lucky indeed and a glad I had picked the day I had to go to Leros.
I met with Luke Arnwyck, one of the founders of Refugee Aid, who is working with Midwife Pilgrim to establish a women’s health focus on Leros. Their organization of UK physicians and nurses is trying to fill the gaps not being met by MSF, Praxis, or the UNHCR and we seem to be a perfect match. I appreciate his attention to detail and establishing working relationships with those already on the ground instead of just independently jumping in and getting in the way. He can manage this way because Leros is a small island with only a small number of refugees arriving daily. In addition, the organization here is quite impressive and from what I have heard much more effective than some of the larger islands.
Leros is also unique in how the refugees arrive here. Those who leave Turkey destined for Leros are left at a military island Farmokanisi, where there is very little shelter or resources. It is a military island and I still have yet to understand the politics surrounding this procedure. Refugees are often left there for day at a time and if the weather is bad for much longer. There have been reports of 100s of people stranded there for days with no food and little water. When they are picked up and brought to Leros it is either via a UK civilian transport ship with military personnel, the VOS Grace, that could carry 150-170 refugees and is equipped with a medical team – however, they left yesterday back to Athens and now a private ship, the Ilyius is available and can only handle 45 refugees at a time and does not have medical personnel. Refugee Aid is working on establishing a triage unit on the Coast Guard ship to fast track those who are in more need of medical aid when they arrive on the island.
The camp at Leros is set up with an enclosed compound for those just arriving. They are not allowed to leave until they have been registered, which is usually within a day. Upon arrival they are given a sleeping pad and bag, and a snack and water. After registration is complete they are assigned to either a bed in the new shelter – Pipka – a renovated Ministry building that can house up to 400 of the most vulnerable (families, elderly, ill) when it is completed and has heat, warm showers, and laundry facilities. In fact, the first night Pipka opened was when I arrived. The Villa is a separate house for single women and those with young children and infants. It too had a warm and welcoming feel with a play area for the children. The camp itself which houses men is made up of prefab Ikea houses – definitely better than tents but not luxurious in any way.
Women and children are often separated from the men at night, ,especially if they have young infants or sick children. The Villa is a safe place and more comfortable than the other options. I helped one mother carry her baby through the pouring rain to a waiting car to take them to the Villa. She had a 3 year old and a 2 year old in tow as well, in the dark her children looked very sleepy and were barely able to walk themselves. Her baby had a bad cough and had just seen the doctor on call at the camp, provided by a group called Praxis – a nice man who tried to make the children laugh and admitted to me he was doing his best but often felt it was not enough. When I introduced myself and the work we do he was very grateful and we had a long discussion about ways we can make more of an impact.
There is a core group of volunteers on the island who have managed to create as warm and welcoming a reception as could be imagined in this situation. That isn’t to say there are not hardships for those arriving, but that there are many who are doing their best to give them comfort and respite.The Boutique is an area set up by the Volunteers where donated clothes are sorted and refugees can queue and gather what they need. It is quite impressive as they have it all sorted by type of clothing, size, and gender.
How will Midwife Pilgrim be involved? After hearing of the success of Swedish midwives Nathalie Kron and Kim Wallgren, we feel it is best to have a presence at the villa where women will be more likely to open up and share their stories. In that way we can better assess their needs and offer assistance and resources as necessary. We will, however, be limited as the NGOs still do not feel there is a need for this kind of service. Sadly when asked about their training or management it was clear this kind of specialty is not a priority and I have no doubt women are not receiving sensitive care. This is an issue I plan to bring up with my meeting with the UNHCR tomorrow in Athens, but they have assured me time and time again that all NGOs on the ground working in Greece with their assistance have clear guidelines and specially trained providers. If only it were true. In the meantime we will partner with Refugee Aid, and begin to make it inroads and do more of the care we know is necessary.
More and more I am hoping we can find volunteers to work in the Villa, to be a presence for women to confide in, to have someone to talk to who can address their needs. Women are not going to the male physicians and when their partners are around do not talk at all. To have a separate place where they can feel safe and not have to worry about cultural issues will undoubtedly lead to better care. Given that women are often there several days and sometimes up to a week it will give our midwives time to develop relationships and also educate. The person in charge of the Villa is very excited by the idea as it has already proven itself a valuable service in the past.
As my second day on Leros progressed, so did the skies darken and the wind became fierce. By nightfall the driving rain was pouring down just as 100s of refugees who had been waiting for days were finally lining up for the ferry to Athens. The mood was a mixture of excitement and anxiety. The cold rain drenching everyone and everything but no shelter was to be had as people stood there, shivering, waiting to be told where to go next. Finally a taxi came and was quickly overwhelmed with people vying there way to get there first. At last more taxis came and after a while the crowd was dwindling down.
In the midst of the rain, before the taxis, a young girl of about 12 came up to me beaming. She spoke a few words in English and she signaled to me how happy she was to be going. “Go, Go!" she said. We laughed at how wet we were and her sister and brother joined our small group huddling together for warmth. They had been there for 4 days with little sleep and were very cold. Her name is Nasza and she was beautiful, innocent, and yet filled with hope. She came from Syria and all she could say with a shudder was “Syria bad.” I can’t imagine what she had endured. It was bittersweet to say “Good-bye” when her father finally was first to reach a taxi.
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