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7/8/17

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It is one week today since I started volunteering in Samos, Greece with Samos Volunteers. From day one the team here have blown me away with their commitment and relentless drive and determination to deliver the best support they can to residents of the camp. Although the island looks like an instagram hotspot of turquoise seas and sandy beaches, the truth beneath the surface is far from idealistic. In fact, it's horrifying. The refugee crisis in Greece has slipped from media focus of late, but it has certainly not gone away. In fact, it's getting a lot worse. The camp here is hugely over capacity with Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis - men, women, children, families - all fleeing conflict and persecution, in hope of a safe life. In the short time that I've been here, we've had over 160 new arrivals. Instead of arriving in Greece and finding safety however, they are inside thrust inside a giant 'cage' - for lack of a better term - that has double the reside
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13.6.17

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Sometimes life goes a little differently than you planned. As is the case for me. Two years ago, I was perfectly ready to settle down into a full career of teaching. A month ago, I resigned from my full time teaching position and have begun the slow process of selling everything I own and counting every single penny, ready for six months of volunteering in refugee camps across Europe. Having volunteered four times with the incredible Care4Calais in Northern France, the situation in Europe has become something I don't believe any of us should be ignoring. So, in the privileged position of being young and relatively commitment free, I intend to spend as much time as possible doing precisely that: not ignoring it. The current Refugee Crisis - the mass movement of millions of people across the Mediterranean, forced to leave their homes due to war, conflict and corruption - is the biggest challenge facing our generation. It is happening right on our doorsteps, in Europe, righ
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