Nov 15, 20195 min readLast post from Samos. 5 vignettes and 5 answers to the question ‘But what can we do?’I arrived on Samos thinking about travelling like a refugee, and I left thinking about travelling like a refugee. That’s because on my...
Nov 13, 20192 min readRahele's story: the haunting sound of poetry from IranRahele is a refugee volunteer at the We Are One centre where I've been working on Samos. When she heard I was a writer she wanted to...
Nov 11, 20192 min readAmal's story: it's not just about the food - it's about finding a place to eat it'I first came to the We Are One centre when I was looking for somewhere to eat my shawarma!' Amal is an eighteen year-old refugee from...
Nov 9, 20195 min read'Common quiet hours' - things I'm learning from volunteering with the refugees in GreeceI'm writing this blog in the afternoon. Because there's nothing much else to do... The centre where I am volunteering with the refugees...
Nov 8, 20193 min readThe kindness of strangers'Oh, my friend!' I looked up to see who was trying to get my attention. It was a girl of about ten who I think is an Iraqi refugee at the...
Nov 8, 20194 min readBut they have smartphones...Earlier this year I was at a party in North London. The refugee crisis came up in conversation and a well-heeled woman assured me that...
Nov 6, 20194 min readAfrah's story; how volunteers need volunteersAfrah is an 18 year-old from Mosul, in Iraq, who helps with running the We Are One refugee women’s centre on Samos. She’s currently...
Nov 5, 20192 min readDay 1 of volunteering at the 'We are One' Centre on SamosPhoto by Glocal Roots It was a restless night and I was woken repeatedly by dogs barking, and doors banging in a strong wind. When I got...
Nov 4, 20192 min readArrival on Samos. On heaven and hell and limboI landed on Samos at sunset. I didn't actually see the sunset directly - I saw it in the screens of all the smartphones that the people...
Nov 3, 20193 min readDay -1: departure via overnight bus journey from Tirana to AthensWhat should you take with you? Smart packing usually takes more time than I’m willing to give it. It’s like doing tidying plus laundry...
Nov 3, 20192 min read4 things I've learned about the refugee crisis in the MediterraneanI'm off to Samos to volunteer for a fortnight at the women's centre run by We Are One Center by Glocal Roots. Why? Well, because this...
