2016

It's the first day of the new year, and it seems to me, that's a good day as any to return to my poor neglected blog.
After the last post I wrote, from Kos, in September, I got home and realised that after what I'd seen, and the people I'd met, my life was never going to be the same again.

Everyone says that the experience of helping refugees is one that alters your life. I had no idea how profound the change was going to be, because it doesn't stop when you set your feet back on the tarmac at Gatwick; that's when it starts. And I'll talk about that in another post, another day.

Since then, I've been back to Kos for 10 days and in January, I'll be going to Greece again; this time I have no idea how long I will be there. It's a one-way ticket.
Gulp!

People have been incredibly supportive, with donations of clothing and cash, and also with words of encouragement. And that support has a value way beyond what you might think.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Not only could I not do it without you, given my travel anxiety, I probably wouldn't even get there in the first place if it wasn't for the thoughtful encouragement of friends and partners, helping push me out of the door!

Volunteering is hard work and you do see and hear some truly terrible things. I think anyone reading here probably knows that. Some of my friends have wondered how anyone can do it. The answer is possibly in my post today, about another aspect of the volunteering experience.

It's the sheer joy.
.
Last night as the clock slowly ticked it's way round to Midnight, my Facebook page, e-mail and my phone, like everyone's I suppose, lit up with wishes for a Happy New Year. Many were from old friends.
But also, mixed in, there were wishes from new friends, people who are refugees; messages saying Thanks for help and saying where they are now and what their lives are like (most are still on their journey). Messages saying that they will never forget the help given them, and that there is a place in their hearts forever. Pledges made that I am now and forever part of their family.


This is not just my experience. Every volunteer who has got to know a refugee a bit better will have been receiving the same messages last night and I'll bet they were as much of a mess as I was/am, (coz I still get a lump in my throat now, just thinking about it).
Let me tell you, I spent the evening on an emotional roller coaster, tears welling up over and over again. Buy shares in Kleenex for heaven's sake, you'll clean up I promise.

And that's the thing of it.
It's the love.
I never expected the love.

No way on earth would I have been so blessed with as much love as I was last night, if I hadn't met these incredibly brave and determined people, who even while they know their  lives have changed forever, will never forget the tiny bit of help we were able to give them.

So for those who wonder why I and the other volunteers show up to sort old clothes,  hand out food and prowl dark shores looking for people struggling out of the chilly water- that's the reason.

It's the joy and the love.