Oinofyta Refugee Camp - Greece

First Impressions: I arrived late last night, and was taken directly to the volunteer house. It's a normal house down in the village, with all the amenities you'd expect. Today, after breakfast, we went to the camp. I was given two jobs: go through the census and make a list of all the residents above 40 years old, to do a screening for diabetes. Then a second job was added, to make a list of the pregnant women, also to screen for gestational diabetes, blood pressure and proteinuria, to screen for preeclampsia. There are about 650 residents in the camp, and about 65 people in total, combining both lists. Now I have to find them all, and somehow communicate to them that they have to fast for 12hrs and come the next morning so I can measure their glucose levels + blood pressure, etc. Communication will be the fun part, but I've already met some kids who speak English, so I think I'll just enlist their help as translators, at least until I learn enough to pronouce things right. 

Now it's friday evening, rainy, cold. Most people have been moved into an adjacent empty factory for the winter, but some are still out in tents. Even in the factory, it's pretty cold (no heating). I had my big jacket on most of the time (except in the clinic, there's heating in there!!), but saw kids walking around with flip-flops. I don't know if they didn't have shoes, or just didn't put them on. There's a warehouse full of donated clothes, but maybe not the right sizes, I don't know. 

All in all, it's a bit overwhelming. They were smiling, the kids were playing, I got some hugs and kisses even, but I can't imagine living in such close quarters with hundreds of people. I can't imagine having to leave your home and flee to find safety so far away from everything that was ever dear to you. Nobody would choose to risk their lives on the way and come here, if they had any other option. They don't. So all I can hope to do, is make it a little bit easier on them. A little bit safer. To smile, to play, to talk. To do any little thing I can to make it better. It'll never be normal. It'll never be good. 

Good would be to wake up tomorrow in their own home, in their own city, in their own country, and realize the war was all just a nightmare--not reality.