Though Kara Tepe offered the VREI team an inside look on the refugee experience, the living conditions were brilliant in comparison to the prison-like hell that is Moria. Because the majority of the Moria camp is unsafe for entry, we were granted access to a specific “safe zone” that is designated for unaccompanied minors. These are children and adolescents aged 4-18, who are effectively stranded in the camp. Some left their homes for fear of persecution (like the Kurds), others escaped to avoid enlisting in the Syrian War, and several left Afghanistan due to the growing Taliban presence. There were many children who lost touch with their families during their journey to Greece, often due to violence on the route or conflict with smugglers. Out of about 80 kids, the majority were Afghan boys aged 10-14. There were a few Egyptians, Kurds, and a Somalian boy. About seven girls called the safe zone their temporary home.
The primary route for the Afghan boys was as follows:
Afghanistan ➡ Iran ➡Turkey ➡ Lesvos
Though the children had an onerous journey to Greece, and their lack of connection to family complicated their sense of belonging, we could see the resilience in their faces. Something about their demeanor revealed that they were not ready to give up, no matter how difficult the circumstances were. About 10-12 of them talked with us on the first day, and with the help of Maryam we could interact with them freely. They told us about their daily lives since entering the camp, and the friendships they formed in their containers.
- The boys took the door handles off their containers because they did not want people to steal their belongings. With a handle in their possession, nobody else could open their containers.
- They played football on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings outside the camps – something that all the boys looked forward to.
- They also had access to English and Greek classes through UNICEF, but some of the boys said the quality of education was poor.
- They had dreams for the future. One boy wanted to work in construction, another wanted to be a football player, and yet another hoped to be an engineer.
- The food situation was even worse in Moria than it was in Kara Tepe. Each boy was given a “cake” and juice for breakfast. Tomato and cheese for dinner.
- Clothing provided via aid did not fit the kids, and the laundry access was essentially nonexistent. We saw some of the boys washing their own clothes, but many of them wore the same outfit in the three days we were there.
- Access to medicine and mental health care were available in limited capacity. There was a health clinic that could diagnose medical conditions, but similar to Kara Tepe, medicine was not provided – only prescriptions were allocated.
- A psychologist was present in the camp and was trained to identify suicidal tendencies and instances of self-harm. We could see that many of the boys had scars on their forearms, physical signs of their pain, loneliness, and despair accumulated since leaving their homes.
- But because the circumstances were so dire in Moria, the psychologist refrained from medicating the boys who resorted to cutting. She rationalized this by saying that the boys had a deep desire to have an outlet to feel alive, because their circumstances were so dehumanizing.
- The following information was received from a program coordinator who works for the NGO that manages the safe zone. It is –quite sensitive–, but necessary to discuss in order for people to understand how extreme the situation is in Moria Camp. Because there is 24-hour surveillance in the camp, it has become clear that some of the boys actually leave to solicit sex in exchange for money, drugs, and alcohol from Greek locals and other men in the camp. Many of the boys were raped on their journey to Moria because smugglers would threaten to take their lives or abandon them if they did not comply. The boys have reached a new form of survival mode – taking extreme measures in situations of incredible desperation. Many of us were taken aback by this information and had difficulty internalizing it, especially when we considered their age and disposition towards us. It made us even more motivated to inspire some kind of hope or happiness in the short time we were there.
Even though our primary goal in Lesvos was user research – understanding the refugee experience so that we could develop relevant solutions – we knew we had to do something service. More than that, we wanted to bring something to them that they would remember, so that they could have at least one positive memory in Moria.
We noticed that all of the containers in the safe zone were grey, bleak, and hopeless – effectively exacerbating the feelings that many of them were experiencing. So, over the course of the next three days we engaged the unaccompanied minors by painting murals with them on all 17 of the containers. We had to add some sort of life to the space. In doing this, we saw some children come out that we had never seen before, eager to do something active and cathartic. The pictures below provide an idea of the transformation that the safe zone underwent.
Even though we did not introduce a marvelous engineering solution in the safe zone, we tried to show the children that there is hope in life, no matter how difficult the situation may be. Rather than going home to a container that is empty, the kids can now take pride in entering a place that they painted with their container-mates, creating a community united not by nationality, but by a collective experience.
We concluded our trip in Lesvos with the mural initiative, along with repairs to many of the container windows and a remodeling of the ramp leading up to the safe zone. After seeing the problems firsthand, many of us had a very human response when we left the camp. Tears may have flown from our eyes, but motivation and drive filled our hearts.
To the boys and girls of the Moria Safe Zone, we thank you for opening up to us in the brief time we were with you. Your resilience is incredible and unparalleled.
We are inspired by you, and we will be back to change the gruesome narrative of the refugee experience and add even more color to places like Moria.