It’s been a couple of weeks since we started our new initiative of distributing shower tickets in camp and shuttling women and children to our centre. Among the many who came to our centre this week, was a young woman. She came up to one of our short term team members, started playing with her hair, and began to talk about her interests and dreams. The young woman expressed her ambition to study Art. Our team member shares: “When she spoke she was really proud of herself. I felt in her voice the passion and the hope and the love to really live her life.” She shared about her desire to be in Athens one day and how being in Europe makes her feel that she really has the opportunity to pursue her dreams.

Her family arrived on Lesvos only a few months ago from Afghanistan via Turkey, like so many of the families we meet here. While they were speaking, the young woman was also able to teach our team member some words in Farsi. Our team member emphasised how important it is for her to learn some basic phrases in their language. She says, “We can show our love and our energy and that we want to help just by smiling, but it’s really special to be able to say something to them in their language.”

We love having these moments with the women and children who come through our doors on a daily basis. It encourages us all to have these conversations and to see the happiness and hope that so many people exhibit, despite the immense difficulties they have had to endure.