The human thing
My personal story about meeting refugees in Greece
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ABOUT
Who I am
My name is Joëlle van der Pol. I will be in Lesvos, Greece giving humanitarian aid to refugees. I am a woman, daugther and girlfriend. Also I am a consultant, writer and entrepreneur.
I am 26 now. I grew up in a small village in the east of The Netherlands playing outside with my younger brother and sister. As soon as I was allowed I went to university in Delft, took my time and studied at least three topics. After graduation I moved in with my boyfriend and started working as a strategy consultant.
What do I do
I am working for the Dutch Boat Refugee Foundation.
"The volunteers of the Boat Refugee Foundation (Stichting Bootvluchteling) work on Lesbos, Leros and Kos and in Athens. Here we provide emergency aid and supplies to boat refugees. We focus on the most vulnerable among them: pregnant women, breastfeeding women and children under age 9.
The emergency aid on the islands is poorly organised. Often there is no shelter, no food, no amenities, nobody who looks out for them. The situation seems hopeless.
As a foundation we work, wherever possible, with other support organisations (UNHCR, Red Cross, et cetera) and local volunteers. The number of local volunteers is wholly insufficient. They not only provide emergency aid for thousands of refugees, but also have to deal with unwilling politicians and angry citizens. Other organisations are not yet present, or with a skeleton staff."
Why this story
I feel helping refugees is a pretty selfish thing to do, at least for me it is.
I'd say the biggest reason for me to go to Greece is to be able to form my opninion on the human thing (see my first blogpost) from within. I'd like to confirm / change my strong feelings about the matter and feel less ignorant and biased.
Secondly I do like helping people, it makes me smile and cry at the same time. And I like the fact it does the same to them. I would like to help them a bit more by sharing their stories and photo's, and make them feel like they matter again.
