Island man returns from volunteering at Greek refugee camps
Lindsay Carroll | CBC News | Posted: April 11, 2016 10:00 AM | Last Updated: April 11, 2016
'You think it's bad, but then when you actually go there ... it sinks in a lot more'
An Island man has just returned home after volunteering in Greece for two weeks at refugee camps.
Mitchell Larkin, 22, from St. Peters, moved to Ireland in January with the intention of doing volunteer work. From there he joined a Facebook group of volunteers going to Lesbos, a small island off the coast of Greece.
"I heard about what was going on in Greece and I really felt like I wanted to go there and volunteer," Larkin said.
"You see photos of little kids, like in these tents, and you think it's bad, but then when you actually go there and see it for yourself — all the clutter and the garbage, how few rights these people have — it sinks in a lot more than just seeing the photos," he said.
Larkin is no stranger to volunteer work. Since he graduated high school, he's been volunteering with various organizations in Hawaii and on P.E.I., along with working, and travelling when he can.
Larkin was only able to go to Greece for two weeks, he said, because he had to pay for food, hotels and transportation out of his own pocket.
Most of his time was spent on Lesbos, helping refugees who arrived on the shore in small boats in the middle of the night.
Larkin recalled the first night he witnessed about 40 refugees arrive. They came in around six in the morning and volunteers gave them water and warm blankets, he said.
"That was our first eye-opening part of the trip. It was the first time we got to actually work with the refugees. It was the first time we were seeing what they had to go through to get here," said Larkin.
The boats they arrived in were only meant to fit about 10 people, he said, but usually were crowded with up to 40 people. There wasn't enough room to bring possessions, he said, which were often dumped overboard.
"I could never imagine having to do that for my own safety. Having to go to those lengths just to be safe," Larkin said.
"Once they got to the camp everyone was just smiles ... they'd already gotten through the worst part ... A lot of handshakes; a lot of hugs."
Larkin also spent one day in Athens where he volunteered to take care of the children at the camp, doing some face painting, colouring, playing catch and reading books. One little girl in particular stood out to him. Even though they didn't speak the same language, Larkin said they somehow managed to forge a bond.
"She ran up to me with this small children's book, and it's in Greek, she wanted me to read her the book, but I couldn't so we ended up just flipping from page to page, making noises and facial expressions that were going along with the story, and she just loved it, she would just laugh," he said.
The little girl and her family, like most of the thousands of people in the Athens camp, were relocated to other refugee camps because the government didn't want them there as tourist season approached, said Larkin.
Larkin said two weeks in Greece wasn't long enough and he's working at home this summer to save money for a return trip in the fall.