INDEPENDENT WITNESS

Malawi – Story 4, Claire and Lude

I’ve come to dislike the work transformation. It gets bandied about by business types in a feckless manner which drives me demented. So when I was crafting this story in my head, I kept getting caught on the word transformation, because what we witnessed in Malawi was nothing short of a miracle – a wondrous and amazing (here we go) transformation!

This is story that I want to shout from the…

Malawi – Story 2, The Awakening

The rain thrashed the tent all night and every rustle and snuffle from outside had me up and out of my bed. On one hand I was willing myself to peak outside in expectation of seeing something astounding and on the other hand I was afraid of the dark. I felt like a child.

Which wasn’t entirely a bad place to be, as the second day of our journey was the commencement of our leadership development in…

Malawi – Story 1, The Arrival

I wanted to start at the very beginning of our journey, before the real action started as it sets the scene for much of what was to come. The Hunger Project New Zealand Awaken Leadership Development Programme has been coming together over many months with participants working hard to raise $10,000 each to invest in the sustainable termination of hunger and poverty.

On Saturday we arrived in…

A childhood lost…

Dawn breaks on the outskirts of Calais, France. A steady stream of men meander along a road towards the camp they call home. Dark figures, heads shrouded in hoodies, shoulders slumped, eyes heavy. Hearts even heavier. With their backs to us, they barely offer an upward glance as we drive past, onwards into the camp known as the Jungle. To some their presence would cause alarm, they are numerous…

The Pied Piper of the Jungle

She has been likened to the Pied Piper, such is the trail of desperate people who follow Elaine Murphy on her rounds through the illegal camp of refugees known as the Jungle in Calais. It’s a far cry from her home town of Thurles where until recently she was an IT instructor. The 37 year old mother of three now splits her time between Ireland and Calais delivering outreach to the thousands of…

CAESAR – Syrian Human Rights Violations

Since 2011 more than 250,000 Syrian people have been killed in the war which has seen over 11 million others displaced. In March 2011 pro-democracy protests erupted in Deraa, just north of the Syrian border with Jordan, after some teenagers who had tagged a school wall with revolutionary signs were arrested and tortured. Security forces opened fire and killed demonstrators, resulting in…

Finally – the first story on sky news tonight.  “Sky Witnesses Distressing Migrants Rescue” http://news.sky.com/story/1623626/sky-witnesses-distressing-migrants-rescue Help us help them – donate – 100% goes direct to refugees and those providing immediate aid. 

When Volunteers & Government Collide

Over the past week there have been reports of volunteers being arrested on Lesvos. Yesterday Ekathimerini.com rather dramatically reported that seven foreign nationals working for NGOs were arrested on Monday for “stealing” life jackets from the local dump. The report went on to suggest that local authorities didn’t believe the volunteers requirements for the life jackets – which was to use them…

2015 – The Year of the Refugee

In 2015 more than one million people entered Europe by land and sea, the largest mass migration since WWII. Nearly all of these people risked their lives by crossing the sea, with a reported 500,000 landing at the small Greek island of Lesvos. Many European countries have opened their hearts and their homes. Hundreds of volunteers have emerged to complement the efforts of the NGOs providing aid…

Refugee Watch Contribution to Lesvos

To date Refugee Watch has raised €8,008 from donations. Following our trip to Lesvos this is how that money is being disbursed: Donation Number 1 – €5,700.00 to Disaster Tech Lab €5,700 of what we have raised from all you kind people has been pledged to an Irish NGO – Disaster Tech Lab. You can read more about them here. They have been on the island for over three months and have built a wifi…

Live from Lesvos – The Unsung Heroes – Day 3

When I departed for Lesvos I was pretty certain that I  would be reporting on the same dramatic events that I had seen in the media in the preceding months. Apart from the initial global outrage when the body of three year old Aylan Kurdi washed up on the shores of Kos, I had to go digging around on social media to find out what was happening. Despite the hundreds of volunteers on the island, few…

Pikpa is an open, self organised refugee camp on the south eastern coast of Lesvos, a stones throw from the airport and a short distance from the main town centre, Mytilene. The collective of volunteers are squatting on municipality ground since 2012. Of all the camps we saw, Pikpa has the nicest vibe. It is directly opposite the sea,  shrouded by Olive Trees and fronted by an enormous shipping…

Live from Lesvos – Day 3 

Today we learned about the fantastic work undertaken by Disaster Tech Lab (“DTL”) providing infrastructure in and around the refugee camps to enable both volunteers and refugees with wifi. It may not sound as critical as shelter, food and clothing but without it, the success of the entire initiative is at risk. The team deserve a much bigger write up, which we intend to do next, but first we…

Last night we committed to a beach watch, 8 hours stationed surveying the sea. It was bitterly cold, the whipping wind making it feel colder than it actually was. We sat from midnight until 8 am, occasionally stomping across the pebbled sand to stave off sleep. After a while your eyes play tricks on you and you see phantom boats on the horizon.  We parked next to the life guards – such was our…

Live from Lesvos – Day 1 PM

We carried on towards Skala on the northern coast. The road quickly turned to dirt as it veered upwards. We carefully skirted around volunteer cars coming from the opposite direction; clearly identifiable by the high vis jacketed drivers. We realised the line of cars were full of blanketed people. When we reached the summit we found the last few remaining refugees from the latest recovery being…