What does an illegal refugee camp look like?

The following are pictures from the Idomeni Refugee Camp in Greece.

The camp has now been torn down; there is nothing there but fields. Many of the people in Idomeni have been moved to camps run by the military.

These pictures serve as a reminder of what life was like in Idomeni.

Signs at the entrance to the camp. The refugees had been stuck for months, without any information. The proper channels for them to file for asylum were mostly shut down; people were told to file for asylum through a Skype number that was never answered. So people who are legally allowed to seek asylum are left helpless.

A volunteer paints the nails of some kids. 

My team, Drop in the Ocean, prepares supplies to hand out the following day. Shoes.

Idomeni sits on the border between Greece and Macedonia, and was originally a transit camp, where refugees were processed before being let into Europe. Even though the border was closed, due to pressure from the EU, people continued to arrive, hoping for the border to reopen. Idomeni bottle necked, overflowed, and became what you see in these photos.

 The Drop in the Ocean team, after a long day. The men without the vests, in the middle, were our refugee volunteers and they were amazing. They translated and maintained order. The young man on the far right is named Muhammed and he was lovely. He's also a refugee and helped us translate. He got nervous and giggly around the female volunteers, and was always eager to help. A GREAT group of people.

We let the kids paint the trailer. It was a fun, crazy day, and the kids really enjoyed the distraction.

There was no official school in the refugee camp, so volunteers set one up; this is the schedule. The kids, who were usually in school, were desperate for some sense of normalcy, and were bored. Any activities for them were sorely needed and kept them out of trouble.

 People collect donated fire wood.


More fire wood collecting. But it wasn't enough and people were forced to burn plastic bottles. The camp often smelled of burning plastic as a result.

Getting the wood back to their tent.

Cooking dinner with firewood and plastic. The people, even though they had very little, were generous with what meager amounts they had. They were always inviting volunteers into their tent for tea or dinner.

A volunteer with a refugee child.

We held signs to let people know what we were distributing that day. Kids, eager to help, always held the signs for us.

Another helper.

Another friendly helper, shy near the camera. 

 Tents amid artwork.

The kids didn't have many art supplies, so we let them draw on our signs when we were finished.

The kids from another make shift school. The teacher wouldn't let me take her picture, but said I could photograph the class.

The camp was huge. And dirty. And chaotic. But the people seemed optimistic. The tents were overcrowded and baked in the hot sun. They sank into the muddy earth when it rained and had to be be placed on wooden palates.

Heading to work in the van.

 A volunteer getting her hair braided.

Open the borders.

 A helicopter hovered over the camp as we passed out supplies. The population here fluctuated from 16,000 to 11,000 and there were often more people in line than there were supplies. A big part of my job was maintaining order and preventing fights by keeping the line in shape.

The place I slept. It wasn't so bad. It's in an abandoned gas station next to Park Hotel, and I used cardboard to make the ground softer.

The volunteers hung out and organize at a hotel called Park Hotel. It's about a 20 minute drive from the camp, and the owners were kind enough to let us turn it into a makeshift volunteer headquarters. The place gave us a chance to decompress over beers and have our daily meetings.

Some of volunteer organizations you can contact to donate or volunteer are:

 Doctors without borders.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/country-region/greece

Drop in the Ocean. (the group I volunteered with) They distribute clothing, toiletries, baby food, whatever they can get.
http://drapenihavet.no/en/

Team bananas. They give out bananas to the kids.
https://www.gofundme.com/teambananas

Hummus rights project. They give out hummus to people.
https://www.gofundme.com/87j6c6c4

Idomeni is closed, but many camps are still open and are in desperate need of supplies.

Most refugees are women and children, desperate to escape violence and war. These people just want to go to school, and go to work, and live in safety.