February, a fresh shower of cold water after a long night of dreaming
The continuity of our projects, in terms of day by day learning, enable us to be more confident and expertise in the work we do. In my case, this constant interaction with the unaccompanied minors in Pylea build up a warm atmosphere of trust, which allow me to go deeper on their lives. Feeling part of the house (shelter) provides you the possibility to open yourself to others, and hence, to open the doors of enrichment to both sides.
As many of the boys’ don´t go to school, they are impatient waiting for something to do in the house, and the least we can do is offer them some interesting activities. In this case, through English and Spanish lessons, I try to share a great amount of knowledge, not only the formal ways of the language, but also some facts that I consider crucial for their reality. For example, showing them the connections between feelings and behaviours, they learn in a basic way, to identify their insides with the outsides and so on. I also taught them the differences between environments and the great importance on our lives, afterwards we planted cherry tomatoes and parsley in the garden. By this approach I try to show them the reality as one (feelings-behaviours, individual-environment, language-actions, etc.) and not divide it between words and actions. Besides, I am so grateful of participating in the project of Social Circus, it is one of the best activities that children and teenagers need during their development. Through games and juggling activities a wide range of skills is developed, from social skills as cooperation and trust, to cognitive and physical like attention, memory and self-awareness. The outcomes of these dynamics are easily seen on the child, smiles, laughs, joyful, etc., even the most difficult boy enjoy playing outside and leave aside his phone for a while.
But this are just realities in small human scale. However, if you look at it from a higher scale, the situation with the refugees is getting worse. The events that are taking place in the border with Turkey and the European actions are showing to the world the high hypocrisy and lack of empathy. People have to leave Middle-East countries because Western ones are causing wars (capitalism), but then, when refugees try to enter to these apparent better countries they crash firstly with the physical wall of the border and after with the social and ideological walls of racism and individualism. In this regard, the collective panic because of the Cov-19 is clouding this refugee situation, maybe because the virus can affect the rich person who lives up in the hill, but of course not the refugee situation who is suffering from hunger so far away of his sight.
Martín Sosa. Thessaloniki, February 2020.
