Another day everyone We started late this morning, we hadn't slept well, we lay awake trying to process all that we had seen yesterday, when we were submerged in it and busy we hadn't given it much thought, but at night the reality dawns. The reality is, it is going to get cold, very, very cold and there is no escape for the Refugees, the weather is really quite warm at the moment, a bit damp, a bit misty but altogether not too bad, it's about 16 degrees, they think it is winter, we know that if its a cold one this year it's going to maybe hit minus 10, they have no real idea of that. They are literally going to freeze to death. Laura, Sid and Caroline are working like mad people to get some decent insulated shelters built but time is running out.
The Spirit of Ashram Kitchen ( free food for those that need it) where Mica and I are working has changed dramatically overnight, some new shelving has sprung up from nowhere and storage has been doubled, breakfast has already been served and we are straight into getting the washing up done and prepping for lunch and dinner.
We are now the only volunteers working during the day, the kitchen is being manned mainly by Kurds. Hero, the lady ( she is 27 ) who does most of the cooking is so pleased to see us, she was worried that we weren't coming back because we were late in, she is enjoying the company of women in a mainly male dominated environment, we talk about face cream and skinny jeans, she is a Christian and tells us to visit the church on the way out tonight.
With Aram, we get the washing up area cleaned up and streamlined, we bleach everything, the place smells like a swimming pool by the time we have finished. Then the peeling of potatoes and carrots for 300 + people starts, it just goes on and on and on.
Water has to be fetched in 50 litre barrels, Mica went with some of the lads to the taps, they are about 200 metres away through a river of stinking mud, they stand inline and wait their turn behind men stripped and washing themselves or collecting water in anything from old paint pots to coca cola cans, it's hard to imagine that in Europe during the 21st century there are men, woman and children forced to live like this, it's a bloody disgrace.
Tomorrow, Hero tells me it's my turn to do lunch, I have decided on Thai curry because I found some creamed coconut in the storeroom and we have been given a load of pumpkins, neither of which Hero has ever seen before, she says the pumpkins scare her, funny old world isn't it?
P.S. We visited the church, it is possibly the most beautiful church I have ever been in, every element has been lovingly crafted out of nothing, depictions of Christ and Mary have been painted by someone of great talent and the feeling of peace amongst the chaos is tangible.
