Today was a pretty free form day with no planned agenda beyond knowing to meet up with Abdul Aziz to share my computer so he could make a new photoshop project for his series. So we went into the Idomeni Camp to see what help we could offer and after a quick peek into the childrens tent we could see it was bedlam with crayons quickly disappearing into tiny little fists. So we stayed to colour in and help control the mini riot of kids playing and colouring in.

I met a fun young boy of about 11 or 12 I think who showed me some magic tricks that blew my mind, he then explained how he did the tricks and I’m still impressed and I’ll leave it to him to have the kudos of showing others. It was good fun. Leigh was suckered into making the paper toys that I used to play as kids where you have four numbers on the top and makes a little pyramid over your fingers. The one where to count to ‘three’ and then open to choose a colour, that selection would then tell you your fortune, the home made kind that you made up! If that little paper toy makes any sense, then great you know what I’m talking about .. otherwise, the boys loved them for making snappy mouth creatures that munched and nipped.

We also took a tour around further side of the camp by the rail tracks and abandoned train shed that we hadn’t seen before. Where the kids tents where, a football ground and a solar tent for charging phones.

I even had my home made ‘sign’ asking for permission now and for every photo that you clearly see faces I asked very specifically for permission. For example the guys playing backgammon, the adults are seriously challenged to find entertainment in the camp and I know that being able to boost moral and boredom would be a huge benefit to the camp. So I wanted to capture the peace of these two guys playing a game.

Oh and those train tracks that run through the middle of the camp, those are working train tracks with a train coming through about every 3 days, so the police move people to the side and ensure a clear track. So those tents are awfully close to a train passing through.

After that it was back to Park Hotel, the volunteers central hub for Idomeni. I met up with a fellow member of Refugees START and we set of to find and meet up with Abdul Aziz who is a young man desperate to work on a new project in Photoshop. He’s no longer owns a laptop, pc or any other tech than his phone and if I had to suddenly leave my tech filled life .. well, I don’t know how I’d cope but not nearly as well as he does in his current life sleeping in freezing tents.

We learned that he had just started a new job volunteering as a translator in order to feel like he has a job and to not be so incredibly bored by the same dismal camp life. So we both waited for him and also helped other refugees who needed advice or items of shoes / clothing. Trace was amazing providing a hug, a smiling face and advice to a young unaccompanied minor who is struggling to get through the closed borders to live with his Uncle who has now settled in Austria. I sincerely hope that the legal system moves faster and enables kids like him to get better support and a faster process to re-settle with family in other countries.

I also learned two lessons, one was something I’d forgotten from not being around children that often and that is .. don’t do something like play whirly gig with kids where you spin around and around. NOT unless you want to do the same for the other dozens, upon dozens of kids who want the same ‘ride’! I’m learning fast!

The second was that drawing a heart and asking what the word is in arabic is a good way to interact with kids, Alhub or what sounds like Alhub means ‘heart’ in Arabic. We didn’t get much further as Abdul Aziz arrived and went to as quiet a corner as we could find to chat and to prove I have photoshop for him to mess around in for about 20 minutes before leaving for the evening at about 9pm.