The arrival of the refugees
| The arrival of the refugees |
The first lorries arrived at "Kukes Two" at nine o'clock in the evening. No-one was expecting them. The A.N.A. volunteers had just finished putting up the tents for the night. And then nobody could have imagined how that night was to turn out when, lorry after lorry, tractor after tractor, arrived to dump its cargo of suffering humanity on the edges of the camp, where fortunately there were already about a hundred Greek tents ready. 1,500 refugees arrived that night, most of them women, children and old people, tired, sick and starving with their feet in shreds. In the space of a few minutes, the teams set to work, organising who would take charge of light, who would organise the blankets, who distribute water and bread. Bread: the staff of life. The Medical Squad performed miracles, for thirty-six hours on the trot they performed over 200 operations, saving many brought to death's door by privation, dehydration and injuries. The stream of refugees petered out at about three o'clock in the morning. But one child, just 18 months old, didn't make it through the night, and the burden still lies heavy on the hearts of the volunteers. | |||
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