Athens | Story no3Walking together

I am Afghani. However I lived with my parents not in Afghanistan but in Iran. I was born in Teheran and never lived in Afghanistan, so I was treated always as a foreigner. At the end of February 2016 I decided to leave and start the great journey towards Europe. I travelled with my husband and our two little children. The journey was long and hard, we crossed the borders of Iran with Turkey, went to Istanbul, then Izmir, then Chios and now are in Athens. The journey had many dangers, first and foremost the various smugglers because for each passage we had to find a smuggler, so in total we used 10. We constantly had to hide in order to cross the border and even in Turkey it was extremely hard. Even if we didn’t have any food or water we had to stay hidden and quiet so the authorities would not find us. Another great difficulty was the distance itself, a lot of the times we had to walk in the snow in the middle of the winter at night so it was very cold. We had to walk during the night and not the day so we were afraid because we couldn’t see the trail and we constantly feared that someone from the team might get lost in the way.

When we reached Athens, they took us to the camp at Elliniko. There were three camps there; we were in “Arrivals” at the first space. This space was huge and we lived there with 2500 refugees. It was horrible. There was no sense of security. I stayed there for 2 months. We lived inside the building and although that sounds a lot better than living outside in the tent, within the building there were no walls or anything to separate us so we all stayed together with no privacy whatsoever. In reality I did not sleep for two months because I was afraid that someone might come to steal our belongings or even our children. The hygienic conditions were terrible; everywhere it was dirty with excrements. Also there was no hot food. Not to mention that there were no interpreters or cultural mediators. There was nobody responsible to hear us, to listen to what our basic needs were. After many days they just brought us some basic medication. Most kids were sick because the quality of the food was extremely bad and in reality there was no hot food so consequently most of them were weak. Even the water was dirty. Eventually kids developed fever and diarrhoea but only the most severe cases were being treated and that was done in the following way. In the morning they concentrated the worse cases, they kept them on the side all together and at night an ambulance was coming to get them to the hospital. So a kid could die just waiting for the duration of the day until the ambulance come at night. The only thing they kept telling us was to give water to the children but we did not have any clean water. They were taking the piss right in front of our very eyes. We had no boiler to boil the dirty water and kill the germs.

Two months after, a team came from Germany. We had no information whatsoever what the situation was in Serbia or the rest of the countries that were part of our journey and we believed or hoped that soon we would be able to leave Athens and continue our journey. The German team had social workers and legal advisors with them and informed us that the only choice we had was to claim asylum in Greece or to request reunification if we had any other members of our family somewhere else in Europe. So, I thought I have no money, nobody that I know in Europe and no papers to stay in Greece since the temporary one month permit had just expired. We were in a dead end.

At that point we heard from some solidary people that the City Plaza squat opened, and I was eventually one of the first that came here. I remember that first day I went as the last day in fear because I was with people, the solidarity people that were trying to open the door of the building and there was commotion. So I said to myself that if this doesn’t work and the police comes, the only think I can do is to hug my children. But everything went well and we entered the building. Instantly I felt a sense of security for myself and care from the solidarity network people. It was the first time I felt welcomed since the beginning of my journey.

I am here for two and a half years. At the beginning things were more difficult. We had no water and no electricity. I remember for two nights we had no power whatsoever. But I also remember how the solidarity people brought us great lunches and breakfast. Also the rooms were brilliant, the best rooms I stayed so far in our journey and for the first time clean spaces. Here we also have a great kitchen that we build slowly but that functions perfectly. Families from all over the world live here and that is great, because you meet people and learn things about so many countries that you would never had a chance to otherwise. In City Plaza, the residents speak all the languages and all the religions in the world. I feel truly lucky to be here. The most important thing is that we share everything and care for one another here. We cook together, we eat together, we make so many common actions, we go out together and of course we fight together. We all agreed on some rules. First rule was that we respect one another, that we are all responsible for what’s happening here collectively and that we are in solidarity between us. We built spaces like a kids’ space, a women’s space and a small medical room. We made everything collectively and we share everything collectively. It is also important that all of us participate in everything. Not only in cleaning, cooking, and washing, the shifts and the security, in short, the basic functions of the building. But also participate in the political process, in the assemblies, in the events and the demonstrations. We also set up language lessons and childcare so that mothers could leave them and go out. Another primary rule is that no fighting is allowed. If such a matter arises then a particular team in the reception is responsible for conflict resolution. That is very good for us.

Certainly at the beginning things were quite hard because we did not know if we stay or leave from Greece, if the squat makes it or not, while it took us time to build relationships of trust between us. But what we wanted was to have a quiet and peaceful space to relax from the psychological pressures of the journey. Besides I was under great pressure from the family of my husband that kept telling me that I am a failure and that I failed to reach a good country in Europe. They accused me that I quit everything in Tehran and eventually failed and that it would be best if I head back. We will send you money to come back, they said. Of course I did not accept the offer, and kept repeating to myself that I am responsible for myself and that I will eventually make it. So I needed time to see what I could do. What I did know was that I was alone, I had no help from anyone and constantly faced questions on where do I go next, what will I do in the future, what would I do with my children. You left for a better life and you lost everything, you have no choices and no money left. Really for the first six months my brain had stopped working. I could answer nothing; I could think of nothing, I was so confused with what would happen to me, I wanted only to save my children. I think of all these now and my heart hurts. I needed psychological support and City Plaza provided it. Every week I talked to a psychologist that told me to rely on my strengths and that eventually I’ll make it. I believe that finally due to the support and solidarity of the people in City Plaza I made it.