Athens | Story no5Walking together

I reached Greece three months ago. I already knew about the Lavrio camp. We know the history of Lavrio because it is an important part of our struggle. Only Kurds live here. Somebody else from another country can live of course but we’d have a problem with language and communication. There are always problems in other camps where people of different nationalities and languages mix. Here money is not an issue. If someone does not have money I can give him food. Somebody else might not get that. Friends come before money. So it is very difficult for someone from another culture to live here.

Here there are people responsible for different things in the camp. There are committees of course, like the committee of education or the committee of food. Our organisation here is like a tree. We don’t receive any assistance from the Greek state to run the camp. Some organisations come here and help. We know that they can’t give money but they give us food and clothes or even toys for the children. Their work is voluntary and we appreciate that because it is very important.

Here in the camp I follow the ideas of PKK that I was brought up with. For example I want to be a good person and to try to reach people out, to talk and to build relationships. This is the culture that we know and this is what we live here. PKK itself tells us to respect and to live according to our values. So wherever we are we try not to separate or distance ourselves from each other but instead to live together and assist one another. For example when I was in prison my mother did not know any families in Diyarbakir, but our own people there helped her to find me and communicate with me. It is in our culture to be close to our people because we don’t have a country. Our country is being destroyed by the Turkish, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi governments. So that’s why we fight for our country and our people. In Rojava for example the female Kurd soldiers that are so widely known for their actions, are primarily fighting for the rights of every woman.

Of course in the camp we do have some problems between us also, but we solve them fast because we have to live together. It is not uncommon for 8 people to live in the same room because we have to. But I prefer to live here than in a flat. Here we are free, and we have spaces to talk and pass time. If you go to a flat you lose communal life. Here if a problem arises we all solve it together. We eat three times a day, usually each room catering for its own people. But we also have a massive kitchen where some times we all sit together and take our breakfast. Of course the camp is far away from Athens and you need transportation to go and see a friend in Athens. We don’t mingle much with the locals in Lavrio. We meet in the market and the cafeterias. Because people don’t stay long in the camp and leave for other countries, it is not easy to make relations with the locals. Sometimes though, some locals do come around here.

I would like to return to my country very much but it is not safe. If I don’t stay in Greece I would like to go somewhere where it is safe for the members of our organisation.