#thegivingfoodtruck
18.-19.03.2016 idomeni, lesbos/greece. the 4 ½ day´s i spend in the camp have been brutal intense. i met so many beautiful souls, saw horrifying conditions, hopeful and lost eyes, have been told dozens of unique story´s, experienced the pride of people who lost everything and now stay for weeks under the worst condition you can not even imagine, but still being able to stay humble. it was simply heartbreaking. on the other side it gives me even more drive to continue this journey, to tell the story´s behind this disaster and about the complete failure of the european politics. when i think of all this strong people, there is no other way to stay strong too, for them, for us, trying to inspire, trying to change minds, trying to explain, trying to help, trying to shine light into the darkness. there is no way i will give up, we need this change. if we fail, our society will fail in entirety. we will fall back into the darkest time of human existence, so there is no other way than to continue. we are the 98%, if we unite, nothing and no one can stop us! talk to each other! spread love and kindness! laugh and learn from our differences! make your life a contribution to all beings!
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02.03.2016camp pikpa, lesbos/greeece. the therapist and social-workers at camp pikpa are doing a playful exercise with the children to get them used again to a sound that have them left deeply traumatised, the bang. since these children grew up in an environment of war, they connect this sound naturally with explosions and gunfire, so even in a peaceful environment they are scared to death whenever they hear this sound, because it brings them back to worst memory´s of their young life´s. the exercise is simple, they let the children blow up balloons and let them stick a needle in it to make them pop. i am deeply thankful for the work the people in the camp are doing and for the rare chance to document it, because it is the very comprehensible and strict policy of the camp-management to not allow any photos of the refugees in the camp. camp pikpa is a place exclusive for the very vulnerable cases, refugees that are so deeply traumatised that it is not possible for them to stay in the regular camps. the compassion and devotion from the volunteers here is simply incredible and they hold it up on a daily level.
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28.02.2016 camp pikpa, lesbos/greece. the artist selwyn senatori is spraying his art on the giving foodtruck formovement on the ground.the kitchen in a container can provide thousands of healthy, hot meals 24/7 to the refugees and aid workers there. since it came in november 2015 it was covered all over with the pictures of french fries and we all agreed that this have to change asap, but it was for sure not the first priority. thanks to johnny de molandmovement on the ground, now the truck is a happy and friendly piece of art, based in a camp for syrian children and family´s. selwyn had only one day to do this, so he was working all day long to get it done.
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11.10.2015 between eftalou and skala sikamineas, lesbos/greece.
this photo shows a beach, about 20 minutes after a rubber dingy had reached the shaw. it is a place where you have to climb up to a dirtroad and then walk for 30-40 minutes. the person on this photo is a photojournalist from italy that worked on the island several times. right now lesbos is kind of calm on the surface, no boats came during the last days as far as i know. it was very windy, but the weather was warm. we ask ourselfs on the island what causes the stop, if it´s the turkish coastguard or police, or the high presence of navi vessels on the water. maybe it is just the wind, or they have no boats right now. we don´t know. on the other side it is getting hefty here under the surface. a lot of volunteers suffer from the low action, feeling not needed here. the goverment and political pressure is getting stronger as well. the camps are officially run by the military now, a lot of the food distribution will come from them as well, at least that is the new plan. the lifeguards spend time on the beaches waiting. frustration. the thing is, every one here knows that there are 2.5 million or more syrian refugees in turkey, another estimated 2 million refugees and immigrants and most of them want to, need to come, because there is no future for them in turkey. the western military analysts now think that assad actually going to win the war against the people of syria this year with the help of russia. so there will be no way in the future for the syrian refugees to go back to their home, it would be suicide. i guess another 500.000 to 1.000.000 syrians will flee in the next month from syria for the very same reason. same time europa close its gates, planing to use greece virtually as detention camp, while the country itself is falling even deeper into crisis. we know, they will come, somehow. if not to lesbos, chios, kos, samos, they will find other, even much more dangerous ways. the number of more than 4000 dead refugees last year will skyrock, but they will come. there is no other choice. there is nothing left for them, for their children. they deserve a future!
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