Dukakis Center interns visit refugee camp in Eidomeni

A group of ACT students and Dukakis Center interns travelled to the northern Greek village of Eidomeni on November 27 to distribute food and take stock of the situation of the makeshift refuge camps at the border between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 

The group were members of a Dukakis Masterclass in Photojournalism being conducted by renowned photojournalist Dimitris Bouras (SBALA ' 94). They brought -- and served -- food collected the day before at Anatolia's annual Thanksgiving feast, including fresh vegetables, rice, and turkey, with extra bread donated by a Panorama bakery and tangerines from a local greengrocer. 

When the group arrived in Eidomeni, transported in a small bus operated by Splendid Travel, they took stock of their surroundings and managed to locate one of the food distribution tents run by an independent NGO, thanks to Christa Colbas, a volunteer who accompanied the group from Thessaloniki. Given the prevailing weather conditions, with a steady, cold rain falling and mud and puddles everywhere, the group opted to take shelter in the food tent and help serve the queue of refugees who quickly assembled to take their midday meal.

After an hour of service, the ACT group returned to the bus to gather clothes and blankets that the students have gathered in Thessaloniki. A few accompanied Mr Bouras to the border, where a handful of Iranian refugees had been engaged in a hunger strike to protest not being allowed by the FYRoM authorities to cross the border and continue their trek toward northern Europe.

The students in the Masterclass will mount an informal exhibition of their photographs from Eidomeni to help raise awareness of the plight of the refugees stuck at the border.