New Best Friend

The last few nights my team has been at Moria, which is one of the larger camps on the island where the refugees stay until they can register and then take the ferry to Athens. At this camp, my team has been responsible for helping families with young children get into the housing structures in camp, and then getting them the food, clothing and blankets needed for the night.

While we get to meet and help so many people during our time in the camps, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know these boys over the past few days. The boy on the far right is Noraden. He is only 9 and doesn’t speak a word of English, but he quickly became my best friend.

 

 

I first met him and his family at a camp called Sykaminias, which is the transition camp between where they first come onto the island, and Moria, which is where they have to stay until they can register. My team was then at Moria the next two nights, which allowed us to see him and his family three nights in a row, which was such a blessing.

Noraden has been such a light in a place where most people have seen such great loss. From pushing the carts of food when we pass out dinner, to helping me carry bags of personal belongings and blankets down to the rooms, Noraden is always by my side and ready to help.

 

His big smile has made all the difference in this first week of being in the camps. While I’ll miss seeing his face each night, I pray that his family can get out of the camp and on to Athens so that they can continue on their journey.

It’s only been a week at camp, and as volunteers we have already been so blessed by getting to work here. Everyone here has been so appreciative, and although the work is exhausting both emotionally and physically, nothing quite compares to the feeling of being able to serve others in this capacity.

 

-Jade Zaharoff, January team