In the morning, Ayesha Keller shared her story. “Take from it what you want,” she said. “I hope it doesn’t bore you.” She started at the beginning of her tale, telling us how she was a super Waldorf child, yet wanted to be a businesswoman. She followed this career path, and lived a happy life with a boyfriend, a nice apartment, and a high salary. Yet she was still unfulfilled, and decided to quit her job and find joy elsewhere. A friend invited her along to volunteer at a refugee camp Lesbos, and on an impulse she came along for what was first meant to be five days. She was driven by her curiosity and questions. “We live in Europe, a country of equality and human rights, so how bad can it really be?” She ended up staying for more than a year, fighting to improve the quality of the camp and creating a small island of oasis in a sea of chaos.
So her new life started. A life very different from the world she came from. This was a raw world, an emotional world, and also an intensely beautiful world. More volunteers were arriving per day than refugees; people from all over the world that didn’t accept the media coverage and wanted to see for themselves what was going on. Ayesha told us that meeting the refugees when they first arrived on the shore was an intensely vulnerable experience, and one that created an unbelievable bond between people. At the same time as political borders were being built, personal boundaries collapsed.
Ayesha told us about the improvements and struggles, starting at renting the land to organising the volunteers and teaching them how to deal with hypothermia. She wanted to turn the refugee camp, a camp where people burned trash to stay warm, and babies lay alone in the mud, into an oasis. The refugees that arrived had been through much, and were sure to go through more. She created a community; a place where everybody was respected and seen as individuals, rather than as numbers. Things were looking up, while sweet chai and hugs flowed freely. There were also never any problems with financing. Money flew in through the network of volunteers, and no fundraising was ever necessary.
AYESHA KELLER "REFUGEE CRISIS"
Then everything changed as the borders started closing. Afghans were denied access to Greece, and the camp - that was meant to be a transit spot for a day or two - now locked up thousands. The entire system that had been so carefully constructed crashed. Refugees began being deported, which was an infiltration of human rights. Nobody knew what was going on. There was chaos, destruction, detainment. Riots. The politicians who enforced the new law thought they were doing the right thing, yet it had turned the camp into a prison. At first, there was a lot of international media attention, and people felt heard. But as the situation stayed unchanged, the media got bored with and left the scene. With nothing to do but protest, Ayesha and many others left the island to reevaluate the situation.
At the same time, warehouses were being filled to the brim with refugees. These housings did not meet basic prison requirements in Europe, in fact, they weren’t even legally suitable for animals. Ayesha decided to take one of these warehouses, and, using the same budget and time frame, turn it into a place that would at least meet basic human requirements. “It was a bit like a shitty hostel,” she laughed. Spirits soared at first, but when the mode of survival faded away into comfort, depression kicked in. Ayesha and her team fought hard to do everything they could. They received no after no, yet never gave up until a yes had been granted. But due to the detainment strategy, they were not allowed to make the warehouse a better place.
The government simply didn’t want to improve the situation in Greece. Ayesha told us that the solutions for the refugee problem aren’t bad, it's just the implementing that’s not happening. A ripple of snaps went through the audience. Ayesha currently works for the Citizens of the World Choir, which will soon begin their first tour in the UK. It’s goal is to invite outsiders to meet refugees, because people that are scared of refugees, have never met a refugee. And then you will realise: refugees are people. Like you. Like me. All with a story, and a will for a better life. Ayesha concluded her lecture by reading us a poem by her sister after she visited Ayesha in a refugee camp. The rhythm was powerful, every syllable hitting the audience. “We will never give up fighting for the value of your lives.” It was a powerful closure for a powerful lecture. A lecture that was honest, and passionate, and clear, and woke many of us up to a situation that is ongoing and often silent.
“This is my story, take from it what you want"
Ayesha and Ruha Keller @ Talks at Google
"Personal Insights into the Syrian Refugee Crisis"
Ayesha grew up in Scotland and travelled to Lesvos in November 2015. She helped set up the NGO that ran the biggest independent camp on the island, and then went on to pilot new dignified housing projects for refugees in Northern Greece. Ruha grew up in Syria and fled to Lesvos in a rubber boat with her 2 younger sisters, 3 teenage cousins and 96-year-old grandmother. She joined a Swiss NGO as a volunteer translator and finally made it to Sweden to be reunited with her parents. In this talk, Ayesha and Ruha discuss their personal experiences, and their interactions with refugees, migration experts, large NGOs, journalists and politicians.
Moderated by Raphael Leiteritz.