Blog # 8 Around Kara Tepe Village
April 24, 2018
Blog 8
Around Kara Tepe Village
Gentle Reader,
As you probably remember, we are not allowed to photograph any of the residents at Kara Tepe. Many of them are here having left very difficult and dangerous circumstances at home. We do not photograph residents so that their privacy is respected and honored.
That being said, I went to Kara Tepe a little early yesterday and took photos around the camp, before residents were up and about.
So, I will attempt to offer your a visual journey through the various spaces at Kara Tepe.
This is the Yurt, which is a theatre, almost in the round. It is used for various entertainments as well as the Dance Parties on Wednesday and Friday nights. It's a good space, of course shaded from the sun on the inside, and seats a few hundred people. Seats even more when babies are on their mama's laps.
This is Kara Tepe Square, the heart center of the village. The Shop for clothing is here, as is the Chai House. Numerous benches are in this area, with sun and shade shifting as the day goes on. I love to come here early in the morning and watch the village wake up. Many young children arrive at the Chai House, filling up thermoses for their families.
I often sit in this area between shifts of working, or during lunch. This provides a good space for further reading of The Girl from Aleppo, which I am about half way through at this time. Without fail, some of the residents end up sitting down with me, asking me about the book, where I'm from, etc... This is a place for conversation and companionship. I like the aliveness of this square, as well as the friendship it offers. After one week at Kara Tepe, this is a place I visit with familiar faces.
These are the housing units for the residents -- known as Isoboxes. There are about 250 of these units here in the village. They are set up in rows and rows on this olive grove. These Isoboxes are a tremendous step up from the many tents at Moria Camp. Electricity is provided by solar panels. I wish I could show you the way families, especially women and children, gather on blankets between the isoboxes. There is clearly a sense of safety and community here at Kara Tepe.
These are the two music buildings in the village. Love that Lennon's "Imagine" is honored here!
This is the beauty shop in the village. People can go here for haircuts, nail services, hair removal, etc... Most of the young boys have the lower part of their heads shaved, with the hair longer and fuller on the top, often with many gorgeous curls. The women tend to have very long hair, often tucked under a hijab.
This is the restroom for those in wheelchairs or physically challenged in some way. These residents at Kara Tepe are considered some of the most vulnerable refugees, so they find their home at Kara Tepe instead of Moria. I notice that it is sometimes difficult for residents in wheelchairs to negotiate all the rocks around Kara Tepe. Family members are gentle guides and frequently help those in wheelchairs navigate the village.
More views of the Isobox housing units around the village...
This is an image of the back of the Community Kitchen. You can see how it is powered. When it is first turned on in the morning, large clouds of black smoke emerge from the generator, but then all is fine.
More of the artwork at Kara Tepe. I'm not sure who painted around the village, but I will try to find out...
Two views around Kara Tepe...
Another typical sight. Keep in mind that 600 of the 1200 residents at Kara Tepe are children. Yesterday in The Shop, I offered to hold another baby again so the mama's hands would be freed up to select clothing. The baby was tightly swaddled, sleeping on a bench with a white scarf across his face to shield sun. When the baby woke up, it rolled over a bit, even in the swaddling. Biana, a volunteer in The Shop, was close by and caught the baby before he rolled onto the floor. It was at that point that I offered to hold and rock this little guy.
We have a few toys and books in The Shop for children to play with while their parents look for clothes and shoes. They tend to disappear after a while, however. The children are also very resourceful about creating toys: playing with plastic box lids is a favorite passtime!
There is a tremendous need for books here at Kara Tepe. I may be running a Go Fund Me to enable me to ship a box of books to Kara Tepe once I am back in the States. In the meantime, if you are a friend of mine from Kentucky, consider setting aside a few gently used or new children's books for this purpose. I will update you as I work on this plan.
This is my roomate's Garden Project at Kara Tepe. Ben talks about the non-necessity of words when gardening, again another activity where language barriers become insignificant. Last night after the Community Kitchen Picnic, I gathered up some of the vegetable scraps and left them for Ben to use in the compost pile. Makes me happy to see nothing going to waste here.
I was delighted that at the Sharing Circle on Friday night, Ben talked of our search for chicken shit from local farmers as a "high" of his week here at Kara Tepe. Was definitely a unique introduction to Lesvos!!!
To honor Ben's good work here in the garden, I will end today's blog with some quotes about gardening:
Blog 8
Around Kara Tepe Village
Gentle Reader,
As you probably remember, we are not allowed to photograph any of the residents at Kara Tepe. Many of them are here having left very difficult and dangerous circumstances at home. We do not photograph residents so that their privacy is respected and honored.
That being said, I went to Kara Tepe a little early yesterday and took photos around the camp, before residents were up and about.
So, I will attempt to offer your a visual journey through the various spaces at Kara Tepe.
This is the Yurt, which is a theatre, almost in the round. It is used for various entertainments as well as the Dance Parties on Wednesday and Friday nights. It's a good space, of course shaded from the sun on the inside, and seats a few hundred people. Seats even more when babies are on their mama's laps.
This is Kara Tepe Square, the heart center of the village. The Shop for clothing is here, as is the Chai House. Numerous benches are in this area, with sun and shade shifting as the day goes on. I love to come here early in the morning and watch the village wake up. Many young children arrive at the Chai House, filling up thermoses for their families.
I often sit in this area between shifts of working, or during lunch. This provides a good space for further reading of The Girl from Aleppo, which I am about half way through at this time. Without fail, some of the residents end up sitting down with me, asking me about the book, where I'm from, etc... This is a place for conversation and companionship. I like the aliveness of this square, as well as the friendship it offers. After one week at Kara Tepe, this is a place I visit with familiar faces.
These are the housing units for the residents -- known as Isoboxes. There are about 250 of these units here in the village. They are set up in rows and rows on this olive grove. These Isoboxes are a tremendous step up from the many tents at Moria Camp. Electricity is provided by solar panels. I wish I could show you the way families, especially women and children, gather on blankets between the isoboxes. There is clearly a sense of safety and community here at Kara Tepe.
These are the two music buildings in the village. Love that Lennon's "Imagine" is honored here!
This is the beauty shop in the village. People can go here for haircuts, nail services, hair removal, etc... Most of the young boys have the lower part of their heads shaved, with the hair longer and fuller on the top, often with many gorgeous curls. The women tend to have very long hair, often tucked under a hijab.
This is the restroom for those in wheelchairs or physically challenged in some way. These residents at Kara Tepe are considered some of the most vulnerable refugees, so they find their home at Kara Tepe instead of Moria. I notice that it is sometimes difficult for residents in wheelchairs to negotiate all the rocks around Kara Tepe. Family members are gentle guides and frequently help those in wheelchairs navigate the village.
More views of the Isobox housing units around the village...
This is an image of the back of the Community Kitchen. You can see how it is powered. When it is first turned on in the morning, large clouds of black smoke emerge from the generator, but then all is fine.
More of the artwork at Kara Tepe. I'm not sure who painted around the village, but I will try to find out...
Two views around Kara Tepe...
Another typical sight. Keep in mind that 600 of the 1200 residents at Kara Tepe are children. Yesterday in The Shop, I offered to hold another baby again so the mama's hands would be freed up to select clothing. The baby was tightly swaddled, sleeping on a bench with a white scarf across his face to shield sun. When the baby woke up, it rolled over a bit, even in the swaddling. Biana, a volunteer in The Shop, was close by and caught the baby before he rolled onto the floor. It was at that point that I offered to hold and rock this little guy.
We have a few toys and books in The Shop for children to play with while their parents look for clothes and shoes. They tend to disappear after a while, however. The children are also very resourceful about creating toys: playing with plastic box lids is a favorite passtime!
There is a tremendous need for books here at Kara Tepe. I may be running a Go Fund Me to enable me to ship a box of books to Kara Tepe once I am back in the States. In the meantime, if you are a friend of mine from Kentucky, consider setting aside a few gently used or new children's books for this purpose. I will update you as I work on this plan.
This is my roomate's Garden Project at Kara Tepe. Ben talks about the non-necessity of words when gardening, again another activity where language barriers become insignificant. Last night after the Community Kitchen Picnic, I gathered up some of the vegetable scraps and left them for Ben to use in the compost pile. Makes me happy to see nothing going to waste here.
I was delighted that at the Sharing Circle on Friday night, Ben talked of our search for chicken shit from local farmers as a "high" of his week here at Kara Tepe. Was definitely a unique introduction to Lesvos!!!
To honor Ben's good work here in the garden, I will end today's blog with some quotes about gardening:
The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.
— Alfred Austin
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.
— Marcus Tullius Cicero
I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.
— David Hobson
Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.
— May Sarton
May your day be filled with the gentle patience and working hands of a gardener... may your soul be fed by the bloomings of spring around you, wherever you happen to be. I hope you will be nurtured by your food today, grateful for the many gardeners whose hands helped bring life-giving food to your table.
Namaste,
Marianne
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