What I learnt from spending 5 weeks with refugees in Athens

It was the summer of last year. I found myself with a year off from NHS drudgery and a burning desire to do some fulfilling medical work for those in need. It wasn’t soon after that I had joined a medical voluntary group in the heart of Athens. You may (or may not) be aware of the colossal refugee problem going on there, but just to bring you up to speed: <ul> <li>There are tens of thousands of active asylum seekers in Greece — <a href="https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean/location/5179" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">with over a million people arriving since 2015.</a></li> <li>Many are driven there due to hostile or war-torn home environments but, as they cannot legally move through to Europe, they are effectively stuck.</li> <li>Many have significant health and psychological issues but cannot access basic medical care.</li> </ul> There is no time to flesh out the reasons for this occurrence or the political nature of this, but if you can click <a href="https://www.rescue.org/uk/country/greece" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> if you are interested in finding out more. <a href="https://medium.com/@mazinmirza72/what-i-learnt-from-spending-5-weeks-with-refugees-in-athens-4ef37a34f16c">Website</a>