This year, for the first time, a group of Youth for Peace organised a week-long Summer School in the refugee camp in Corinth. It is a small camp located on the outskirts of the Greek city, near the station. It is mainly populated by migrants from Congo and sub-Saharan Africa, most of them alone. The few families present come largely from Syria and Afghanistan.
Here are the stories of these days of encounters, friendship and solidarity, told in the Youth’s own words.
‘We had known the camp and its guests for years, but we had only been able to make a few occasional visits,’ the Youth for Peace report. ‘ This year, we spent days full of life and encounters among the lined white tents and a gravel courtyard, and we understood once again that even just a small gesture leaves a mark on the lives of the children we meet. As soon as two Kurdish girls we met last Christmas, saw our blue bibs with the Sant’Egidio logo, hugged us and sang “We Are One” out loud. It is one of the songs we had taught them at the party.”
The young people’s stories are endless: like that of S., a seven-year-old Afghan girl who dreams of going to Germany and study to become a doctor so she can cure her mother, who is bedridden. It is a surprising example of determination, but it even shows how much hope and strength migrants have, whether they are adults or children.
Or D., also seven years old, who lives with her very young mother, who fled so that her daughter would not be forced into marriage, as happened to her at the age of thirteen. S., the only Somali child in the camp, was initially afraid to mix with the others. The contagious joy of the children and the staff made him involved and, at the end of the week of activities, he was perfectly integrated with the others.
The Summer School ended with a promise: Sant’Egidio will be back! Friendship with migrants is not a summer experience, but a piece of history the Youth for Peace are writing together with them, part of their commitment to a Europe that does not give up on “saving, welcoming and integrating”. This will even be seen in the major European meeting of the Youth for Peace, called “Global Friendship, which is about to begin in Rome ”.
