Brighstone man, Ian Johnson, has swapped the quiet life of an Isle of Wight village for the Greek island of Lesvos (Lesbos) this month.
This is not someone leaving the cold of the UK to seek the sun, Ian’s trip is a humanitarian one – he’s spending four weeks helping with the refugee crisis.
Images of people being dragged half-drowned out of the sea are what have driven Ian to up sticks for a month and help make a difference to the lives of those seeking refuge.
Updates from Lesvos
Ian’s wife, Marianne, has been posting updates from Ian to social media, so that his family and friends can hear about how it’s going in Lesvos.
He’s working with a group who are helping boatloads of refugees safely to shore from the Lighthouse area and then transported to transit camps.
Living in a wetsuit
Sharing a house with six others, Ian says he’s by far the oldest of the group. Pretty much living in wetsuit and oilskins, Ian and his colleagues have had to battle against storms with gale force winds in the last few days.
He says the roads are atrocious, mud everywhere, the electricity is sporadic and there’s no Internet connection.
The boats usually cross at night and head for the Lighthouse, despite the treacherous rocks.
How Ian is helping
Ian’s latest update reads,
“Hi all. Thank you for your responses and words of encouragement.
“I came to Lesvos just over a week ago driven by an overwhelming need to be involved in some way. The stories and images simply demand a response. For me the dominant theme was that of people being dragged half-drowned out of the sea wearing fake/lethal life jackets. This simply shouldn’t happen. I know I share these feelings with all of you but I am in the fortunate position of having the necessary resources.
“Through the Internet rabbit hole, I found a loose knit group called the CK team. Do look them up on FB. They were formed by an inspirational man called Matt who seems to have taken indefinite leave, to set about trying to coordinate some of activity around a very dangerous bit of Coast, called Korakas, in the north.
“Only a few km west in Skala, the place is thick with volunteers. Here the landings are many, but safe and there seems to be competition and turf wars for involvement.
“At Jorakas lighthouse there is only ourselves and surprisingly a group called the Lighthouse team. We work together to try to direct boats away from Korakas by means of 24hr lookout and radio communication with Spanish lifeguards called Proactiva who zoom over almost to Turkish border and accompany boats to safe haven.
“Over past three days there have been combination of storms and increased Turkish coastguard, due to EU visit, so very few boats.
“Just one last night and a large one four days ago with about 250 people. They were all landed safely, but the boat was abandoned and now sunk joining thousands of others.
“Today Matt and a couple of others have gone to Turkey to hand out leaflets warning about fake life jackets. This is a bit risky to say the least and all praying for their safety.
“More later. Love to all.xx”
Well done Ian, we’re sure that many other Islanders would join in praising you for your selfless actions.
Stay safe.
Image: syriafreedom under CC BY 2.0
