The first boat landing is hard to forget, standing on the shore of Skala in the freezing night, as the boat slowly comes into sight. Screaming, crying, laughing, the full mix of emotions, cathartic in its own way. The river crossing west of Idomeni on March 15th, when thousands of refugees left the camp to find another route into Macedonia. Three drowned in the attempt, by the time they crossed the border the Macedonian army had already mobilised – the refugees were arrested, beaten and returned to Greece.

Killian Walley : Doctor :: Age 26 :: English / Irish


Why did you decide to come and volunteer with the refugee crisis?

I had planned to spend part of my year doing humanitarian work but only really started moving when I realised how bored I was of life at home.

I knew very Little about the situation. I was aware refugee were coming but had no grasp on how many or how things were set up to receive them on the ground.  I touched down in Lesvos on 7th February 2016, and stayed there for a month before heading to Idomeni, I ended up living in a tent within one of the refugee camps, to provide oncall medical services.

What reactions did you get from family and friends before coming? Not many, for the most part I didn’t broadcast that I was heading to Greece. Those I told had about as much grasp of what I was going into as I did.

An influential moment you had:  The first boat landing is hard to forget, standing on the shore of Skala in the freezing night, as the boat slowly comes into sight. Screaming, crying, laughing, the full mix of emotions, cathartic in its own way.

The river crossing west of Idomeni on March 15th, when thousands of refugees left the camp to find another route into Macedonia. Three drowned in the attempt, by the time they crossed the border the Macedonian army had already mobilised – the refugees were arrested, beaten and returned to Greece.

What do you feel you learned?  I found many of the NGOs were either incapable of making decisions or bogged down by protocol. Unfortunately the impact that poor planning can have is huge on a constantly fearful and changing population.

Do you remember anyone in particular among refugees or volunteers? Too many to cover in detail: Sara, Phoebe, Clara, David, Esther, Drew, Marcy, Hassan, Abdulla, Achmed, Hammid, Ines, Isabel, Mono, Jenny, Lucy, Grace, Marwa, Anton….

What are you taking with you back home?
Physically very little… my clothes were all accidentally donated to refugees when I mislaid my bag. Mentally I’m drained, tired and frustrated. More than anything I’ve taken personal lessons from this experience.