Refugees on Symi, How to Help

Here is some information about how you can help the increasing number of refugees arriving on Symi seeking sanctuary. This is taken from the charity website, Next Stop Symi.

The donation page is here: Donate.

The small Greek island of Symi is close to Turkey. In 2019 there has been an increasing number of refugees arriving on the island.

There is a need for-

1 FOOD AND WATER
The most urgent need is for breakfast supplies and water for the refugees. One meal a day is provided by the Greek state in the afternoon.

2 HYGIENE SUPPLIES
Soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes, sanitary items are needed.

A special account has been set up with a local business to supply these items, so we need to raise money to help pay for them.

Thank you for checking out my page. Making a donation is fast, easy and secure thanks to Give as you Live Donate. They’ll take your donation and pass it onto Next Stop Symi.

Symi Festival 2019, Symi Shrimp festival and things

As mentioned previously, a couple of morning photos from a walk the other day. We went out yesterday too, Neil ahead of me at 6.45, and we met on the road up near the bridge and walked back together. About three miles each in total. You have to go then to avoid the heat of the day which starts around 7 a.m., not that the nights are much cooler at the moment, but that’s how it is in July and August around here.

There’s a festival programme out for the Symi Festival 2019, and I’ve seen a page for July so far. There’s also the Symi Shrimp festival on Sunday. If you’re in Horio in the evening, there will be the usual free Symi shrimps, music and wine, dancing too I expect, and the square will on doubt be busy. If you’re planning to eat at one of the two tavernas up here, it’s best to book in advance, as it is on busy nights like Friday when there’s live Greek music at Giorgio’s.

And on the subject of music, I see the new bar (and, I heard, live music venue) now has its name up. ‘Scena’ is by the car park and bus stop in Horio, very handy for coming up and down from Yialos or Pedi by bus, just below Taverna Zoi. I don’t know when it will be open or what exactly you will find there, but it’s certainly coming along. If you are looking for other places to eat and meet in the village, don’t forget you’ve got the Olive Tree (open until mid-afternoon), The Secret Garden on the Pedi road, the Sunrise Café, Ringo’s, the two bars in the square and the late-night bar, the Jean and Tonic… Have I forgotten anyone? I hope not, and I don’t think so… Oh, there’s the cantina on the hillside out of the village on the main road that’s open in the evenings and looks down over the Pedi valley, while down in Pedi itself, there are two tavernas open for lunch and dinner. There; a quick roundup for you.

Wednesday

I went for a pleasant morning walk yesterday just as the sun was coming up. The usual photos will appear one day, no doubt. After that is was back home where the house is being painted. Our landlord has decided that the downstairs and the outside needed doing, and so we’re now yellow rather than peeling white. The decorator has done a quick job on the large outside walls but needed to come into our place to do some window recesses he can’t get the ladder outside because if the height and the steps. As he was hanging out of the living room window over a 15-foot drop, I thought I should ask his name, just in case… You know. Turns out, Napoleon is painting our house.

He’s not done the front yet, and we’re expecting him to come and put ladders on the balcony at some point, but today he’s downstairs doing other things instead. I did ask if he was doing the windows, and he said yes, but I’m not sure if that’s just the recesses or the woodwork and shutters, a good few of which need doing. He’s also not doing the courtyard apparently, so if the woodwork is done on the windows, the two that overlook the courtyard won’t get done and, I assume, neither will the doors. We will have to wait and see and take whatever comes, as is the way of life around here.

After that, I set about printing some documents for a thing I need only to find my printer playing up and telling me it can’t print. I left it alone, and ten minutes later it spluttered into life when least expected. Odd things going on there, but at least the docs came out. Anyway, that was a bit of a ramble after a ramble up the hill, and now I’m going to go and… Oh, not I’m not. The printer has started printing things I didn’t ask for, I’d better attend to that instead while I await the next advance from Napoleon.

Refugees on Symi

There was a post on the Facebook Solidarity Symi page a couple of days ago letting us know that there has been an increase in the number of refugees arriving on Symi. The numbers are up, not as bad as elsewhere tough, and nowhere near the levels during the 2015 crisis, but still, these people need help. But: The charity (Solidarity Symi) no longer operates, and the authorities are doing what they can.

However, if you are on Symi, you can help by donating food and supplies via the supermarket in Yialos, Taxas (pronounced ‘Tahas’ or ‘Tachas’ with a soft ch, and not Tax-as, as it might read). Yiannis, the owner there, knows what’s needed. Unfortunately, there’s no way of assisting from abroad as yet. I’ve had a few messages asking what people can do from afar, but all I can tell you is to contact the Symi Solidarity page on Facebook. Even then, Andrew, who used to run it, is also working 24/7, as is everyone at this time of year and the charity isn’t there anymore, so he’s doing what he can from the goodness of his own heart. In other words, don’t hassle as it’s no longer his responsibility, in as much as it’s all of our responsibility to do what we can. I hope that makes sense

While that sinks in, here are a few photos from Yialos, taken on Monday.

As seen in Horio

Out and about in the village yesterday late afternoon and I noticed a couple of things that might interest you. First of all, the new cake shop that’s opened up where the fruit shop was last year. This is just along the main lane from the square towards Zoi’s taverna, and it’s open during regular shop hours. That’s regular Greek shop hours, don’t forget siesta time is when most shops close. (Roughly 14.30 to 17.00.)

And the reason for that siesta is the temperature. A neighbour recorded 44 degrees on their terrace on Monday, while we recorded 36 late in the afternoon. That was about that same as inside one of Sotiris’ freezers…

The freezer is in the process of being cleaned and aired. I was interested to see that it was as warm in there as it was outside – the freezer was turned off, by the way. And the other interesting thing I saw has been there for at least ten years. It’s an old ACS bag in the shop that used to be the ACS courier in Horio. I assume there’s nothing in it, but if you have been waiting over 10 years for a delivery, then it might well be inside this place. The guy who ran it moved off to Rhodes, I believe, and I reckon that was at least 2007, if not in 2005 or 2006. I wondered what had happened to my garden seed catalogue…