Living in flimsy tents, pitched on mud in olive groves where farmers would usually leave their donkeys, life for refugees in camps on Greek islands is far from picturesque. But Moria camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, stands out for its appalling conditions.
It became a focal point for the refugee crisis in 2015 and has been described as the shame of Europe. About 6,000 refugees live here, where life is particularly hard for women. Harassment and sexual violence are endemic. It has been reported that women are so afraid of going to the toilet at night that they wear adult nappies and that they are seldom able to shower for fear they will be attacked. A lack of washing means that small cuts easily become infected, scabies is rife and normally minor conditions such as thrush become agonising.
When James Clarke, a 36-year-old from Brixton, read about the conditions in the camp, he felt compelled to do something. Having set up Respond, a charity that helps aid organisations with construction services, in 2017, he was well placed to help. With a background in construction management and festival management, Clarke saw a curious but clear parallel between running areas of Glastonbury and the needs of refugees. “All people need water, sanitation and shelter and you need to be able to build everything quickly and cheaply. The two are incredibly related,” he says.
Clarke and Respond set to work building Showers for Sisters, wash facilities outside the camp run by a team of trained women. “We drive women and children to the facilities, where we give them a hotel-quality towel and 10 minutes in the shower. All the cubicles have a lockable door with its own changing area,” he says. Toiletries are supplied by British cosmetics retailer Lush, which also donated £7,000 towards the construction and maintenance costs on top of the money Clarke had been able to crowdfund. “Women come out glowing and delighted, and being cleaned has such a calming effect on the children.”
Women have a tea or coffee and relax on sofas afterwards. Showers for Sisters also washes clothes and offers women a pair of clean knickers. The project opened in June and has given more than 550 women showers so far.
One of the first in line was Fatima (not her real name). Six months after arriving in the camp – and nine days after giving birth – she was able to have her first shower in Europe. She fled from Iraq with her husband after he was attacked by religious hardliners. “We suffered a great deal of injustice, hunger, lack of bathing and many other problems,” she says. Fatima, who now lives in Athens, says: “I was harassed in Moria and, even though I was pregnant, they did not take care of me and I had to live in a tent.” Her baby developed pneumonia and was taken away to the mainland for medical treatment, but Fatima had to stay in the camp.
She has since been reunited with her baby, but the only positive experience she has had in Greece was being able to wash. “I was not able to clean myself after giving birth ... it was so lovely [finally] to have a warm shower,” she says.
