The Moria Camp in Lesbos

Every day, in the Moria camp, approximately 9,000 migrants, coming from war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, struggle for survival, beacuse of the violent and unsanitary conditions which persist in the refugee camp, located in Lesbos, Greece. Here it is "home" for these people, although the Medicines Sans Frontieres calls it a giant open-air "mental asylum", because of the overcrowding and desperate sanitary conditions. One third of the migrants living in the camp are children, who are afflicted by trauma due to abuse and violence. In the camp, a shower is shared by 84 people and a toilet by 72 people while they sleep in groups of up to 30 people into tents or metal containers. The children live in terrible conditions: often targeted in the sexual violence, of which one girl, for self-defence sleeps  with a knife under the pillow; sometimes they stop speaking, inflict wounds on themselves or even they attempt suicide. In the drawing, a minor, who attempted suicide, tells of trauma: in a stormy seas there are lifeless bodies of children floating among the waves and planes dropping bombs, down on to homes and on to people. MSF organised a therapy for children aged between 6 and 12 years old who are suffering from depression or self-harming: a phase of it involved a storytelling activity in which kids tried to craste a story with drawings and words. Luckily in their life there is a normalicy moment: thanks to Salam Aldeen, who built a small play area 200m from the camp, children can play in inflatable castles and in a small football pitch. At 4pm, they can also watch cartoon on a large screen.

Sara Renda 3H L.S.B.Croce Palermo