Six Degrees of Separation; the journey of a Syrian refugee

A physician at a refugee camp in Greece was asked to tend to a six-year-old boy with bloody blisters covering his feet. The physician bandaged them as best she could with the limited supplies in the medical tent and asked him where his shoes were.
“We have no shoes”, he said.

She asked him to return to the clinic the next day and sent him on his way. After finishing a ten-hour shift, she hitched a ride into town, found the nearest shoe store and bought all the shoes that they had. The following day the little boy returned to the tent and she presented him with the shoes. The only pair that fit him were pink “girly” shoes. After a few beats of consideration, he strapped them on and ran away.

This summer I spent ten days working in a refugee camp in Thessaloniki, Greece. I was volunteering with SAMS (the Syrian American Medical Society), which provides medical care to refugees living in the camps.
I was also interning at WWFM and was able to combine my interests in public radio and public service. While in Greece, I interviewed refugees and volunteers and created an hour-long radio piece intended to help humanize the refugee crisis. I wrote, edited, and produced the piece with the help of the generous people at WWFM and WAER.
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A physician at a refugee camp in Greece was asked to tend to a six-year-old boy with bloody blisters covering his feet. The physician bandaged them as best she could with the limited supplies in the medical tent and asked him where his shoes were. “We have no shoes”, he said. She asked him to return to the clinic the next day and sent him on his way. After finishing a ten-hour shift, she hitched a ride into town, found the nearest shoe store and bought all the shoes that they had. The following day the little boy returned to the tent and she presented him with the shoes. The only pair that fit him were pink “girly” shoes. After a few beats of consideration, he strapped them on and ran away. This summer I spent ten days working in a refugee camp in Thessaloniki, Greece. I was... Show full description