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March 17, 2021

Police Allow Town Distributions at last, Chios

From the Ground

by Amber Ritson

Person carrying blue shopping bags on a sidewalk, wearing pajamas and a navy jacket. Stone wall and building in the background. Road curves ahead. | Support refugees across Europe in Greece, France, the UK and the Balkans

COVID - Volunteering in Chios, day 25

Today Ruhi finally got permission from the police for Refugee Biriyani & Bananas to do the town food distributions.

Police Restrictions in COVID

Usually we'd park up in a central place and ask the people living in the area to come to us. But, with movement restrictions due to COVID, the permission was only given if we made door-to-door deliveries.

But that's ok! Door-to-door is no problem.

Registering Everyone

Ruhi needed to register each person receiving the food packs in advance online and so sent the word out and it didn't take long before she had over 160 messages to get through. (Rather her than me!)

Amid the bustling streets of Chios, a person wearing a mask diligently loads blue bags into the back of a car, ensuring city distributions proceed smoothly. | Support refugees across Europe in Greece, France, the UK and the Balkans
Groceries on display: tea box, bottle of sunflower oil, Chios bag of sugar, pack of flour, bag of rice, and a carton of milk—all artfully arranged on a stone surface. | Support refugees across Europe in Greece, France, the UK and the Balkans

Today she’s sorted the messages, registered and mapped the routes! The cars are loaded, and team are off.

I'm a driver on this visit, and San is hopping in and out of the passenger seat at each stop to give the packs. I have the tiniest (cheapest!) car hire. On Chios the cars aren't all new and these old hire cars have character! You can also see how narrow some of the Chios streets are (you can't help but breath in at times LOL!).

The number of messages received so quickly shows how much people want and need this help. We’ve delivered mostly to women so far today and their smiles have been wide. One little boy came and joined me in the car climbing all over us! Such a cutie (and a handful!).

If only we had more packs. If only we could give more items. If only people weren’t in this situation.

A person wearing a pink mask is sitting in the driver's seat of a car on Chios, hand on the steering wheel. | Support refugees across Europe in Greece, France, the UK and the Balkans
A toddler with curly hair, wearing a green shirt, smiles while sitting on a red car seat, ready for city adventures in Chios. | Support refugees across Europe in Greece, France, the UK and the Balkans
In the narrow alley of Chios, nestled between yellow stucco buildings with multiple windows, a single car rests on the right. Potted plants add charm as a blue sky with clouds floats above, creating a serene city distribution. | Support refugees across Europe in Greece, France, the UK and the Balkans

Thank you to the police for finally giving permission. I guess.

🧡

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