Shiraz (not his real name) smiles looking towards the sea. As soon as the car stops on the seafront in Skàla Oropou, a coastal town north of Athens, it doesn't take more than a second for this young Afghan to get out of the vehicle. Although the Greek Government has issued a weather alert for strong storms, the sun continues to shine on this strip of the northern coast of Attica. “Days like this are the best of my life in Greece,” Shiraz exclaims. He is joined by Khan and Hassan, two other young Afghans who also do not want their real names published, and the three of them drag their equipment and life jackets along the beach before starting their first SUP (stand-up paddle) course. or stand-up paddling, an aquatic discipline that is practiced by paddling on a board.
“It is a physical activity accessible to everyone,” explains Brittany Pummell, founder of Refugym, the first Greek NGO to offer water sports to the refugee community. The monitor slowly enters the sea with Khan, Shiraz and Hassan. The boys take turns trying to maintain balance, standing on the board. The coach does not stop encouraging them, until, towards the end of the lesson, the young people have managed to familiarize themselves with the waves and the paddles. “For refugees, the sea represents something terrifying. Among my students there are several shipwreck survivors,” explains Pummell, a 30-year-old Englishwoman living in Athens, as she returns to shore. “This beach is one of the few places that is not crowded with tourists. There is a lot of tranquility, which is a fundamental aspect for my students, who need safe places to heal their wounds.”
The aquatic disciplines method is based on exposure therapy, a technique used in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias. “At the Turkish border they rejected me 52 times,” confesses Hassan, the most taciturn of the three young people. “And on the last trip, I went with a group of 40 people. That night I lost my best friend. My wife and two children were also on that boat. Now I am alone. At times like this, I feel better, but if I think about that night, I still feel intense pain,” he explains, with a vacant look.
Thanks to this therapeutic tool, these three refugees can gradually come into contact with the object or situation that causes them anxiety, in this case water. Little by little, they manage to associate a positive meaning with a circumstance that, until then, only generates fear and unease.
“In 2017, I was teaching English in Oinofyta, a settlement created by the Greek Government that has since closed. There I met two trainers who gave gymnastics classes to the camp residents for a couple of weeks. Physical exercise filled the students with energy, who preferred to skip English classes to do gymnastics. It was then that the idea of founding an organization to help refugees with sport was born,” Pummell recalls with satisfaction. “The following year, I ran a cooking workshop for unaccompanied minors in the Malakasa camp, near Athens. The students were bored. This pushed me to explain my NGO idea to the camp director. He was understanding and gave me the keys to a facility that was closed at that time. I was very lucky”.
The gym he set up is now managed by the refugee community living in Malakasa and has safe spaces for women and children. Currently, registered associations and humanitarian organizations have limited access to the camps, and monitors like Pummell are only allowed in occasionally. “The exercise helps these people, who, due to the long procedures for applying for asylum, are forced to remain inactive, reflecting on the traumas they have suffered. These moments of inactivity create a situation that worsens their physical and mental health,” declares the instructor.
For refugees, the sea represents something terrifying. Among my students there are several shipwreck survivors
Brittany Pummell, NGO Refugym
In order to break the monotonous routine of life behind a fence, Refugym has planned a series of activities to do outside the camp. Basketball, volleyball and hiking are some of the sports practiced beyond the borders of Malakasa, where Khan, Hassan and Shiraz reside. And since 2019, the British NGO has decided to complement sports courses with aquatic disciplines. “I am also a swimming teacher and I speak Farsi. I thought I could make these skills available to others,” Pummell explains. “Swimming lessons take place on the weekends, while stand-up paddling and kayaking lessons run throughout the rest of the week. The activities continue throughout the year depending on the weather conditions, and I have a maximum of eight students per class,” adds Pummell, who emphasizes: “Even in this case, there are places reserved for women.”
An intense pain
According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2023, a total of 41,561 refugees and asylum seekers arrived in Greece by sea. The majority came from Syria (31%), Afghanistan (20%) and Palestine (16%). 60% of this total were adult men. Among these people are also survivors of the shipwreck that cost the lives of 650 people in June.
Night is falling and the instructor tells the group to approach the beach. Shiraz and Hassan quickly return to shore, but Khan lingers a little behind, singing a song. “At the end of each lesson, there is a moment to share. Boys often feel like talking. They show me some videos, photos, and remember those terrible sea voyages. In a way, they are freed, and I see that they are really better,” says Pummell.
According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2023, a total of 41,561 refugees and asylum seekers arrived in Greece by sea.
On the beach of Skàla Oropou, the sun has already set and the few bathers there are leaving, casting one last curious glance at the three boys who have been playing and paddling on those colorful boards all afternoon. “It's not so bad to live here. The train station is nearby and you can reach Athens. I have the opportunity to work and study. Education is important, and I hope to become a pilot,” explains Shiraz, the youngest of the trio, filling a plate with pasta cooked by the coach to eat together. “This plate of spaghetti is good, teacher!” He says.
The silence of the beach is broken by the honking of some taxis. “In Iran they shoot you. The Turkish Army does the same. You have to be careful,” says Khan, who lived in Kabul. “I had no identification documents and I lived like a ghost: that's why I got on that boat,” he explains, collecting the dishes in a bag. “Now I hope to get a passport and, perhaps, reach Italy,” he confides.
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