Here are some snippets of local Symi news I picked up on: If anyone (English speaking) needs a job for a few weeks or the rest of the summer, To Spitiko are looking for a waiter/waitress to start immediately. Go and see Jordana at the restaurant.
If anyone is looking for a place to rent in Yialos, long term, then there is a place going above Alegrito café. I didn’t know the name of the older man who called me over and told me, but if you ask at the café I am sure they will give you details.
If you would like to help the refugees who are landing on Symi, and you use Facebook, then you can go to this page and learn about the non-profit organisation that has been set up, and what you can do to help. Refugees continue to arrive on the island in their hundreds per week, and the hard-pressed authorities deal with their paperwork as quickly as they can. But there is still a waiting time and lack of facilities. I just passed a group on the south side of the harbour, eating bread, drinking water and siting on the floor. They wash in the sea, use the one WC at the port police office, or the police station and wait to be processed. They then have to book onto the Athens ferry and move on.
The photo (top one, above) was taken from the balcony yesterday morning and shows a group of new arrivals waiting at the police station. They would have been dumped on rocks somewhere, maybe Nimos, and then rescued by the coastguard. Or else they would have swum ashore and walked from Ag Marina, or the coast nearby. Some have arrived at Panormitis. You can just make out some of the children still wearing their life jackets.
The messages from ‘Solidarity Symi’ are currently: “HELP NEEDED TODAY (18th August) We’re creating a temporary storage area at the old post office building. In need of volunteers, particularly a handyman/women that can help whitewash some walls, fix some damaged doors etc. We’re there now. We’re needing chairs, tables and storage boxes. If you have anything, please bring down to the old post office next to the police station. Thank you!”
I’m sure that if you read this after the event (and you will as it won’t be posted until after the event) you will still be able to help and volunteer, send supplies, even from abroad. Just go to the page and get in touch. You can also help via http://www.everyclick.com/solidaritysymi/info where you can donate money anonymously.
I don’t think I have any other Symi news today apart from the fact that I am going to Rhodes today for a drive around and mooch about and to have a day away from the desk. I have, as an aside, started work on ‘The Saddling’ which is to be the next novel after ‘Straight Swap’ (which I may retitle). The Saddling is a gothic mystery thriller – talk about mixing genres – let’s call it a mystiller or a thrillery.
