When there are people who care, there is hope

Vladimir Bislimovski, team leader from Open Gate La Strada, stands in the now dry river at the exact point where two women and a man drowned trying to cross the border after it was officially closed. Ironically, the river is actually called “Dry River”. It was not dry that day. Vladimir recalled the morning when its banks where swelling — his toughest moment, when he was asked to accompany 15 year Sarif to identify his sisters’ bodies. “I still cannot fathom and continually ask myself, where this 15 year old boy got the strength to be a man. A man who had to carry such a burden when he was only a child.” Read Vladimir’s full account here.

Kristina Vojnovska, field worker from Open Gate La Strada, sits in a field at dusk wrapped in a blanket. She recalls a freezing cold night in February 2016, when the borders were still open. The transit centre was already full. The next train was in the morning. “Helping each other, dashing and distressed by the situation, a man tugged me. It was Ali from Iraq. He had lost his limbs during the war, and was pleading for me to find a safe place for his wife and daughter to rest. The feeling of helplessness burned inside me. The storage room in the child-friendly space was the only space available.”

Mite Cilkovski, field coordinator SOS Children’s Village teaches music to bring hope. “I use music as therapy. During my music classes, children learn to play traditional instruments; I teach them, encourage them, give them praise. I work with each child individually and then together as an orchestra. I can say that the music classes help children to release accumulated stress, to gain self-confidence. It’s so rewarding to see their smiles.”

Aleksandra Stefanovska, field worker from Open Gate La Strada sits on the tracks of the railway line used by hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants to travel from Gevgelija to the Serbian border. “I will never forget baby Asad. It was my first day at work. His father asked me to help settle him while he bought train tickets. I felt scared because nothing I did helped. I changed his clothes, his diaper, gave him something to eat. However, he seemed uninterested. His father later told me the boy’s mother was killed in the war in Afghanistan. I hugged him tighter. I saw my tear splash his cheek. I realized Asad carries with him the loss of his mother’s care.”

Meri Naumova, team leader from Open Gate La Strada, relives a sub-zero winter night in November 2015 when more than 5,000 refugees and migrants were transiting through the country every day. “I will never forget sitting a 5 year old child in front of a small heater to get him warm. His mother sat next to me, she started crying loudly, then she hugged me tight and told me how she and her child had forgotten what it felt like to be warm. Tears filled my eyes then — and now. That night at home, in my warm bed, I could not stop the tears, the sorrow and the thought of how it only takes a small act of kindness to bring joy to a mother and her child in a cruel world.”

Snezana Krstanosska — Atanasova, field worker Open Gate La Strada, relives the struggle that thousands of children with disabilities experienced crossing the border from Greece to get to the Vinojug refugee and migrant transit centre. “One of the children I remember most was a child traveling with a wheelchair. He was very thin and only able to eat liquid food. I wanted to do so much for him. However, I could only do a little in the few hours his family stayed in the transit centre. I fed him, helped him bathe, dressed him in new clean clothes. I feel some peace of mind in knowing I helped restore his dignity.”

Zoran Kolekeski, field worker SOS Children’s Village remembers a space shuttle game he played to brighten up the faces of distressed children in the refugee and transit centre Tabanovce. “When you do not speak the same language, the best way to put a smile on a child’s face, to help them forget their plight and the journey, to make them feel safe, appreciated and let them know that people do care, is to communicate in a way they know — communicate through play.”

Sofija Tosheva, field worker from Open Gate La Strada recalls a scene when a woman, traveling alone with her children and suffering from jaundice, fainted in her arms at the child-friendly space in Vinojug. “Immensely worried, I immediately began to cry out for help. I carried her to the Red Cross and then to the ambulance. The medical team on site helped the woman regain consciousness, but she was obviously not well. She was taken to hospital where she received the needed medical care; the whole time I cared for her children in the child-friendly space until she returned.”

Sanja Ugrinovska, a field worker from SOS Children’s Village sits around a children’s table where thousands of children have drawn their hopes and dreams when traveling through the Tabanovce refugee and migrant transit centre. “Many can give a sandwich or a water bottle to a child in need. Few can give hope. When you ask a child how he or she feels, when you hug them, when you gently pinch their cheek, when you give them a crayon and paper, they recognize your good intention and your positivity. The thought that children do not always understand what you say, but know they will never forget how you made them feel, guides me in my work.”

Julia Stamenkovic, a field worker from Open Gate La Strada relives the moment when she rocked a baby in a cradle, vividly recalling the difference the simple act made for overwhelmed mothers. “So many mothers were traveling alone with their children. I remember one particular women who was in tears because she could not settle her child. She herself was exhausted; she had not slept for days. I helped her settle in bed where she was able to get some rest, while I took care of her baby. All I did was change the baby’s diaper, gave him some food and rocked him to sleep in the crib. When the train arrived, they both left rested and happy to continue their journey.”

The refugee and migrant crisis in Europe has affected many countries, including the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Between June 2015 and March 2016, some 800,000 people transited through the country. When the Balkan route closed in March 2016, 68 per cent of people on the move were women and children. Currently, approximately 200 people, half of them children, continue to remain stranded in transit centres and asylum centres in the country.

UNICEF’s response to the refugee and migrant crisis in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is generously supported by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), the governments of Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom, UNICEF’s National Committees, individuals and corporate and private partners.