As a refugee from Syria I decided to choose the Egyptian route in order to avoid the catastrophic war.Then I moved to Libya, where a smuggler decided to help me cross to Benghazi.While I was waiting for my transport to Benghazi I decided to sneak out and get some supplies and life vests for my family as well as  myself.Two days later we got to the Egyptian borders where I had to spend my last savings to get safely to Europe.My family and I got on a boat and started sailing towards Italy.During our trip we had to switch boats.There were two choices; A small boat which would travel quicker to Italy and a bigger boat which would travel a little slower.Since the small boat was crowded we switched boats to the bigger one.Even though it wouldn’t be as crowded we would have to jump in order to get to the next boat.And so we all jumped.We had been sailing for days when a storm sank our boat.Thanks to the life vests I had gotten we were able to survive and later arrive in Italian grounds… 

    Right after our arrival in Italy, a few policemen took us to a refugee camp.The conditions were terrible there.The water was polluted, the food supplies were never enough and the wasn’t enough space for all of the refugees…The doctors would visit us very rarely even though there were many sick and hurt people…The government said we would stay for a few weeks there and afterwards we would be able to go to another camp or be intergrated in the society…

     A whole year passed and there weren’t any news from the government.Fortunately, a year and a half after our arrival we were sent to another camp all the way to Germany… Thankfully the conditions were much better.We were given clothes from charities and the food and water supplies were more than enough…There was much space for us to settle down and a playground for the kids.Some of them would be able to go to school once they learn German…So far, we haven’t been able to leave the camp but my husband has already started working in various constructions in Berlin.I am so thankful for the European Union that welcomed us into their camps…Thanks to them, we will be able to start a new life and things will get back to normal once again.

The End!

Polyna Kalioraki A’1