In May 2016, on a small island off the coast of Greece, the Chios Refugee School opened its doors to more than 100 refugee children. For many of these children who had fled their homes in search of safety, it was the first time they had ever set foot inside a school.
“Kids wake up super early in the morning because they are excited for school,” said Nicholas Millet, a British volunteer in Chios and one of the founders of the school. “They run to the teachers’ tent asking, are we ready for school yet?”
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This excitement marks an escape from the difficult reality these children have already overcome.
Fleeing war and instability, there are around 1,500 people living in refugee camps in Chios, and 30%-40% of these are children. The EU-Turkey deal signed in March has meant many of those arriving in Chios remain stuck on the island while their asylum application is processed. The process is slow, and conditions in the refugee camps are bleak.
In one camp, called Vial, refugees are detained in a center surrounded by razor wire.
“Innocent children [are] locked in, with no access to education, no proper food and zero hygiene,” said one member of the voluntary organization, the Chios Eastern Shore Response Team. Forced to wait indefinitely, refugee families seeking a better life are faced with bitter disappointment.
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“After the deal, I spent a lot of time with families — they tell you the stories. They left Syria for the future of their children, and they came to Europe because they wanted their kids to go to school and have the opportunity to go to school like any child should. But they don’t have that,” said Millet.
“I knew I had to do something. I wanted to provide a safe place for kids to go to and to restore their innocence.”
Partnering with the NGO “be aware and share” (BAAS), Millet decided to set up a school for the refugee children held in the camps. Remarkably, it only took them a month to get the project off the ground, and now they provide classes for nearly 150 pupils in English, Farsi, Arabic, mathematics, science, art, and skills training such as gardening and basic hygiene.
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Created by a team of volunteers, the project places a strong emphasis on participation from the refugee community. All of the teachers are refugees who are professionals in their own country.
“These people have had their dignity stripped, through the war and the situation here. The school project is a forum where dignity can be taken back.”
Through simple details that are easily overlooked, the school is restoring a sense of hope and community to the children’s lives.
“We have a table in the garden,” Millet said. “The kids were so excited to sit around a table because they haven’t sat at a table for so long. Now, they can sit around and eat as a community. There’s no dog-eat-dog mentality here, no queuing like in the camps. They can just relax and be kids. This is a sanctuary.”
A breath of fresh air amidst the chaos and frustration of life in the refugee camps, the school has improved the often strained relations between refugees and the local community.
“We collect the kids from the camps and as they pass the locals they say "Kalimera" — "good morning" in Greek. All the locals come out of their shops to greet them.”
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A former management consultant working in London’s financial district, 25 year old Millet quit his job in November 2015 after volunteering for a weekend at the “Jungle” camp in Calais. He travelled to Greece at the beginning of 2016 to assess the situation in the Mediterranean, and he has been there ever since. Spurred on by the injustice he has witnessed, Millet is determined to do more.
“We’ve only got half the kids in the city in school, so we hope to open another school,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Afghan, Iranian, Pakistani, or Syrian — before you are anything, a child is a child.”