Today was sick baby day. Our pediatrician, Dr. Dan, arrives this evening but they couldn’t wait. Lots of fevers and coughs and the cold rains have not yet begun. The kids all have rashes – chicken pox, scabies and bed bug bites are rampant. We set up another tent for discharge, a nice big ten person tent. Lucia took over both sides for an infirmary where we could have people lie down and monitor them for a day.
So many people again with dental problems along with everything else they are suffering from. There is a 6+ month wait for the dentist referral and THEN they will get an appointment – so who knows how long they will suffer with broken teeth and abscesses. I just can’t imagine this pain for so long.
Today 300 people from the camp were moved to Athens and 900 arrived in Samos, 99 last night. We are seeing many Syrians and Syrian Kurds now. We are challenged with only two Arabic translators. This afternoon I was using a French speaking Syrian woman to translate from Arabic to French and the back to English with our French translator. I was thinking how much multi-tasking, intense focus and flexibility it takes to do this.
At times it is sheer chaos and people just surround us. We are swarmed and are constantly, gently pushing people back so we can work. No HIPA here.
