ECHO is a mobile library helping refugees in Greece. Around 80,000 displaced people in Greece are currently stuck in isolated camps that lack basic facilities, let alone a library. ECHO is a grassroots project organized through a community network between Athens and eleven camps and community centers in mainland Greece. I speak to Laura Naude and Esther ten Zijthoff, two of the founders.
Listen to the song I wrote after being inspired by my conversation with Esther and Laura called, unsurprisingly enough, ‘Mobile Library’ and all the other Podsongs
Lyrics to the song that was inspired by the interview:
MOBILE LIBRARY
VERSE
C
Our story starts at the Macedonian border
F
Two volunteers, Ester and Laura
C
There’s a refugee camp here
Am
And in the toxic atmosphere
F
Their degrees in development
G
Didn’t seem relevant
The borders closed and no one knows
People got no place to go so
They get no relocation
Got no motivation
No access to books or communication
What could make them… smile?
CHORUS
Mobile library
Breaking through bureaucratic Bullshit
Mobile library
Just solo and independent
VERSE
C
Fund raising got the girls a mini-van
F
Turned into a library with a handyman
C
Kitted it with Wifi and tables and chairs
Am
Donations arrived from Dubai
F
Supplies from Saudi Arabia
Am
Soon they had books in Farcy
F
French and Arabic
G
Urdu, English, Kurdish and Greek
Harry Potter helped Akmed disappear
Ali escaped with Agatha Christie
Malcolm Gladwell showed Hussan
How Little Things Can Make a Difference
Mohammed was rejected, just sat in his chair
Until he read Slumdog Millionaire
Am
And when the snow was falling
C
The tents were freezing
F C
Dan Brown, kept people warm
Am
While Callon from Camaroon
F
Who’d come on foot to get there
G
Walked to Freedom with Nelson Mandela
It was a simple idea that people will never forget
Access to books and the internet
The van keeps moving they can't settle down
They have to park outside the camps
Stopped by police, for disturbing the peace
There are no happy endings in the story of Greece
CHORUS
Mobile library
Rising above reality
Mobile library
Changing lives one book at a time, yeah
VERSE
(QUIET)
C
Only the cream of Syrian society
F
Could afford the fee of being refugees
C
Now doctors, pharmacists and lawyers
Am
Counting their cents
F
Living in tents
G
While smuggler’s kids get their homes as presents
(SLOW)
C
But there’s more irony when they land on the beach
F
€20,000 euros waiting for each
C
Not that it’s ever really meant for them
Am F C
It’s there to pay for the entire system
(FAST)
C
And it’s the new Greek graduates
Am
Who get a lot of the revenue
F
Getting their breakthrough
Am
With the EU
F
You don’t hear anymore about the Greek crisis
G C
It’s been solved by Assad and Isis
Am
While the UN guys
F
Rent top of the range, four wheel drives
G
And who knows where the money for the NGOs goes!
CHORUS
OUTRO
Mobile library
Bordered bodies but minds free
Mobile sanctuary
Taking literature, literally
Mobile missionary
Independent, voluntary
Mobile emissary
Giving back, dignity
EXTRA:
To be fair they're just trying to fit in
In Thessaloniki they're all on the take
Even the elements give you no place to go
Incredible heat or freezing snow
And all they ever hear is people complaining
But everything's solved by double-glazing
It can be tough to get through another day
To make it from frappe to frappe