Greek CRESCENDO musicians visiting refugee camps

Crescendo musicians Kostis Papazoglou and Marini Peikidou,
visited on the 29th of November the refugee camp Vasilika
in the north of Greece and on the 3rd of December 2016
the refugee camp Karetepe at the Greek island of Lesvos
and sharing their experiences with kids and adults.

About CRESCENDO
Crescendo is a ministry that uses music and arts in general for sharing
the good news of God’s love with more people.
This message comes out of the text from the hymns of cantatas and even from the music itself.
Religious music is full of serenity and soothes the soul.
We have experienced this effect many times, helping people come closer to God.
As performers, but also as music pedagogues, we have the tools
that help us communicate with people without talking and have the sense of unity
and closeness with persons we meet that moment for the first time.
This is the non-verbal communication that only music has to offer!

You are a musician. How did the Organization SAVE THE CHILDREN 
get your attention and invite you?
Crescendo is a network of Christian musicians.
One of our volunteers works for SAVE THE CHILDREN
and suggested that we should visit Vasilika, to have a creative music time
with children. All were so happy of how the interaction went, that they invited us
also at Christmas time, to get kids familiar with Christmas songs/Christian culture.

Vasilika. How is the condition at the camps and what was the impact of your music to the kids? 

(view of the Vasilika refugee camp)

(Musicians Kostis and Marini, learning the kids the song "Singing all together")

The situation in Vasilika is that they live without heating, in an old abandoned storage
building. Children have some education and creative time every day.
The NGO’s own white new tents and host for a few hours groups of children,
teaching them English, having creative music lesson, art projects etc.
The children wanted to welcome us, so they drew and cut a violin and a flute out of carton,
painted it brown, like wood and hung it in the tent where the concert was to take place.
Their teachers have informed them about our instruments and prepared the event very well.
Children were smiling the whole time. They were very interested in what was happening,
they wanted to touch the violin, which they apparently saw for the first time in their lives from so close. They behaved quietly for a longer period of time than usual, as we have been told by their teachers later, but it is obvious that there is a long way to go for them to integrate into Greek society,
the time they can focus is limited, as they haven’t been to proper school class for years now...

Were there any talented or children familiar with music in the camps?

(CRESCENDO Musicians entertaining and singing with the kids)

Most of the kids have excellent musical abilities and they could sing a new song by
hearing it only once. They all sung together and participated as a body percussion
musical game, except for the teenagers who had limited participation.
I, as a music pedagogue, taught them the different sounds and dynamics that they can create
with their own body and voice, without any instruments.
Kids were thrilled and memorized the pattern very quickly.
One girl was invited by Kostis to take the position of a choir conductor  and wave her hands in rhythm and although she was one of the shyest girls, she did great and we could see
how self-assertive that moment was for her, to stand out of the rest for a while.
Another boy as little as 8 or 9 years old could whistle so clearly and in tune!
Children have no access to music education in their home countries.

Is the local economy of Lesvos focused on the NGOs and how bad is the impact of the
Refugee Crisis to the citizens of the island?
Lesvos is a beautiful island, with many touristic sites, archaeological museums and
traditional villages. The scenery is breathtaking in some parts of the islands, so it
used to attract tourists.
Since Turkey is in a close distance and the boats started arriving since July 2015 in large numbers,
the island was filled with refugees walking towards the harbor to get a ticket to Athens.
This has ruined the vacation season for two years now, since people were filling the beaches,
squares and had no access to proper personal hygiene.
Now that the camps host nearly 5000 refugees from different countries, there are less people
on the streets.
The economy of the island is not dependent on the refugees and life goes on for the majority as a struggle to cope with the financial crisis.
The Aegean University has 3000 students and is for many years a benefiting institution for the island.
Many Christians from all over the world volunteer or have a job within the NGO’s.

How do the citizens feel about the refugees?
Many citizens of Lesvos help the NGO’s or local churches to feed, dress and offer
services to the refugees.
We haven’t met local people being hostile to them.
Refugees walk on the picturesque harbor of Mytilene, beside the locals and the tourists,
take the bus and spend time outside the camp in harmony.
The situation is explosive inside the camps because of the overpopulation and the close encounter
of ethnicities that are enemies to one another and are forced to live in nearby tents, or share facilities.

Is there any opportunity for you to go to other camps in the future?

(Singing the song "Glorify Thy name" and preparing for the concert)

Our experience with refugees was always very positive, because art brings out the best out of people. We sang hymns in English and explained a little bit about the text and people were glad to speak about God. They smile broadly and feel in agreement, that God is great and everything is dedicated to Him, of course they mean Allah. Nevertheless, it is a base to start a civilized conversation and have a peaceful time within an atmosphere of unity.

(Friendship with Afghan musician Omid)

The Afghan young man who we met in Lesvos, is a musician in his country and played the guitar and sang his own songs for us. We were sharing the same guitar and played songs taking turns one after the other. The interaction was so unifying that he wanted us to take pictures after we finished. We exchanged names and addresses so that we keep in contact and we hope to meet him again.
Music has the advantage of helping people communicate with open hearts.

About CRESCENDO HELLAS :

 CrescendoHellas. Street Karaiskaki 22, 54641Thessaloniki

Phone: +30 2310 887087.  
Mobile: +30 6938383239 

Email: crescendoHellas@gmail.com

Facebook: CrescendoHellas

18/12/2016 N.S.