Real Wealth
The wealth of a person is usually measured by a price tag on the material and external features valued by society. The real unit of measure is to compare our lives with the people twho have lost everything through unfortunate circumstances and which accounts for a substantial portion of the world's population. The immeasurable bits and pieces that make life worth living are things like a burst of laughter at the dining table with the family over trivialities that were not even hilarious or having come out a terrible ordeal together unscathed, by the Lord’s grace. Now that’s the measure of real wealth. EDit .
Who will cry for them?
Its winter now in Greece and not everybody will be fortunate enough to enjoy the warmth and cheer of the Christmas season. This is especially true for the children of war who have fled from their burning homes in Syria and currently seeking temporary refuge in Greece. Greece is host to 50,000 homeless Syrians, though accommodating them was not by choice, it was her conscience and some assurances from the European Union that opened her doors to the unfortunate orphans of a cruel war. God Bless her for her show of humanity and kindness even during tough times.
History reflects a time when Greece was impressed as a giant during the wake of civilisations, but all that glitter has lost its lustre with the past and today she is poor and in serious debt trying to sustain a weak economy on huge borrowings. Geography made her the nearest non-Muslim state accessible to the Syrian children of war to seek refuge in, and the Middle East crisis has sent refugees pouring into the already poor state at an alarming rate of 7000 per day initially.
During that time of the severe influx in 2015, The European Union assured Greece in the hope of a quick refugee resettlement, but it has been far from that. Only 5000 refugees have been found new homes with most of the remaining refugees living in makeshift conditions and still very much in Greece, their temporarily permanent residence. It seems that the Political effervescence of uncertainty in the current unpredictable world has mirrored the reluctance of many European countries in honouring their pledge in alleviating Greece's problems.
One of Europe’s big brothers recently opting to abandon the EU making “Brexit” a term connoting exit or betrayal is thus a showcase for the current state of the European solidarity.
The exhibits of ‘survival of the fittest’, which was once thought to have vanished after the medieval age is now making a comeback. The recent American presidential election is evidence enough to show the level of darkness operating on a people's mind-set.
Some countries have out rightly closed their doors after a change of heart about their previous conviction on the resettlement commitment. International agencies reports that the resettlement exercise at its current pace would take approximately 16 long years to implement and that would simply mean that thousands of people will go through life without having an education, a home, a family, a country not to mention many more warm Christmas cheer.
As Christmas approaches, it gets colder and that causes a big problem in heating and keeping warm. The inmates in the camps are living in squalid conditions with shortage of water and bare minimum facilities, their ingenuity in keeping themselves warm has brought them harm when cases of fires and near life loss were reported due to the misuse of cooking hot plates converted into make shit heaters.
‘Winterization kits’ have been jointly sponsored by the EU and fashion brand companies; all which helps in the battle against the cold, but it will never be warm enough. The UNHCR is doing their best to keep them warm throughout winter, but it will never be anything like the warmth of a place you call home.
15000 refugees have been housed in abandoned hotels and prefabricated containers, while 38000 people are slowly getting used to their tent homes in camps with their dream of getting resettled dwindling.
This article is summarised from various news channels and mainstream media, while I am unable to physically help these unfortunate children of circumstances to make any real difference, I can certainly make a promise to cry for them every day in my prayers. EDit .