I am writing this blog to serve as tool for anyone who needs to disseminate correct and politically impartial information on the refugee crisis in Europe as it unfolds in the summer and fall of 2016. Of course this migrant stream did not start in 2015, it has been ongoing for many years and I will discuss the historic background to the present migration events as time permits as well.
This blog can be used, really is meant as a teaching tool. I am writing it to accompany a geostory map which I will construct in the fall of 2016 and beyond. This map will trace some of the steps that refugees used in an interactive manner (text, photos, videos) as the stories were related to me.
I also am looking at the impact that these refugees have (or have had) on the people and areas where they stayed. Rescuers, aides, locals all have been impacted as, of course, the migrants and asylum-seekers themselves. To get to such information I often reverted to informal interviews or discussions in an attempt to get to honest opinions of individuals of all ages and of various countries in Europe.
I am starting my story on Samos, Greece, the island that is closest to Turkey.
In a different life I was lucky enough to have spent maybe a total of 8-9 weeks on the island during two occasions, once in 1981 and once in 1983. My friends Chuck and Ruth were the drivers of these longish visits as they happen to live on the island for half a year with the other half year in Nuernberg, Germany, where we were teaching colleagues. Well, Chuck and Ruth still live on the island and their presence has helped me tremendously since--as it turns out--Ruth is quite active in refugee aid.
I started working on this project the day after I set foot on the island and learned one thing rather quickly: keep emotional distance or you'll lose your sleep.
From Samos I will direct my attention to Erkrath (close to the Neanderthal), Germany, and maybe also Heidelberg, Germany, where I will volunteer teaching German (or English, if needed) and/or German culture etc. for two months.
Regards,
Barbara Crain
Geographer and Environmental Scientist
Northern Virginia Community College
Loudoun Campus
This blog can be used, really is meant as a teaching tool. I am writing it to accompany a geostory map which I will construct in the fall of 2016 and beyond. This map will trace some of the steps that refugees used in an interactive manner (text, photos, videos) as the stories were related to me.
I also am looking at the impact that these refugees have (or have had) on the people and areas where they stayed. Rescuers, aides, locals all have been impacted as, of course, the migrants and asylum-seekers themselves. To get to such information I often reverted to informal interviews or discussions in an attempt to get to honest opinions of individuals of all ages and of various countries in Europe.
I am starting my story on Samos, Greece, the island that is closest to Turkey.
 |
| View from Kokkari Port on the island of Samos, GR, onto the Turkish mainland mountains |
In a different life I was lucky enough to have spent maybe a total of 8-9 weeks on the island during two occasions, once in 1981 and once in 1983. My friends Chuck and Ruth were the drivers of these longish visits as they happen to live on the island for half a year with the other half year in Nuernberg, Germany, where we were teaching colleagues. Well, Chuck and Ruth still live on the island and their presence has helped me tremendously since--as it turns out--Ruth is quite active in refugee aid.
 |
| Ruth's Storefront |
I started working on this project the day after I set foot on the island and learned one thing rather quickly: keep emotional distance or you'll lose your sleep.
From Samos I will direct my attention to Erkrath (close to the Neanderthal), Germany, and maybe also Heidelberg, Germany, where I will volunteer teaching German (or English, if needed) and/or German culture etc. for two months.
Regards,
Barbara Crain
Geographer and Environmental Scientist
Northern Virginia Community College
Loudoun Campus
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