The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Daniel Etter, whose images from Kos touched the hearts of millions last year, returned to Greece this September to photograph the islanders who feature in the new documentary short Ode to Lesvos, created by Johnnie Walker® to shine a light on the inspirational acts of compassion shown in response to the refugee crisis. [Read more].

• Daniel Etter, Ode to Lesbos, the villagers who helped refugees – in pictures, The Guardian, October 5, 2016

“We all wanted to help. It’s natural to want to help. Having babies safe in my arms is a blessing”, Maristsa Mavrapidou says of the role she and other islanders played in providing care and comfort to thousands of refugees who arrived in 2015. Mavrapidou, photographed collecting eggs from her chickens in Skala Sykamineas, was one of those who helped care for refugees. Photo: Daniel Etter.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Medics write letter to U.S. president saying a medical facility is attacked every 17 hours by Russian-backed Syrian air force Fifteen of the last 35 doctors in rebel-held eastern Aleppo have written a letter to Barack Obama with an urgent plea for intervention to stop the bombardment of hospitals in the besieged city by the Russian-backed Syrian air force. “We do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers: we desperately need a zone free from bombing over eastern Aleppo to stop the attacks, and international action to ensure Aleppo is never besieged again”, the doctors wrote. [Read more].

• Patrick Wintour, Aleppo doctors urge U.S. intervention as Russians announce daily pause in action, The Guardian, August 11, 2016

A hospital in Aleppo, Syria, after it was hit by airstrikes. Photo: Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters.

Worldsharing

Athens, Greece: A child takes part in a protest calling for open borders and better living conditions in the accommodation centres for refugees stranded in Greece. Photo: 新华通讯社 (Xīnhuá News Agency)/Shutterstock.

The Theatre of Grotowski

Damascus, Syria: A girl takes part in an activity organised by a charity group in Jobar, a rebel-held district on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus. Photo: Amer Almohibany/AFP/Getty Images.

The Noble Young Lady

Al-Hawl, Syria: Iraqi children, who fled with their family from jihadis, sit in a refugee camp. Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images.

Round trip ticket

• Papa Francesco: “I migranti non sono un pericolo, sono in pericolo” | Pope Francis: “Migrants are not a danger, they are in danger”, tg24.sky.it, May 28, 2016

“Migrants are not a danger, they are in danger”, Pope Francis said welcoming 500 children who travelled on a special train from the Calabria region to the Vatican to meet him on Saturday, May, 28.

Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp on April 16, 2016 near the port of Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesbos. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Praise for sailors’ swift action as damatic photographs show overloaded boat turning over as naval vessel approaches More than 500 people narrowly escaped drowning on Wednesday after their smugglers’ boat capsized in the southern Mediterranean, a series of dramatic photographs have revealed. As Italian naval ships approached to rescue the stricken asylum-seekers, their boat – a repurposed trawler – tipped over, throwing those on deck into the water. At least five people drowned when the boat capsized “due to overcrowding and instability caused by the high number of people on board”, the Italian navy said in a statement. But the sailors managed to save about 550 lives, in a mission that migration experts described as miraculous. [Read more].

• Patrick Kingsley, Italian navy saves 550 refugees as smugglers’ trawler capsizes in Med, The Guardian, May 25, 2016

Italian navy ships rescue people from the overturned boat
Photo: Reuters

Dreaming Out Loud

As bombs fell around her, Syrian architect Marwa al-Sabouni stayed in Homs throughout the civil war, making plans to build hope from carnage. Her ideas are now laid out in a visionary memoir. But will anyone listen? [Read more].

• Rachel Cooke, One woman’s battle to heal her home city of Homs, The Guardian, April 3, 2016

“A beautiful soul”: Marwa al-Sabouni in Homs, Syria, last week in a photograph taken by her husband, Ghassan Jansiz.

News broadcasting

Migrant message
Photo: AFP/Louisa Gouliamaki

One is like leaves on the trees of autumn

• SOS Children’s Villages Support Hungarian Families In Crisis, XpatLoop.com, November 10, 2015

Judit Polgár (@GMJuditPolgar)