Sudbury's Marissa Connolly reflects on helping Syrian, Afghan refugees in Greece
'I had the time, I had the money ... so why not help?'
Marissa Connolly could have carried on backpacking her way through Europe as so many young people do — but, at a time when about 2,000 people a day were fleeing to Greece's shores, the Sudbury, Ont. woman decided she'd lend a hand instead.
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In February, Connolly — then 24 years old and a recent graduate from Laurentian University — volunteered for three weeks with Lighthouse Relief on the Greek island of Lesbos, just off the coast of Turkey.
The island is now nearly synonymous with the refugee crisis that has seen hundred of thousands of people take to dangerous migratory routes — often with the help of human smugglers — to find a better life in Europe and beyond.
Connolly said her job on Lesbos was to help those who made the sea crossing by boat, and offer them dry clothes and some sweet tea.
Despite many landing on shore frostbitten and exhausted, Connolly said, "what I saw on everyone's face was pure joy. They were grateful. One refugee said to me, 'Thank you for travelling across the world to help a person like me'."
"I was already backpacking through Europe," she continued.
"Through travel, I was able to realize how fortunate Canadians really are. I'm able to travel through borders with ease, and I knew that these refugees don't have that. I had the time, I had the money ... so why not help?"
As for whether she would go back to help:
"I would love to," she said. "We all bleed the same colour."
Listen to the complete interview with Marissa Connolly here.
On mobile? See a photogallery of Connolly's time in Lesbos here