Lisa’s Story

Not many Americans were aware of the scale of the refugee disaster in Greece in 2015 until photos of Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old refugee child who had been washed up on a beach, appeared on US television. Lisa Campbell knew that there were major problems in Greece, but she had no idea of the extent of it – until she got there. The grandmother of six left behind her family and her work to fly to Greece with the intention of staying a few weeks only.

The Magnitude Hits

Lisa took a leave of absence with the aim of going to Greece for 45 days. She assumed that she would find a scenario in which people have their basic needs seen to – that they have roofs over their heads, food to eat and basic services. When she arrived Lisa was met with quite a different scenario. On her first day in Lesbos, she saw nine boats arrive from Turkey. As many as 50 people would get out of a boat clearly equipped for only around 10 people – some literally kissing the ground as they got off. Lisa was horrified, but also happy that she could help.

Arriving at Oinofyta

Lisa arrived at the refugee camp in Oinofyta and saw that there was not much there except for tents and basic catering. Because of her experience with helping rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, Lisa knew she had to spring to action immediately – even though she didn’t know exactly what to do. The enterprising grandmother started organizing, planning and building a functional refugee camp.

I’m Not Going Home

After being there for around a month, Lisa was contacted by an American donor who offered to sponsor her for as long as she needed to stay in Greece. She called her husband and told him that she wanted to resign and carry on helping the refugees. Soon after this decision was made Lisa took over as the manager of Oinofyta camp which she ended up running for 18 months until it was shut down by the Greek government. The Greek government gave Lisa and her team less than three hours to get equipment worth around 250,000 Euro out of the camp.

Love is a Choice

During her time at Oinofyta Lisa felt that she learned that you can choose to love. She discovered that refugees are people from all walks of life, just like everyone else. They became refugees because they want the same things in life that other people want. Lisa made her mark by forging relationships that helped her achieve what is not possible for larger organisations. When faced with a water crisis the intrepid grandmother called upon a local restaurant that helped within hours, instead of allowing the refugees to go without water for days. She took care of these people as best she can and showed them that they are not forgotten.
Lisa hopes that she left a legacy in the people she has touched and that they will always remember that she cared about them and that they were worthy of being cared for.