Shiraz (not his real name) smiles and looks out to sea. As soon as the car stops on the coast of Skàla Oropou, a coastal town north of Athens, it takes less than a second for the young Afghan man to get out of the vehicle. Although the Greek government has issued a weather warning for strong storms, the sun continues to shine on this strip of Attica's northern coast. “Days like this are the most beautiful of my life in Greece,” shouts Shiraz. He is joined by Khan and Hassan, two other young Afghans who also do not want their real names published, and the three lug their gear and life jackets along the beach before their first SUP (stand-up paddle) course ) begin stand-up paddling, a water sports discipline practiced by paddling on a board.
“It is a physical activity that is accessible to everyone,” explains Brittany Pummell, founder of Refugym, the first Greek NGO to offer water sports to the refugee community. The monitor slowly dives into the sea with Khan, Shiraz and Hassan. The boys take turns trying to keep their balance while standing on the board. The trainer does not stop encouraging them until, towards the end of the lesson, the young people have managed to familiarize themselves with the waves and the paddle. “The sea is something terrible for refugees. There are several shipwreck survivors among my students,” explains Pummell, a 30-year-old English woman living in Athens, as she returns to shore. “This beach is one of the few places that is not crowded with tourists. There is a lot of calm, which is a fundamental aspect for my students who need safe places to heal their wounds.”
Alessia Manzi
The water disciplines method is based on exposure therapy, a technique used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias. “They turned me away 52 times at the Turkish border,” admits Hassan, the most silent of the three young people. “And on the last trip I was with a group of 40 people. That night I lost my best friend. My wife and two children were also on this boat. Now I am alone. In moments like this I feel better, but when I think about that night, I still feel a lot of pain,” he explains with a blank look.
Thanks to this therapeutic tool, these three refugees can gradually come into contact with the object or situation that scares them, in this case water. Little by little they manage to assign a positive meaning to a circumstance that until then only caused fear and discomfort.
“In 2017, I taught English in Oinofyta, a settlement founded by the Greek government that is now closed. There I met two trainers who gave the camp residents gymnastics lessons for a few weeks. Physical exercise energized students who preferred to skip English class to do gymnastics. “That’s when the idea came about to found a club that would help refugees with sports,” remembers Pummell with satisfaction. “The following year I led a cooking workshop for unaccompanied minors in the Malakasa camp near Athens. The students were bored. This led me to explain my NGO idea to the camp director. He was understanding and gave me the keys to a facility that was closed at the time. I was very happy”.
The gym he set up is now managed by the refugee community living in Malakasa and has safe spaces for women and children. Registered associations and humanitarian organizations currently have only limited access to the camps, and observers like Pummell only have occasional access. “The exercise helps these people who, due to the long asylum procedures, are forced to remain inactive and reflect on the traumas they have suffered. These moments of inactivity lead to a situation that worsens their physical and mental health,” explains the instructor.
For refugees the sea is something terrible. There are several survivors of the shipwreck among my students
Brittany Pummell, NGO Refugym
To break up the monotony of everyday life behind the fence, Refugym has planned a series of activities outside the camp. Basketball, volleyball and hiking are among the sports practiced beyond the borders of Malakasa, where Khan, Hassan and Shiraz live. And since 2019, the British NGO has decided to supplement sports courses with water disciplines. “I am also a swimming instructor and speak Farsi. I thought I could make these skills available to others,” explains Pummell. “Swimming lessons take place on the weekends, while stand-up paddling and kayaking lessons take place the rest of the week. Depending on the weather, the activities last all year round and I have a maximum of eight students per class,” adds Pummell, who emphasizes: “In this case, too, there are places reserved for women.”
Brittany Pummell (crouching) prepares the equipment for the SUP course on the beach at skala Oropou, north of Athens, while the three boys, all Afghan refugees, listen carefully to her instructions.Alessia Manzi
An intense pain
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a total of 41,561 refugees and asylum seekers arrived in Greece by sea in 2023. The majority came from Syria (31%), Afghanistan (20%) and Palestine (16%). 60% of them were adult men. Among these people are survivors of the shipwreck that killed 650 people in June.
Night falls and the teacher tells the group to approach the beach. Shiraz and Hassan quickly return to shore, but Khan stays behind and sings a song. “At the end of each lesson there is a moment to share. Boys often feel like talking. They show me some videos and photos and remember those terrible sea voyages. In a way they are liberated and I see that they are really doing better,” says Pummell.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a total of 41,561 refugees and asylum seekers arrived in Greece by sea in 2023.
The sun has already set on Skàla Oropou beach and the few bathers leave the beach and take one last curious look at the three boys who have been playing and paddling on these colorful boards all afternoon. “It's not that bad living here. The train station is nearby and you can reach Athens. I have the opportunity to work and study. Education is important and I hope to become a pilot,” explains Shiraz, the youngest of the trio, filling a plate with noodles cooked by the trainer to eat together. “This plate of spaghetti is good, teacher!” he says.
The silence of the beach is broken by the honking of some taxis. “In Iran they shoot you. The Turkish army is doing the same. You have to be careful,” said Khan, who lived in Kabul. “I had no identification papers and lived like a ghost: that’s why I got on this boat,” he explains, collecting the dishes in a bag. “Now I hope to get a passport and maybe get to Italy,” he admits.
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