We flew to Lesvos early in the morning. That was nice because the traffic was light and we had never driven to the airport before. We were going to take the metro and found out that there was a strike going on and the metro would not be running until later in the day. Then we found out that the air tower was also going on strike but that they weren't starting until after our flight.
We were shuttled way out to get to our plane
We were grateful it wasn't really busy because we could not figure out the parking ticket on the way in or for paying for it on the way out. No one honked at us but helped us instead. Thank you!
It takes an hour to get to Lesvos from Athens. Those are the kind of flights I like. We arrived on the island, rented a car and saw olive trees everywhere.
Greece is the third largest producer of olive oil in the world, Some of the olive trees that are still producing olives date back to the thirteenth century.
This is a great illustration of Jacob 5 and the Olive tree
Lesvos or Lesbos is the third largest island in Greece. Lesbos is one of the Greek islands most affected by the European migrant crisis that started in 2015. Refugees of the Syrian Civil War came to the island in multiple vessels every day. As of June 2018, 8,000 refugees were trapped when a deal between Europe and Turkey removed their route to the continent in 2016. After that, living conditions deteriorated and the possibility for movement on to Europe.
Moria Refugee Camp was the largest refugee camp built to meet the needs of the refugees and held twice as many people as it was designed to accommodate. By May 2020, Moria had 17,421 refugees living there. Elder Christensen and I heard many stories about Moria and met some that lived there. We were able to go tour the remains. A fire was started and it burned down Moria in Sept. 2020. In August 2018, it was dubbed as "the worst refugee camp on earth". "I've never seen the level of suffering we are witnessing here every day", a Lesbos coordinator commented. The camp was built to accommodate around 3,000 people, however there were around 20,000 people living in the camp in summer 2020, among whom 6,000 to 7,000 were children under the age of 18. It was very sobering. It was overwhelming. 
Looking down the hill where tents use to cover the hills
I wish I had taken better pictures. I was filled with so much sadness as Jean told us where all the tents had once stood on the hills that were now empty. It was a good foundation for us to understand more of the refugee crisis the entire world is facing right now. We were able to spend the bulk of the day touring the current refuge camp outside of Mytilene. I encourage everyone to read more about Moria.
Lesvos or Lesbos is the third largest island in Greece. Lesbos is one of the Greek islands most affected by the European migrant crisis that started in 2015. Refugees of the Syrian Civil War came to the island in multiple vessels every day. As of June 2018, 8,000 refugees were trapped when a deal between Europe and Turkey removed their route to the continent in 2016. After that, living conditions deteriorated and the possibility for movement on to Europe.
Moria Refugee Camp was the largest refugee camp built to meet the needs of the refugees and held twice as many people as it was designed to accommodate. By May 2020, Moria had 17,421 refugees living there. Elder Christensen and I heard many stories about Moria and met some that lived there. We were able to go tour the remains. A fire was started and it burned down Moria in Sept. 2020. In August 2018, it was dubbed as "the worst refugee camp on earth". "I've never seen the level of suffering we are witnessing here every day", a Lesbos coordinator commented. The camp was built to accommodate around 3,000 people, however there were around 20,000 people living in the camp in summer 2020, among whom 6,000 to 7,000 were children under the age of 18.
It was very sobering. It was overwhelming.
Looking down the hill where tents use to cover the hills
I wish I had taken better pictures. I was filled with so much sadness as Jean told us where all the tents had once stood on the hills that were now empty. It was a good foundation for us to understand more of the refugee crisis the entire world is facing right now.
We were able to spend the bulk of the day touring the current refuge camp outside of Mytilene. I encourage everyone to read more about Moria.
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