Why I do it

Yesterday I was interviewed by the local newspaper about my upcoming trip to Lesvos. It was a good interview with good questions. The journalist asked me to explain why I will do this trip. Easy.  But there are three main reasons. Let me explain.

Reason #1:
Millions of people flee from war and destruction and risk their lives in order to reach safety and security. If I can help, why shouldn't I? And I can. It is as simple as that.

Reason #2:
After my trip, that is when the work perhaps starts for real. Because that is when I will return home with a baggage full of experience and memories that I must share. I have to share, I owe it to the refugees, the wonderful and hardworking Greeks on the island and I owe it to myself and the future of the world. The hate towards the foreign, alien and unknown is growing bigger, as is ignorance and intolerance.  A growing lack of empathy and perspective worries me deeply.
  I will return home and I will talk about it and I will fight for open borders as well as open arms and hearts.

Reason #3: 
I am a school teacher. I teach teenagers. Wonderful teenagers who are empathic, understanding and are schooled in the Swedish school system, a system that highlights empathy, respect, democracy and human rights. I want to honor this and I want to make sure that my students will be better adults than us. Because it is not the young who set asylum centers on fire, who beat up refugees, who fire tear gas into crowds with children or build walls to keep the people in need outside.
  I am hopeful when I see my and meet my students. It is my duty as a teacher and an adult with a heart, to make sure they will not change.