Efcharistó kai antío, Lesvos! Goodbye and thank you, Lesvos!

This Saturday was not only our team's last day on the island, but also the last day before the

EU-Turkey deal would become effective. The uncertainty about what would happen during the

next hours was perceptible in every conversation we had that day. When we drove into Skala Sikaminias for the last time, we could see the increased presence of military boats on the water and even spotted a helicopter up in the air circling the strait between Turkey and Greece. Speculation was spreading, particularly in social media groups of local volunteers. How will the new treaty be enforced? Will there be increased numbers of refugees arriving that day? What will happen to the official (and less official) camps on the island? We all felt that we were in the midst of a crucial tipping point in the history of European asylum policies.

After morning tea with the local priest, during which we talked among others about the ethics of journalism and the use of symbolism, we went off to help out the Dirty Girls once again. This time we met Alison and her girls in the Lighthouse Camp by the beach instead of the laundry. When we arrived we encountered about 200 pairs of shoes that were waiting to be cleaned and mountains of super stinky, soaking wet socks to be sorted. Thankfully, there were enough helping hands and the conversation with other helpers made us quickly forget about the stench.

We used the afternoon to drive down to Mytilini and meet with upcycling initiatives concerned with the lifejacket and dinghy material on Lesvos. We were particularly glad to be able to meet with Irene from Odyssea, an organization founded by two young Greeks who wish to contribute towards social transformation. During our in-depth conversation, Irene told us about the challenges of dealing with Greek bureaucracy, the support she received from the local government, and her vision for the future of the organization.

We ended our day of deeply interesting interviews and some shoe cleaning activity with a much needed last dinner in a Greek taverna. Although our timeframe of in total twelve days seems rather short, every day was packed with new adventures and impressions. We used this last evening together in order to organize and share our thoughts and feelings about our recent experience. However, it will certainly take some time until we fully realize what we had encountered on the island.

Early Sunday morning, before the sun got out above the Aegean Sea, we left the house that we had made our home for the past days. Ahead of us was a long trip back home that would take us all day, with stopovers in Athens and Frankfurt. Although the trip was lengthy, we did not dare to be annoyed. Because once the plane touched the ground for our stopover in Frankfurt, we realized how easy it was for us to travel from Greece to Germany and then later on home to Finland - a journey that would take other people months to accomplish - and yet others will never reach their desired destination.