I am Tara Kalaputi from Ohrid.

I watched the news while I was out of the country and felt the personal responsibility of returning and being part of the response of the local population to the appropriate refugee acceptance, as well as humanitarian protection. Similarly, my family has refugee roots, and I am convinced that this was a partial reason for the sense of responsibility. That is why I joined volunteering by December 2015 in Tabanovce, and from January 2016 in the “Vinojug” transit center in Gevgelija.

The situation on the field was significantly more chaotic than I had expected. Although the country was experiencing a drastic increase in the number of refugees who had mostly transited for several months before my engagement, state institutions developed a fairly slow and inadequate response. There were thousands of people in the camp every day with all kinds of needs and vulnerabilities, but our resources were neither sufficient nor adequately professional to cope with the many challenges.

After the official closure of the so-called Balkan route, the refugees who were on their last train to Serbia were returned to Macedonia and remained in a closed camp without a legal status for almost a year. It was much harder for me to work with refugees who have no rights and have minimal living conditions than with refugees who need emergency care but are in transit.

At the beginning, I was a volunteer, and then became coordinator of the team at the Vinojug camp in Gevgelija. The relations with the other volunteers were generally good, but often the chaotic situation on the ground influenced the way we treated each other. Similarly, not everyone had an equal or similar approach and often it was the cause of the conflict. Of course, one cannot expect that there would be no conflicts among volunteers working with refugees; indeed, it is difficult to achieve and maintain order. Anyone who had an understanding and wanted to be part of an appropriate response to a crisis situation – became part of the team, regardless of their own ethnic and other background.

In the field engagement, the family gave me the greatest support. At that moment, I would think that the only ones who truly understand and support me are other volunteer and because we were part of the same life experience. However, over time, I realized that my family was able to perceive my involvement in the field with a more objective attitude and I am grateful that they helped me to see it. I am still active, but in another country, also working with refugees.

Besides all that I have experienced so far, I would like to extend my advice to all those who volunteer or want to volunteer in this field: Do not forget yourself and your interests. Drink a cup of coffee, enjoy all those things that make you happy, dedicate time to yourself and your surroundings. That is the only way to maintain good state of mind and have reasonable thinking.