Sam Reynolds and his partner Kate Robertson will be helping refugees in Samos, Greece. Photo / Warren Buckland
Sam Reynolds and his partner Kate Robertson will be helping refugees in Samos, Greece. Photo / Warren Buckland
As fire ripped through the flimsy tents erected to form a refugee camp in Samos, a Hawke's Bay couple mourned for friends.
Kate Robertson, who volunteered for Samos Volunteers for five weeks just a month before the October 15 fire, heard the people she'd met and become close with hadlost everything.
She decided something needed to be done to support them.
Robertson's experience left a lasting impact on her perception and value for the freedom and privileged lives that we have as Kiwis.
Just weeks after Robertson left Samos, a fire destroyed tents that housed approximately 700 people and other belongings.
"When I heard about the fire I was already back home in New Zealand, but I knew I had to do something to help.
"So my partner Sam Reynolds and I put our heads together and we came up with The Tent Collectors."
Sam Reynolds along with his partner Kate Robertson will be collecting discarded tents at festivals to send to refuge camp in Samos. Photo / Warren Buckland.
The Tent Collectors, a not-for-profit charity, was founded last week with two aims.
The first is fixing an environmental waste issue which the charity will address by collecting neglected tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins and sleeping mats from festivals.
It will then send them to Samos, to replace those lost in the fire, and help ensure refugees on the island have somewhere to sleep.
Robertson said similar initiatives, one known as Refuge for Refugees had started in UK last year.
The Samos camp opened in early 2016, a former military base with capacity for 650 people.
According to the UN, 6000 people were living in the camp as of October 2019.
Samos Volunteers estimates that 4000 individuals and families, unable to find space in the dangerously overcrowded camp, live in extremely basic conditions in the woods and olive groves adjoining it.
Which makes the second issue being addressed by the couple through their charity increasingly important - that of addressing the needs of the refugees and asylum seekers who go without.
Robertson said it was "pretty horrific" to see the amount of waste left behind after festivals.
"It was heartbreaking to see so many people go without the most basic of provisions, while so many New Zealanders take shelter for granted, deserting perfectly good tents and other reusable items after just one or two uses.
Sam Reynolds along with his partner Kate Robertson have started a new charity 'The Tent Collectors'. Photo / Warren Buckland
"One of the saddest things I experienced was that a bunch of new arrivals came to the camp.
"One of them approached me and we were closing community centre for the day.
"He asked me whether I knew where he could find a tent to sleep in or some shelter for the night.
"Unfortunately we had nothing because during summer we had run out of supplies."
According to the Samos Volunteers website, finding shelter is a struggle in the camp itself.
"People sleep in dangerously overfilled containers.
"Those forced to stay outside the fences have next to no protection from the cold Samos rain. The high winds coming from the sea tear down flimsy tents and spread rubbish and waste. Rats, scorpions and snakes infest the camp," the website said.
Robertson and Reynolds will attend four North Island festivals - Rhythm and Vines, Bay Dreams, Soundsplash and One Love next year in a bid to prevent waste going to landfill.
"We want to encourage people to save the tents they use. The tents will be transported to our base in Hawke's Bay and washed and packed before being sent off.
"Currently we have had a few people come forward to provide storage for items."
The duo are currently crowdfunding to raise funds to cover the cost of transport and logistics.
"Everything is self-funded," currently, Robertson said.
"We would also love people to come and volunteer with us."
