Ali Shafa, came to our container-clinic looking for help to relieve his back pain. Despite being blind, he manage to move around with freedom and whitout difficulties.
At first I did not know if we would be able to communicate due to language barriers and his visual impairment. Incredibly Ali can speak English, he learned it while living in Kara Tepe camp. His hearing capacity is immense and we had no difficulty communicating, on the contrary, Ali is a tremendously sensitive and loving being. We had a lot of fun during each session.
Many of us could not even imagine what it is like to be blind and to have made such a dangerous journey from Afghanistan to Lesbos.
Ali tells me that he had to walk 24 hours through the mountain, without food and water, his hearing helped him to guide himself following the noise of the other people who were traveling like him, escaping from a violent country, where the explosions of bombs are frequent and lethal.
His greatest fear was not the dark night, nor the cold, but of falling asleep and not being able to hear other people. Ali says that one of the advantages of being blind is that he could not see the danger of the sea when he crossed the aegean ocean, he could only smell it, it was a different smell, something unfamiliar to him.
Incredibly and despite his hard life experiences, Ali is happy, laughs heartily and enjoys his little space, which is not a house, but is a safe place. He feels protected, he likes to listen to music and sing.
His greatest dream is to be able to study and learn to read braille.
May life bless you dear Ali, you have already blessed mine with your joy.