Afghan refugees in Athens speak about their lives in the streets of Athens: http://www.youtube.com/user/koutipandoras. Parents may find this video particularly disturbing. from the comfort of our homes, considering what toys to buy for our children, how can we stand the plight of these people living almost next door. Many would argue: but what is the solution, have 80 million Afghanis come over. I do not think that 80 million Afghanis have any wish or aim to come to Greece or Europe for that matter. but maybe for their plight Europe (not Greece specifically) is partly responsible. And in any case, each one of us is not the prime minister. we need not find solutions for the problem. we can however exercise our sense of humanity and give a hand. some have ironically said that ‘all those leftist people who are unrealistic in their views of irregular migration towards Greece should invite a few irregular migrants or asylum seekers and host them in their houses’. I turn the argument around: yes, all us relatively well off residents of Athens and Greece more generally, we could give a little bit of our money, our clothes, our shoes, our children’s toys, our time to help these people who are destitute, in need of protection. this will not change the political and policy problem that Greece (and Europe) is facing. but it will save lives. it will save young children and babies. while we wait for a more global solution that may take time and may be hard to come by.