A small small handful say “no photo” or “camera no.” But the vast majority pose for the photos and if you ask them they are eager to talk to you. You approach a person, they don’t speak English, but they call out to one in their group who does.
They want their story told. They want to be justified. They want to be acknowledged and recognized.
They don’t know who I am—I don’t have a big camera, I’m not famous, I don’t travel with an entourage—but that doesn’t matter.
Most of these shots were taken from across the road. They saw me before I saw them. They directed my camera to them.
I talked to some of these people later. The stories are very similar but each time told with personal passion.
A friend asks “What can I do” in response to my recent postings of refugees passing through Hungary.
I understand his question as a cri de coeur. We all do what we can — advocacy, donations, sponsorships, prayer, voting and much else. No one thing will solve anything, since this one issue is tied to a thousand other issues.
This monument in Budapest to the 1956 refugee exodus suggests an answer. Each of the cast iron posts represents individuals, the silver wall represents the outcome of them coming together and breaking through the path.
That’s it.
Andrew Faiz is writing from Eastern Europe where he is visiting refugees and travelling with Rev. Karen Horst, Moderator of the 2015 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. These images and reflections were originally posted on our Facebook page.
