When the world is surrounded by wars and greed, in such a time it’s hard to hold on to hope. It’s time we witnessed an epic tale. A tale about heroism, humanity, generosity and a whole lot of love. This real story will drive you to see what a triumph of human spirit looks like and it’s absolutely beautiful.
This is a story about Lesvos, a small Island in Greece with a population of 153, who taught the world an important lesson.
The Island is located right at the mouth of the Aegean Sea, which might be beautiful in every other way, except one. They saw refugees by the dozen every other day, there’d be boats with 50-60 men, women and babies.
These brave Islanders rescued refugees who were trying to swim ashore or paddle to safety in boats that were almost drowning.
“Can you really ignore what’s in front of your eyes? Because tomorrow it could be me. I could be on a boat with my family and I would like to be helped,” says fisherman Stratis Valamios in the Ode to Lesvos. This village with a population of just 153, rescued over half a million refugees trying to escape the Syrian war; not only giving them hope for a new life, but a better tomorrow.
For this amazing display of compassion and humanity; Straits, Thanassis Marmarinos and 85-year-old Aimilia Kamvisi have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
This video left me stunned. It made me realize that there is a bigger problem and all of us have to step up and be good to one another, we have to help one another. Because like Straits said, ‘tomorrow it could be me on that boat’ and even we’d all like to think that the person on the other end will help us.
The video, ‘An ode to Lesvos‘ by Johnnie Walker The Journey Always, has inspired us to #KeepWalking and help everyone along the way.
The Storyline , presented by Johnnie Walker The Journey Always, is a series of films that give voice to real stories of human triumph from around the world and tells inspiring stories of positivity and progress and this is one of their best stories. They don’t just bring you stories of real people doing amazing things around the world, they’ve even contributed towards Mercy Corps, an organisation that helps people around the world survive and thrive after conflict, crisis and natural disaster.
It’s time we ignite the human spirit and stride towards a better future.
This article is brought to you in association with Johnnie Walker The Journey Always