"LUXURIES BUT WITHOUT NECESSARIES"

Chronicle (Levin), 4 February 1947, Page 3

"LUXURIES BUT WITHOUT NECESSARIES"

N.Z. CORSO WOMAN FOUND GREEKS, POOR BUT CHARMING. "The islanders liacl marvellous .blue weather, warni sea, islands carpeted with flowers and lots of delicious fruit. But they lareiy had milk, or meat, or even lish since the ithliaus had requisi tioned their nots, aiid without Unrra rations they would never have kept alive. They were usually poor and quite often dirty, wearing ragged clothes aiul living in primitive barns oi' houses, but they were always delightf'ully generjus and liill of fun and very very appreciative of the medieal help lliat our New Zealand Corso team brought to their 'dbctorless islands'." This is how Miss Louise Logan, the first Corso relief worker among tlie Greek islands' to" return to New Zealand, describes her stay. Miss Logan; a Karitane nurse who scrved as an ambulance driver in Dunedin before she volunteered for Corso, was oue of - a' teaiiiiof four New Zealanders under Dr. Atliol Pattefson who made a regulai; three-weekly medieal circuit through the islands. Their conveyance was a "caique", a 40ft. fishing boat with auxiliary engine, converted for, the purpose by installing six bunks (two were ex'tra for interpreters) and some eupboards ahd stools. "Wa would land at dawn at an is land, " she co'ntinued, "and begin to unioacl our medieal geai" on to donkeys that came down tlie'st'eep path from the leading village to meet us. The path was often stepped and always it zigzagged to a hilltop, because the whitewashed villages were built up there' on the high poiuts in the bad old days as defence against bandits. The whole population would tuni out to meet us and messages would go to other vil- ' lages to come iu to the clinio that we would at once establisk in some empty house. We got plenty of cooperation and even if a man had only two eggs in the- wliole world he would press us to accejit oue as a gift. But water was very hard to get. Often it had to be carried up from the coast on donkey back or on women ;s heads. tio we m-ight haye to do a day's injcctions and treatments on a couple of iarge jugs of it — and, of course, disinfectants." "Wliile on sliore at their main base on tiyros Island the Corso worlcers were bilieted with private families. Miss Logan 's hosts were vvealthy by island staudards. "They acLually had a lavatory, and a great tank cut into the rock under the house for their o'vn water. Poor families niight have onlv oue blanket among tliem and everybody covered up their pictures in summer because of thc flies aud washed their carpets in the sea and put thern away until winter wlicn floorcoverings realiy were needed. " Clothing from New Zealand and else where had been " pathetically wel come" to people man}' of wliom had had uolliiug nevv since the war started. The quality of everything seut from Nevv Zealand liad been excellent. But distribution was "a heart-breaking business. You see some v\roman would get a sound but rather faded niglit (lrcss and then the very next to come up a really el gant pullover. " Corso vvorkers will gradualiy be returning tn New Zealand in the next few uioiith*: al though some with special qualifications are remainiug longer at the particular request of other organisations in Greece and will continue to be maintained out of Nevv Zealand Corso funds.