Two Ottawa teenagers say a recent trip to a refugee camp in Greece has changed their outlook on the desperate plight of these people. The girls spent two weeks in Lesvos, the landing site for boatloads of Syrians fleeing their war-torn country.

Of all the images that have resonated with Tara Bertrim and Sydney Pothakos, both 17, it is the drawings made by the children in the camp of flowers and trees and sunshine and happiness and then there is one in particular, drawn by a 6-year-old that shows a boat full of people and two of them drowning in the water.

"Having people fall out and drown?” asks Tara Bertrim, “What effect does that have on a kid? It's insane.”

Insane doesn't sum up what the Grade 12 students experienced in Lesvos, Greece. The girls travelled with Sydney's mother, a nurse at CHEO and a Greek herself who had been there before and was returning to provide medical aid.

Lesvos has become the landing site for thousands of Syrians arriving by boat on the tiny Greek island, hungry, scared and homeless.

For two weeks, the girls were put to work greeting the migrants and taking them to the housing units.  What they saw, what they experienced replays in their minds like a never-ending video, especially when it involves babies.

There is one thing I can’t get out of my head,” explains Tara, “the boats would arrive and Sydney and I were in the camp and I tell you, some of the babies would arrive motionless.  Just lying there and we would think, “Oh my God, this baby needs formula.”  We were sitting with this baby, pushing its lips together, trying to get it to feed and I’ve never seen a baby that motionless, it was terrifying.”

The girls are still raw from their experience, the sights and sounds still fresh in their minds.

“Half of them walking around, they don't even have shoes,” says Sydney, “and I think to myself “why do we complain about things when these people don't even have shoes?"

The girls and Sydney's mother raised $7000 in donations for their humanitarian trip and helped provide tents for families and toys for kids. 

“Oh, it's the most rewarding experience ever,” says Sydney, “putting a smile on someone's face and making someone feel safe.”

The girls say the experience has profoundly changed them.  

“You forget what you've seen,” says Tara, “it almost seems like a dream; it doesn't feel like it happened, what we saw and experienced. These people have absolutely nothing and I feel so lucky to be here in Canada.”

Sydney adds, "We need to give our all, to be there for the people who need it the most and these people need it the most right now.”

The girls do plan to return but for the moment, their focus is finishing high school, including a presentation this week about their two-week trip and the lasting impression it has made.