Once the phones work, the callers often break down. “When the refugees hear their [loved ones] phone, they’re so moved they can’t speak,” says volunteer Christine Pouquet. It took Aphrodite Aliu a week to call her mother in Germany. “Don’t worry, Mama,” she said when her call went through. “We’re with NATO.” Her mother replied: “Don’t hang up. I want to hear you call me Mama. Say it again. I’d forgotten how it sounds.” That’s high-tech healing.
