Today Sana is very happy, not only because she received her certified diploma in the art of onyoplasty, but also because she is celebrating her 22nd birthday. During the small celebration organized by SolidarityNow’s Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki for those who successfully attended the manicure-pedicure seminar, Sana has come along with her mother, who feels proud of her daughter.

Sana comes from Pakistan and has been living in Greece for the last 7 months. She speaks fluent English. She has studied mathematics, just like her mother. Actually, she had begun a postgraduate course, but she was unable to complete her studies since she had to leave her country. Her dream is to continue her studies and do a Ph.D. Her mother raised her and her two brothers to love math. “Mathematics is my love”, she states. They say math needs imagination. “Mathematics is a real-life fantasy game. It is real. People believe the unknown x does not exist, but it’s always there, and you need to be open-minded to see it”, she explains.

Sana is a woman of many pursuits and an avid individual. She writes poetry, has a strong interest in literature and wants to publish her own poetry book. She has already pictured herself interviewing journalists for her book. Her willingness to learn Greek and to continue her studies in Greece led her to SolidarityNow’s Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki. She was already attending Greek lessons in another structure, but she was not satisfied. Someone spoke to her about the training program implemented by the organization and so she decided to come and enroll in the classes. She initially booked an appointment but, with the Christmas vacation ensuing, the lessons would start later, and this fact discouraged her. Eventually, however, she came and started attending Kostas’ class. “Kostas is a very good teacher, both I and my mother love him very much, like all his students”, she points out.

From 9am till 5pm each Saturday Sana and her classmates went to the “Institute of Professional Development” in Thessaloniki to learn the secrets of the art of manicure-pedicure. As a more positivist mind, she had some hesitations at first on whether she would like the lessons. Basically, she thought they would bore her, but her perspective changed when she started attending the seminars. “I noticed that many women had very neat nails. So, I wanted to know how they did that. I learned a lot of new things. There are so many different techniques that I had never considered. I loved the lessons, our teacher was very nice and I had many pleasant moments with my classmates”, Sana says.

She never missed a lecture; she was one of the first to come to the classroom. Before the lessons, she used to stay home on Saturdays, but the seminars gave a new meaning to Sana’s Saturdays. She now holds her diploma in her hands. “This diploma is my birthday present!”, she says proudly. The goal now is to attain her own beauty salon. Can math be combined with manicure-pedicure? Sana replies yes. “When you work with math all day you feel tired. The manicure-pedicure relaxes me, and I feel like taking care of myself as a woman” she points out to us.

How does life in Greece treat a young girl from Pakistan? Sana replied with a title of a Beatles song: “Here we are free as birds; we can go wherever we want”. The good weather, the friendliness and the smile of the people are some of the main reasons that make her want to stay in Greece. “You never feel alone in Greece; you constantly have people around you, especially in the Blue Refugee Center. Anyone who comes is welcomed with a smile. The staff here has a very strong relationship with people. I cannot find a word that accurately describes this relationship. I realized that the feeling I have developed here is something I lacked back in Pakistan. Everyone feels unique in their lives, and here I have also become unique”, she explains.

Sana is optimistic about her life and her future. She claims that her mother has raised her in a similar manner: “she gave me all her positive energy”. “Even when other people think everything is dark, I say no, there is always a light out there”, she says with confidence, convincing us as well. Listening to her talking about life, we recall the lyrics of a Smiths song, “there is a light that never goes out”.

Closing our vivid discussion, we ask her if she wants to send out a message. She smiles and putting her hands on the table stoically, tells us a well-known phrase that the first Pakistani Nobel laureate physicist, Abdul Salam had said “Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching”. “We are obliged to constantly learn new things and evolve. At first, I thought the seminars would not be interesting, I thought they would be too simplistic. But then I thoroughly enjoyed them. I am very sorry for those who missed the opportunity to attend, but I feel very lucky to have completed the lessons and to hold my diploma in my hands “, Sana concludes.

* The Blue Refugee Center is supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF and funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

**SolidarityNow’s Education Program is implemented with the support of UNICEF and the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).