“Woman must discover the power within themselves”, says Fatma Abdelbadie, who works as a cultural mediator at Thessaloniki Solidarity Center. 61-year-old Fatma, is from Cairo and has been in Greece since 1983. She has been working with SolidarityNow for the past 2.5 years.

Fatma grew up in a closed society and only when she came to Greece, she began to discover her abilities. “I slowly discovered the strength I had within me. I was in a foreign country, with 3 children, one of them deaf. What I had to do was to stand up on my feet and say to myself: move on!”. And she stood up on her feet, she registered her son to a deaf school to “break his silence”, she learned the sign language, she found a job as a babysitter and raised not only her own children but also other’s children, which she considers as her own.

In the past she was volunteering for KETHEA by taking care of the women’s children who were in detoxification. Moreover, at the beginning of the refugee crisis, she was at Eidomeni, where she was helping as an interpreter. Life brought her to SolidarityNow. By chance, instead of pressing the elevator button that would lead her to the 6th floor, she found herself at the organization’s offices, where she was offered a job. And this way Fatma started working as an interpreter during therapy sessions for LGBTI and women refugees.

“I get emotional with my job. Women from Arab countries have an eager to express themselves; and by translating for them, I feel that I am helping them.

I identify myself with these women. I see how I was and where I am now.

So, I feel the need to help them even more“.

*Thessaloniki Solidarity Center is supported by Open Society Foundations (OSF/OSIFE).

“I like this interaction with my students. It is a give and take relationship, not only with the girls, but also with their mothers. By seeing their gratitude written across their face, I get emotional. I feel happy by doing my job and it’s something that is transmitted to the children too. When I finish the lesson, I feel fulfilled”, says 30-year-old Eleni Kontou, who has been working for SolidarityNow as Education Officer for the last two years.

Eleni has studied Early Childhood Education and has done her Masters on Special Education. Before working with refugees, she had worked in the private sector as a kindergarten teacher. Two different worlds in which the teacher is called to respond to different needs. On one hand you have the nice environment of a school and on the other you have the lessons in refugee camps’ containers. On one hand, you have the native pupils and then a group of children carrying many traumas; for them education and knowledge are not priorities as much as survival, Eleni tells us.

However, the same children, despite the difficulties, don’t quit. Girls and moms are dynamic, they have not given up, they care for themselves. “I’m inspired and moved, and I feel more dynamic by watching them. These girls are strong, they have passion to do things, why don’t you do the same?”, notes Eleni. She has realized that girls, and especially teenagers, see their teachers as role-models, “like a person who can advise them on various topics. Likewise, their mothers feel happy when we talk to them”, she adds.

The message that Eleni Kontou wants to share with all women and girls is that we must always have dreams and goals. “You must try to achieve your dreams, because only then you will have a reason to continue fighting. The key is to feel that you can do it”.

*Thessaloniki Solidarity Center is supported by Open Society Foundations (OSF/OSIFE).

“No woman should feel inferior”, says Lena, who celebrated her 50nth birthday on February 13th. Lena Mrapshtija  comes from Albania and lives in Greece for the last 20 years. Today, she works as a part-time cleaner at the Thessaloniki Solidarity Center.

Lena was a good student and her dream was to study medicine, but she didn’t succeed because of her country’s political regime according to which only one child of each family had the opportunity to be enrolled at the University. “My brother studied medicine, but I was unlucky”, she says. In 1999 she came to Greece to find her husband, who had already been settled in our country and worked as a construction worker. At the beginning she found the Greek language difficult. “I understood Greek, but I couldn’t speak, because I was afraid of making mistakes”, she tells us. Her neighbor, who welcomed her as a family member, helped her with Greek, and that is something she will never forget.

She has done many different jobs. She has worked as a cleaner in a hospital, in taverns, in a flower shop, in fast foods and other places. In Thessaloniki Solidarity Center she has been working for the last year. For Lena every job -with its good and its bad moments- gives you a life-lesson. “But in these two jobs I have learned a lot. Here I have met people who have gone through a lot but at the same time they have found support and help. I am glad that they have this opportunity, because in the past I have gone through a lot and no one was there to help me”, she stresses.

But when you receive, you have to give back, this is Lena’s philosophy. She believes that NGO’s beneficiaries should try to adapt as much as possible to the Greek reality. She finds many things in common with these women, because she has also passed through a similar struggle.

“I do not know if I can help them, I wish I could”, she stresses. “I wish for these women to live a good life in the country they have come, to try not to feel inferior.

Because we women, we are not inferior.

I wish all their dreams come true. I wish the same for all women, especially those who are experiencing difficulties”.

 *Thessaloniki Solidarity Center was established and is supported by Open Society Foundations (OSF/OSIFE).

by Evripidis Michail, Education Officer in SolidarityNow

During a parents’ meeting held some weeks ago at the Intercultural Gymnasium of Thessaloniki, Evripidis Michail, Education Officer in SolidarityNow, felt like to write about the relationships created between teachers and pupils, as well between teachers and parents. A text written from the heart and dedicated to all those involved in the challenges and the beauty of the educational process.

We come to a world that constantly changes fast and suddenly. Changes -small or large- affect our emotional world. Given this constant change –provoked by our own decisions or by fate- we feel ambivalent but at the same time emotions that run high, like anger and joy, sadness and happiness, pain and relief.

Changes could fill the pages of an empty book. If someone opened it and looked at its contents, his gaze would be immediately caught in the chapter “Human Relations” and the sub-chapter “Separation”. And then we would only feel pain. So, the question is: Is there a good separation?

The contact with refugee and migrant children and their parents, who travel together or alone until they anchor their hopes and dreams in a new home, has shown us that being separated from home, family, friends and all the things that provide us security, as well as the loss of childhood, leaves us indelible scars. Separation as a sentiment is intensified throughout the journey, only in the end you understand that it’s difficult to get over it. This feeling will also be experienced by those who will extend their hand for support and those who develop relationships of trust with them. Sooner or later, all who work in the field will experience the feeling of separation because people always leave.

Moments full of embarrassment, tight hugs, tears in the eyes, words of gratitude and silence and a wish “until the next time”. But you know- this sorrow is instantaneous. Nothing can be compared to what is left behind by this relationship, which in combination with the idea of giving, make you fill complete. Their life stories taught you valuable life lessons. They took traveled you away, to other cultures, other civilizations. They have taught you that love does not need any common language to be expressed, it just needs a hand in the heart and a gaze. They gave you the opportunity to feel the greatest satisfaction, helping them to dream again. You are blessed, because you are the “student of this school” and if you think you had more to give, think this: you have managed to give them the blue, they will now have the opportunity with the next one to learn the red and with the next one the yellow and so on. This is the only way for someone to become colorful and at the end will look like a Frida Kahlo’s painting.

There is a good separation, if it is accompanied by dream fulfillment and optimism.

And as a refugee father said, “human relationships are not aware of borders. If the doors of the heart open, they will always be open waiting for you”.

So, it does not matter where the roulette ball will stand, but the bet you put before the ball spins. If you bet on optimism and giving, you are the real winner.  

* Following a proposal by the Metropolitan Development Agency of Thessaloniki, SolidarityNow unites its forces with the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the YMCA to create a program for the education of refugee children in the center of Thessaloniki. The project «Dia-Drasis» is funded by Open Society Foundations.

“I want to study and become something in life”

Said wears nothing but a smile. He is 26 years old and comes from Syria; he is supported through SolidarityNow’s Accommodation Program in Thessaloniki. “My name in Arabic means happiness”, he says. “Are you a happy person?”, we ask him. “Yes I am. I grew up like this. I try with my jokes to make people smile, in any case we only have this life to live”, he notes. In addition to this, Said has dreams and believes that people can achieve the impossible. One of his goals was to learn Greek, and he is already doing so.

It is Monday and we are at the Thessaloniki Solidarity Center. Said is on time for his interview with us. We sit on a red sofa and talk about Damascus, his place of origin, his life there, his family, his journey to Greece and his new start in Thessaloniki. Said has studied economics, but his great passion is computers. When he was living in Syria he had his own shop where he was repairing mobiles and computers. In fact, as he tells us, he has made his own electronic game. He was so absorbed by his passion that he was not eating, sleeping and even not attending his lessons at the University. He didn’t graduate on time, but as he says, he did it deliberately because in Syria during the war you only had 3 choices: to go to the army or to study or to leave the country. Said graduated and then fled from Syria.

Syria, Turkey, Greece and specifically Mytilene, and after living one year on the island, he went to Thessaloniki. This was the path that Said followed, a difficult path indeed, but our friend never lost his hope. “I want to live in Greece, that’s why I am learning Greek. I do not want to go back to Syria. Syria has finished for me”, he says. It has been 3 years since he came to Greece. During this time, he experienced various feelings, from despair and loneliness to optimism; that was what saved him. Today, he attends Greek courses at the School of Modern Greek Language of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. “Aphrodite, my social worker, helped me a lot. I told her that I want to learn Greek and with her assistance I was registered for the Greek classes. If you want to be helped, you have to ask for help», says Said, who is at A1 level. “I want to speak Greek, to be able to understand, I do not want to be in the shadow. I want to study and become something in life”, he adds.

His dream is to become a social worker. He believes that the knowledge of the arabic language and his experiences as a refugee, will help him. “I know the people who are coming here, I know their problems, I was one of them. I like to help them. Aphrodite helped me a lot and I want to be like her”, he underlines.

“You know … when you’re a good guy, good things will happen to you”, he adds with wisdom, while our conversation is coming to an end. “The Greeks are trying to help you, but you have to help yourself first. Life is ours; it is my life, I will live my life for me”.

*Said is hosted in the frame of SolidarityNow’s Accommodation structure in Thessaloniki operated under the ESTIA – the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation program, implemented by the UNHCR and funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

“If I get good grades, I want to study medicine!”

 “I do not know if I am the best student, but I’m doing my best. I want to find work and go to the University”

“When I was going school in Afghanistan, I didn’t like mathematics at all, so instead of concentrating on the lesson I was drawing houses and birds”, says Mahram in Greek while he is drawing for us a bird on a blank paper. Mahram is 19 years old and goes to Lyceum in a night school in Thessaloniki, while at the same time attends Greek lessons in SolidarityNow’s Blue Refugee Center.

Mahram lives in Greece for the last two years. He grew up with his grandparents. He lost his mother at an early age and until now he does not know whether his father is dead or alive. “At the age of 10 I was going to school and working at the same time. It was very difficult for me”, he tells us. Mahram worked as a farmer in order to be able to support himself. Many times he had to skip school. His teacher, however, was trying to help him in any way to continue his studies. But things turned out differently when the Taliban tried to recruit him. In order to persuade him, he was told that if he will die nobody will mourn him, because he was an orphan. Mahram to save himself, decided to flee from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Lesvos, Athens, Ioannina, again Athens, Idomeni and finally Thessaloniki. This was the road to freedom. In Lesvos he learned English and Greek, and he was helping his compatriots by translating for them. His next stop was Athens, where he was placed in a shelter for unaccompanied minors. His main goal back then was to leave from Greece and go to another European country. “Like the others, I wanted to leave from here too. We were told that if we go to another country things would be better”, he confesses. Indeed, he tried to leave, but without success. A health issue stopped him. He had to be hospitalized for a long time. The first time he stayed in hospital for 20 days and then for 3 months. “I was feeling very lonely. The doctors, however, were very good with me and helped me to overcome my health issue. My only interest was to go to school”.

For two years he didn’t go to school. “From the time I came to Greece until today most of the time I was in the hospital”, he says. But things have changed for the better. First, he started to attend Greek lessons in SN’s Blue Refugee Center with Kostas and Christina (his teachers), and he was registered at a night school. “I really like my school. I feel Greek”, he tells us and smiles. Mahram talks about his school, his teacher, his classmates, his Greek friends Andreas, Maria and the other kids, who are hanging out with him during the school breaks. His favorite lessons are mathematics, English and informatics -his teachers at the Blue Refugee Center, Elsa and Mohammed, have influenced him.

Mahram has been granted with asylum in Greece. Now his only dream is to finish school and go to the University. “I do not know if I am the best student, but I’m doing my best. I want to find work and go to the University. And if I get good grades, I want to study medicine!”

*SolidarityNow’s Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki is supported by UNHCR and UNICEF and funded by ECHO -European Commission – Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid Operations.

“Life is far too short to be sad”

The waiting room in Thessaloniki Solidarity Center is crowded. Smiles, over thinking, anxiety, relief, some of the feelings that are reflected on people’s faces. M’s figure stands out from the crowd. Tall and ramrod straight, with his big eyes and a calm look, he holds a bag full of books and awaits the time for our appointment.

M.’s colors reveal his African origin. He is only 25 years old and he has been in Greece for the past 2 years. At a very early age, he lost his parents, however his foster mother raised him with a lot of love. His life as a child and as a teenager was difficult, as he had to work as a farmer to be able to support himself and pay the tuition fees for his education. “But I did it, because I have always had a positive attitude towards life and I have honestly believed that everything would be fine”, he says. And indeed, everything went well. He has managed to enter the University and specifically, the law school. Immediately after graduating, he began working for the government of his country. One of his main duties was to train the Police Forces on criminal procedures and the respect to fundamental human rights. Unfortunately, for security reasons he was forced to leave his job and flee away from his country. At the time, he was enrolled in a postgraduate program, but he wasn’t able to complete it.

“When I arrived to Lesvos and saw myself in a tent, I started to cry, when I remember my past -my studies and who I am”, he states. But, at the same moment, he looked around and he saw hundreds of people caught in the same situation as him. “I said to myself that if people can live like that, I can do it too. I saw it as a challenge and I believed that something would change”, he notes. Within a short time, everything changed. He left Lesvos and went to Derveni refugee camp and from there he was moved to one of the organization’s apartments in Thessaloniki. Things changed when he won a scholarship to study at the Perrotis College-American Farm School for the academic year 2017-2018, part of the “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus” program offered by the United States Embassy. He attended undergraduate courses in business environment and due to his good marks, he was given the opportunity to continue his studies. But unfortunately, because his asylum decision was still pending, he couldn’t get the scholarship.

They say that «every cloud has a silver lining», and in the case of M. it’s true. His willingness to continue his studies and his optimism led him to attend free courses in the European Civil Law program of the law school at the Aristotle University. With the help of his professor, he applied and got accepted in the postgraduate program LLM in Transnational and European Commercial Law, Banking Law, in the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki. The only thorn was the expensive tuition fees. M. had paid an initial amount to cover the costs of his enrollment, and then, with the encouragement of a friend, he created a crowdfunding campaign. Despite his anxiety about whether he will be able to raise money, he has never lost his hope. “I feel happy, and I am very grateful given the situation, as few refugees have the ability to do what I do right now”, he points out.

In addition to his postgraduate studies, he also attended the “Future Interpreters”, a comprehensive training program for community interpreters and cultural mediators organized by SolidarityNow in Athens and Thessaloniki. “I thought it was a good idea to attend these seminars so I can find a job as an interpreter, but unfortunately there are not many people coming from my country to Greece”, explains. Despite the obstacles and difficulties, M. dreams his life in Greece, his studies, his desire to learn Greek, but also to work as a lawyer. “This positive way of thinking is a charisma. I think my mother inherited it to me. Life is far too short to be sad” he adds.

It is in January 2019 and 2018 seems far away. M. has come to the Center and is sitting in the computer room. We greet him and, with a huge smile, he tells us that the administration of the University has decided to cover 50% of his tuition fees, and through the crowdfunding campaign he has managed to raise the amount he was asking for! “This is life, man. If you think negatively, it’s like suicide”.

*Thessaloniki Solidarity Center was established and is supported by Open Society Foundations (OSF/OSIFE).

* SolidarityNow, with the support of the Guerrilla Foundation and in collaboration with the Society for the Care of Minors (SMA) and the Panhellenic Association of Professional Translators Graduates of the Ionian University (PEEMPIP) organized a comprehensive training program for community interpreters and cultural mediators in Athens and Thessaloniki.

“Everything happens for a reason. All this fight, the good and the bad moments have led me to this point. Fortunately, I always think positively, otherwise what’s the point?”

It is 18:30 in the afternoon and the office is almost empty. We sit in a small room where the social workers and psychologists of the organization usually hold their sessions with the beneficiaries of the Thessaloniki Solidarity Center. We are waiting for Kamel, an old colleague who is late for our appointment. Kamel’s story is very different from what we’re used to listen to. Within 3 years’ time, from a refugee he has managed not only to find a job, finance himself, rent his own apartment, but also get a scholarship from the US Embassy to study at Perrotis College in Thessaloniki.

It’s 19:00 and our friend arrived just out of breath. He apologizes for the delay, but he has just finished his work. What characterizes Kamel, beyond his huge smile, is his positive mood towards life. Stable, persistent, professional, independent, are some of the characteristics that define him as a person. He is only 26 years old and he comes from Syria. He has studied agricultural engineering and has worked for 5 years as a cultural mediator. Theater, football, swimming, movie screenings and “Cinema Paradiso”, excursions to his village were some of his hobbies when living back in Homs. He speaks with love and admiration for his parents, who despite the difficulties, managed and raised 4 boys. But his life changed because of the war.

He arrived in Greece in March 2016. His main goal was to go to the Netherlands, but like other asylum seekers, he was trapped in Eidomeni’s “favela”. There he began to help his compatriots by working as a volunteer interpreter for various organizations. When, he ran out of money he started looking for a job and luck brought him to SolidarityNow, where he worked as an interpreter. “I learned a lot professionally and personal wise. After SolidarityNow, all the organizations wanted me for work”, he says. Kamel has so far worked for various international and Greek organizations, in different posts: “I was eager to grab every opportunity, in order to improve myself and my skills, so I applied and won the scholarship at Perrotis College”, he points out.

The deadlocks and obstacles in Kamel’s life were many, but he learned to create and find his own gateways and headways. Optimism and positive way of thinking are things he has conquered. His parents and their personal stories influenced him very much in his way of thinking. Last year he won a scholarship to study at the Perrotis College-American Farm School for the academic year 2017-2018, as part of the “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus” program by the United States Embassy. Due to his good performance he was given the opportunity to continue his studies at the BSc International Business program. “As a single man it wasn’t easy for me to be included in an accommodation program, so I stayed at friends and then I rented my own apartment. Very soon I found a job. Honestly, I was privileged. I had my freedom, I was not restricted. If I stayed in another part of the city, I would not learn about the scholarship or about other opportunities. Everything happens for a reason. All this fight, the good and the bad moments have led me to this point. Fortunately, I always think positively, otherwise what’s the point?”, he underlines.

Going back to University is something that pleases him and something that brings him closer to his goals. “I want to grab this opportunity, because I want to do something. It has not to do with finding a better job or getting paid more; I want to create something bigger. I hope that one day I will return to Syria and help to rebuild my country”, that is his big dream. He confesses that he has decided to leave his job so that he can dedicate himself 100% to his studies. It is a difficult decision, but he believes that at this stage of his life he must invest in his future. “Education is the most important thing”, he says. Kamel has organized a crowdfunding campaign to raise some money to help him meet some of his basic needs during his studies.

Kamel no longer considers himself as a refugee. He is now an active member of the Greek society, has many Greek friends and all he has to do is to improve his Greek. What he wants to advise people who have been in his shoes is to “not give up, grab all the opportunities you are given; you never know where will lead you!”  

* Kamel was working in SolidarityNow’s Educational program, which is supported by UNICEF, with funding from the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department (ECHO)]

*Thessaloniki Solidarity Center was established and is supported by Open Society Foundations.

“The Main Reason that makes me Happy is my Studies!”

He became 18 years old in Greece, after a long journey not only towards safety but also towards adulthood; adulthood that came abruptly to help him cope with the conditions. His living environment requested one thing; to fight for his life. Everything else would follow. And they did.

Today, the 20-year-old Abdo is a young citizen of the world. He speaks Arabic, English and Greek, he studies computer science, he has friends from many countries around the globe and he is eager to learn anything new that brings him closer to further knowledge, diverse people and cultures. That’s what Abdo seeks to do, although the initial impression is that he is an introvert young man.

His eyes sparkle on the question “what are you studying?”, to which he responds with enthusiasm – “I’m studying computer science! I love computers!“

Abdo lives with other 24 young men in the Youth Shelter operated by SolidarityNow in collaboration with the Society for the Care of Minors. The Shelter is part of the accommodation program implemented by the organization and concerns the “provision of accommodation, food and education to young adults aged 18-22 aiming at their smooth inclusion into the Greek society“, says Nikos Zervas, the organization’s Shelter Coordinator.

In spite of his living together with several people, “I always find time to be alone“. He was also alone when one of the many bombs in Syria injured him both psychologically and physically. The serious health problem with which he is left has made him stronger – “I can endure much” – but at the same time makes him vulnerable, “I see bad dreams and I find it difficult to sleep“. Now that he is experiencing a totally different reality in Athens, in the Shelter, in the college studying computer science, he feels safer and dares to be optimistic about his future. His dream is, not to be afraid anymore.

Along with his college education, he attends the Greek and English classes at the SolidarityNow Intercultural Center “Diadromes” and has recently participated, together with other of his co-residents, at the photography and radio courses organized by the organization for the young men of the Shelter; in his limited spare time, he walks. “I like walking in the city, either alone or with friends. Now I’m less afraid. I want to live in Greece, but probably not in Athens. It is too big for me, I would prefer to stay in another city, such as Chania, Kalamata, Sparta”.

Towards the end of our meeting, Abdo speaks only for his family. His parents, the beloved brothers, his country Syria – his parents and most of his older siblings are still there. There is another brother living in Germany – “I don’t like Germany, it’s cold. But I want to see my brother! Just for one hour. We are friends, not only brothers!“, he says impatiently. However, he underlines that it is still very hard to express his true feelings when he talks with his family so as “not to worry them”.  

“I only speak to them about the main reason that makes me happy;

and that’s my studies!”  

*The Youth Shelter is operated by SolidarityNow under the framework of its whole accommodation program, which is part of the ESTIA-Emergency Support to Integration & Accommodation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR GREECE) and funded by the European Commission – Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid Operations – ECHO.