Battling with a smile: StreetLights

Philemon Armenis, coordinator of StreetLights, talks to Neos Kosmos about a group of young Hellenes who are fighting the crisis in Greece in their own way

On a day when demonstrations were brewing at the central Syntagma Square in Athens, a gentleman approached a group of young people and in an emotional moment, told them that “they give him back, what the rest have stolen from him”. He was referring to their spirit of hope. This story is about a group of friends that battle with a smile. The crisis has taught them to do so. Without wanting to be referred to as supporters of one or the other side, their sole purpose is to change the way of thinking of those who are the future of Greece – the youth, but always avoiding violence, and promoting creativity, solidarity and faith in their ideas and in their homeland.

StreetLights is a group of friends that got together and organised a not-for-profit company. These young people decided that to find their place in Greek society again they needed to address equality, cooperation, community and collaboration. “When we started noticing signs of desperation among young people, when juvenile suicides started to grow, when juvenile unemployment occurred, a group of people who wanted to see the change has gathered. We all worked together. The group was gathering at the Syntagma Square – we were involved with young people, organising various happenings in order to help young people to see their daily routine from a different angle, to encourage them to express themselves,” says the coordinator of the group and one of the central people in the organisation, Philemon Armenis. Gradually, the group progressed, as more people became involved.

Through creative projects, the team became closer with one another, closer to the community, closer to the essence of their existence. Their most important ‘tool’ is their attitude towards the consequences of the crisis and the way they face it. The organisation approaches young children, either at the Syntagma Square, or when demonstrations are about to happen. They approach young people through different ways – via Facebook, or through street work, helping them to find a creative way to express their position in society, to strive for hope, that Greek youth needs so desperately nowadays.

“Our aim is to tear ourselves away from the ordinary way of thinking ‘the government or someone else will provide it for me’ and change our mentality to ‘I will do it myself’. The aim is to finally get away from the role of the victim,” says Philemon Armenis, adding that the group consists of young people, 15 to over 30 years old. Philemon Armenis is one of the instigators of this organisation.

The people in StreetLights left their jobs, as they decided either way, they weren’t going to make any money. “But at least, through what we do, our lives are fulfilled. I know that every day something else was done, more profound and in depth. It’s not just that I made a doll, I designed another Barbie, wow, how nice it looks,” says Philemon, who quit his designer job of the famous Barbie dolls, in order to devote his time to work with StreetLights. “A large percentage of what we do goes for the youth projects, and the rest goes to the people who work in the organisation. In this way, we deepen the resources of the team, and help the young unemployed people.

Currently we have three part-time employees, paid only from the projects that the team gets – we do web designing, create videos… We started with five people, and now we have at least 40 to 50 volunteers.” StreetLights, is located in Kolonaki, Athens. In a hub where everyone can express themselves and test their ideas, the organisation provides them with so-called ‘hot desks’ – offices where they can use the internet in order to make a video, network with people, and find resources. One of their projects includes Feelάνθρωποι (feel human). In order to understand the needs of people that lack basic means to survive, a small subgroup was created within StreetLights.

The team is made up of people who are willing to be on the streets during the coldest winter nights, embracing homeless people in need, in an effort to cover material and spiritual needs – collecting clean clothes, shoes, blankets and canned food, and more importantly, keeping them company. “We are alone in this whole situation, especially when it comes to the financial factor. This is the reason that our group in the future doesn’t want to rely on financial services, but entrepreneurship and projects that we do instead.

“This organisation puts us in the grounds of ‘no, we will fight, we will create, we will rebuild’. We don’t just want them to give us money, we want our customers to know that young people who make these videos, design their website – and do much more – are worth it, in the sense that they are supported by a group of young people doing a good job. “It’s encouraging that the way people think is changing. We understand that this difficult situation in Greece has not stopped us from participating and doing creative things,” says Armenis.

The crisis was the motivation for an organisation with such an altruistic purpose. As a magnifying lens, the crisis revealed that there is no longer a public sector, that resources have disappeared, and that suddenly no one was left to fill this gap. Even today, Streetlights is the only organisation whose members didn’t stay closed in their offices, but went out, to the streets, at the heart of riots and demonstrations, and became one with the youth who needed support. Once, while the people injured in the incidents, were gathering in the Metro Station at Syntagma, members of the group were playing guitar, thus bringing a peaceful atmosphere to a restless situation.

“‘Battle with a smile,’ that’s our motto. We will be there to play music, to support wounded, to fight for justice, but not to turn that thing into violence,” Philemon says. StreetLights works closely with the international youth and community movement Fusion International, whose members work in countries as varied as Nigeria, India, Sri Lanka and Albania.

Philemon Armenis graduated from the Fusion International school in Tasmania as a social worker for youth, then did his Masters in Germany, where he worked with German and Turkish children. Upon his return to Greece, the cooperation with the international organisation started. Streetlights now has the support of this organisation in education (volunteers’ exchange programs) and networking. StreetLights reaches out to Australia During Armenis’ recent visit to Australia, the organisation found several supporters.

“I met with Australians who are interested to send volunteers to Greece, as well as with Greek businessmen who have expressed their interest to have Greek employees via internet, for example in web design. This will support not only our team and young unemployed people in Greece, but it will also give them the feeling that in this way they support their homeland,” says Armenis.

Business people showed an interest in providing resources to the group, and were interested in documentaries that StreetLights’ members had made. Although their coordinator’s visit to Australia took multiple directions, the basics of StreetLights remain the same – how to support the team without relying on any rescue coming from outside. With the visit of coordinator Philemon Armenis as a motivation, a group was formed, with Greeks and Australians who carry Greece in their heart, and are interested in helping young Greeks within youth unemployment who lack of entrepreneurship.

“Before we call for resources, I want to call for friends of our team. It is understood that it is difficult to ask for financial support, but we are proud of the work we do in Athens. I want to invite customers and Greek Australians who want us to work on their projects. “It is reasonable that many Greeks living abroad have lost their hope in Greece. I think this is one of the things that Greeks must regain – their faith. There is a tremendous creative portion of people in Greece, which may not be visible in this phase, but they do a lot of work. The crisis has its benefits as well – it clarifies our goals. But, of course, most people are going through a dramatic time, and it is in our hands to change this.”

We wonder how great was the need for Greek youth in a not-for-profit organisation of this kind, before and after the crisis? “There were too many problems before the crisis as well, but the crisis has brought more intensity and pressure, especially in families. This is automatically passed to children. The violence has increased both in schools and inside families. This has a huge cost for all generations. In the end, all pressure of the family comes to teenagers – they are the ones expected to work, to have a better future than their parents. In this situation, organisations like StreetLights are vital, since there are no more social services we had once upon a time,” says Armenis.

The StreetLights team also participates in community work. They cooperate with Paidopoli, a centre that houses children deprived of family care. In November, the organisation will start its program in the suburb of Kipseli – members of the organisation will spend one day a week with the children of Kipseli, mostly refugees. The group has recently expanded to Ptolemaida and Thessaloniki, and will soon begin work in Katerini. As Armenis says, only a solid team in Athens can provide a strong basis to create teams elsewhere. However, what brings despair to members of StreetLights are the needs that people around them have, and the fact that very often they can’t manage them, usually due to lack of finances and human resources.

And while thousands of young Greeks dream of Australia, Armenis did not accept jobs that were offered to him during his visit to Australia. There are, he says, so many people who rely on the organisation where he is co-ordinator, so many people want to do things with them. His decision to stay in Australia would, in that sense, have come at a cost to other, more vulnerable young people battling with a smile in Greece right now. Young people who need an organisation like StreetLights to inspire them to a better, more positive future.