It was approximately a year ago when we contacted the Metropolitan Greek Social Practice (MKIE) in the southern Athens suburbs of Elliniko and offered to support them as part of our medical and pharmaceutical campaign for Greece, which also supports Doctors of the World (Greece).
Though our fundraiser has taken longer than expected, we believe that the result has been significant and worth the time that we have dedicated towards it, not just in terms of the money we raised, but more in terms of the work that we have been able to achieve through it.
This was the first time that two Greek Australian organisations (the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria (GOCMV) and the Greek Ambassadors), individuals, and eight Greek schools collaborated on a humanitarian initiative in Melbourne and Australia. Students, parents and teachers from Alphington Grammar, from the evening schools of Oakleigh Grammar and of the GOCMV, AHEPA’s Greek school, Ariston, Maraslios and Mathesi Greek schools, Omiros College, together with members of the community and Father Vasilios Kourtesis from the Parish of St Kyrillos and Methodius in Preston helped raise funds. This was something that proved once again our ability as Greeks of the diaspora to unite and to do something positive for our beloved Greece. And this is precisely the vision of the Greek Ambassadors, to establish projects that unite Greeks, that promote Hellenism and that support Greece particularly during the current economic and social crisis. Initiatives that create Greek Ambassadors!
The reason we conducted the fundraiser through Greek schools is because we believe that education is a key factor that shapes the perceptions of young Greeks in the diaspora, of Greece and of their Greek identity. The new generation, regardless of geography, is the future and the continuity of Hellenism, so it is important that it is sensitised to the events of its homeland and encouraged to act positively. Through the fundraiser, students and their families, teachers and principals learned about the important work carried out by the clinic for thousands of patients who visit it on a daily basis, and also about the battle that is fought for their human rights. It was so touching to see children of the second, third and fourth generation, from primary school to high school age participate in the fundraiser and discussing what is being experienced by Greeks in Greece. We believe that we have succeeded in demonstrating the other side of the crisis to hundreds of people, which unfortunately is not depicted in the media here – not just of the social crisis but the positive aspect of solidarity which exists despite the crisis.
Our help will not end here. We have decided together with the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria to continue this fundraiser through further events in the future. We would like to thank the Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria for their collaboration, all the schools who participated in our fundraiser and embraced us so warmly, and all other individuals who contributed to this effort.
*Evy Yannas is the founder of the organisation Greek Ambassadors Inc.