"So today we spent our day visiting four NGOs here in Thessaloniki. The last one was "Antigone" an Information and Documentation Center on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence non profit organisation which was first established in Thessaloniki in 1993. Even though I already knew "Antigone" as a non profit organisation in Thessaloniki, I did not know so much about its action.
Today we had the chance to attend a wonderful presentation of "Antigone's" action by one member of the organisation, Andromachi. As a result we learnt that they help immigrant or refugees in Thessaloniki to lead a better life by providing them with any kind of help. "Antigone" also develops activities on anti-racism and non-discrimination, human rights, social ecology, peace, non violent conflict resolution and cooperates with many other NGOs in the city.
After the presentation of our work and "Antigone's" action, we started some games in the team in order to know each other better which were quite fun! For instance, we played a game in order to learn the names of all the members of the project. After that, we had even more games where we cooperate with each other and make ourselves feel comfortable. We laughed a lot!!!!
As far as my feelings are concerned about this visit, I have to admit that are quite mixed. On in one hand, we learnt so many new things about "Antigone" and actions undertaken in our city and which actually help people in need. On the other hand, I felt a bit dissapointed by the fact that even though there are many motivated young people who battle against racism and are active members of NGOs like "Antigone", the targets and missions cannot be accomplished fully in the terrible terms of economic crisis in Greece today.
Within the team, this last visit in "Antigone" gave us the chance to form an opinion on how the economic support of the authorities can determine the actions of NGOs in Greece. By contrast, we realised that even through difficulties there are people who still dream of a better world and seek for equality in the society. That's not only optimistic but also a motive for us to continue battle for our beliefs and taking even further action to change discriminative behaviours towards our peers!!!!"
Reported by
Vassilina
Greece
Unesco Youth Club of Thessaloniki
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