\n<\/p>\n
I work with many students, young and dynamic people at The Demos Center of The American College of Greece. It is one of my greatest pleasures as it also enriches my own life and work at the center.<\/p>\n
Recently, I had mentored a young woman who happens to be from the same island my family is from. Lefkada. She is smart, beautiful, driven, and is passionate about her discipline, which happens to be theater studies. Of course, Greece led the civilized world in the theatrical arts. Think Sophocles, Aristophanes and Euripides to name few. She aspires to walk in their footsteps in becoming a dramaturge and wants to pursue a doctorate to that end in the United States. \u201cWhere,\u201d she asked me, \u201cdo you recommend I should apply?\u201d<\/p>\n
Always aspirational myself and certainly on behalf of students, I mentioned the usual suspects, among the most prestigious of them in the United States. \u201cHarvard,\u201d I said, which has a critically acclaimed theater, about which I produced a documentary, \u201cChaos and Order: Making American Theater.\u201d \u201cYale,\u201d I added, home to the famous Yale Drama School. \u201cColumbia. Cornell. Stanford. Northwestern.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I stopped talking, tears came to her eyes. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d I asked her. \u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n
She told me, \u201cMy teachers here in Greece [she is a student at a public university] discouraged me from applying to any of those universities,\u201d the best of the best, for theater studies. \u201cYou\u2019ll never get in,\u201d a teacher told her in stark language. \u201cDrop it.\u201d I was saddened to hear she had been discouraged and in that manner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I responded to her comments in my own stark and blunt manner and told her not to let anyone discourage her from her dreams. She is a good student with a more than acceptable level of accomplishment for those top-tier universities. \u201cOf course, you should apply to those places,\u201d I told her. \u201cWithout applying, of course then,\u201d I said, \u201cyou would have no chance at all.\u201d Her spirits instantly brightened. She had never been encouraged in this way, she told me. She decided to apply to all the places I had recommended.<\/p>\n
Young Greeks are inadvertently discouraged in their lives. They are suppressed by the weight of the past and of leaders who need to update their thinking, embrace change and to invite young leaders to participate in the political process and to listen seriously to their ideas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why? Because they are inspiring. They are smart and passionate, astute, and they care deeply about their country and the world of which Greece is a part. They want to contribute to the growth of the country, and they do not want to be driven out for lack of opportunity, an affordable place to live, and a decent, livable wage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What they lack is self-confidence and self-esteem. What they lack is a belief that they can enact change because the impediments have been made evident. Where is there opportunity? Where can they find an open door?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The biggest obstacle: An old guard stands in the way. A legendary Greek bureaucracy is so deep and intricate that it stunts growth and progress. Government can\u2019t seem to get out of its own way, is reticent to be held accountable, and has not made meaningful space for the young and fresh thinking that the country so desperately needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The problems here in Greece and in Athens are those which young people, with their fresh thinking and vast amounts of energy, can solve. The public education system is in desperate need of reform. Youth unemployment drives people out of the country. Rising rents price them out of having their own homes. Chronically low wages mean they can\u2019t get ahead. Athens is a world-class city, but it needs urgent care. Sidewalks are dangerous in most neighborhoods. Graffiti is everywhere and needs cleaning. More green spaces in a cement city are a necessity. Garbage needs to be picked up from city streets. Neighborhoods to be beautified. There is a melting pot of cultures that need targeted attention for coexistence, assimilation and acceptance. The climate crisis is exacerbated by tourism that has run rampant and threatens natural environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Governments, this government, and governments all over the world have simply fallen short.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the answers?\u00a0<\/p>\n
To put our faith in youth. To put real power in their hands. To provide experienced guideposts in older mentors, and to support them with private and public funding as they work to change this country one project at a time. They have promising ideas and can suggest a way forward. They live with the problems they want to fix, and they can envision a better future, creating better lives for themselves, for their parents (imagine that!), for their own children someday and for their future grandchildren.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few summers ago, I had coffee with a young man I greatly admire. He is a youth advocacy activist, and he was feeling tired and discouraged after having documented, over time, how things have gotten worse, not better for young people in this country. He told stories of dirty university buildings, which are broken down and old, students taking exams with the lights from their cell phones, bathrooms barely functional, etc. He talked of miniscual wages and rising rents forcing the brain trust of this country to go elsewhere for a better life. That is unacceptable. Especially when we see investment flooding the country in the tech and environmental sectors. There is money, a portion of which needs to be invested in young, new, progressive ideas for change. Look around. There are glimmers of hope in so many people and organizations that are trying to take root here in Greece. They need help to grow and blossom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The organization Petros Apostolakis leads is called Protovoulia Neon. Harry Otimos and Nikos Vasilopoulos are its co-founders, and their steering committee includes fellow activists Nina Kalentso and Nektarios Gkikas. Essentially, they empowered themselves to organize and act, and they are asking other young people who come from both public and private colleges and universities to join them. The mission? To discuss problems they know need fixing and to come up with solutions to address those problems. Their plan, for now, is to meet regularly and to propose a platform for the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to engage as many young people as possible,\u201d Apostolakis said. \u201cWe want to build a network of like-minded youth who believe that change happens only when we make it happen. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires all of us to fight for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We need to codify their group as a working group in tandem to the government\u2019s efforts locally and nationally. What about a youth assembly, a youth congress that works with and advises governments, both national and local municipalities? Through a new body like this youth can propose legislation, plans, proposals and lobby national and municipal governments to enact their ideas. Let\u2019s legitimately bring them into the politcal process and incorporate their thinking into what already is being considered.<\/p>\n
Fridoon Joinda who is a recent graduate of Deree, The American College of Greece, is now an accomplished video podcaster and documentary producer. He created \u201cThe Untold,\u201d which put a spotlight on the problems and issues of refugees. He was producer, director, editor and host. Now he is focused on producing a new series of vodcasts called \u201cVoices of Democracy.\u201d He conducted 16 interviews at the prestigious Athens Democracy Forum last fall which shined a light on various aspects of strengthening democracy. He also produced three, hour-long programs featuring three leaders from education, civil rights and democracy building.<\/p>\n
Joinda was a refugee himself who came from Afghanistan through the notorious Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos. He applied and was accepted into the Education Unites program at Deree, The American College of Greece. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in addition to several other international awards during the time he was a student at the college. His goal has always been to bring attention to the human rights of refugees and immigrants and he wants to mobilize representatives of that large community, who come from many other countries, to make change through political channels and to join forces with other groups, including student groups, that also want improvements which impact their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout history people have moved across borders. It is nearly impossible to find somebody whose ancestors never migrated or whose lineage has remained in one place for generations. Migration is part of human existence, shaping societies and culture over time. I believe that in all its forms, migration drives growth, introduces skills, new perspectives, diversity, innovation, economic progress and human development,\u201d Joinda said. He added: \u201cPeople migrate to improve their lives and it is a fundamental human right to be able build a better future. No one should be denied that opportunity.\u201d history, people have moved\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joinda has been in Greece for nine years, is patiently waiting for his Greek citizenship, calls Athens home, and has a very accomplished Greek girlfriend. He settled and is making a contribution to life here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Change can happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even one person can make a difference.<\/p>\n
Case in point: Ecogenia, a youth civic climate corps which was the brainchild of one single person, Greek American Lia Papazoglou.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She is a graduate of the very successful AmeriCorps program in the United States, where she did two tours of duty. It put over 70,000 young people to work in intensive service \u201cto meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, health, and homeland security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Papazoglou spent much of her youth in Greece with her grandparents up north in Xanthi. She has a deep and abiding love for Greece, recognizes the environmental threats to this very special country, and wanted to do something. She moved with her husband from Oakland, California to Litochoro, will raise her first child in Greece, and has strategized a new way forward for Greece in the climate space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five years ago, she joined forces with Greek-born Erika Spagakou and both women founded Ecogenia, which has launched an ambitious project on Mt Olympus, grooming the landscape to mitigate the threat of fire and floods. In fact, the iconic California Conservation Corp joined forces on the mountain last year to work with Ecogenia. The CCC has been an invaluable model for what Papazoglou and Spagakou want to create in Greece. It offers paid experiences for young people to serve in managing manmade or natural disasters \u201cincluding fires, floods, oil spills, earthquakes and agricultural emergencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ecogenia has also worked to support ecotourism in the Dorida area, north of Nafpaktos, grooming a maze of hiking trails to join a collection of villages which are struggling to survive due to diminishing populations. But how fitting that the work of Ecogenia will emanate from Mt Olympus to the rest of Greece. There are plans for more projects on Crete and to someday expand to marine conservation. Also, there will be a plan in plan in place to move those who serve with Ecogenia to employment right here in Greece in the burgeoning green economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This organization should be funded, and sanctioned, mandated by the government to serve as Ecogenia employs young people, inspiring them, giving them agency and keeping them in Greece.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy channeling their energy into tangible solutions,\u201d Papazoglou said, \u201cyoung people not only help build a stronger more resilient Greece, but also develop the confidence and skills to shape their own futures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Youth is fleeting and so we need them right now to infuse a weary system \u2013 that seems to be out of fresh ideas \u2013 with their energy. The current system appears heavy and is difficult to maneuver, like turning a big ocean liner. The youth are agile, easy to pivot, like a jet ski. Time is of the essence and now is the moment to embrace the young. They are the future. Their ideas need to be taken seriously and incorporated into both the planning and in the execution of those plans.<\/p>\n
What we don\u2019t want is for these dynamic young people to become jaded and defeated because there is perpetual delay, inaction, continual hand-wringing and disinterest in what they have to offer, which is so very much. Their meaningful participation is vital not only to the health of the polis, but to the democracy on which it stands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Mary Cardaras is the founder and director of The Demos Center of The American College of Greece, which helps strengthen democracy by promoting active citizenship. Its motto is \u201cDevote the rest of your life to making progress.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n