Erasmus+ and our Hellenic experience
We shall never forget our trip to Greece which began on November 9 and lasted for 11 days. IB students: Julia Kaczyńska, Natalia Nowak, Jakub Strażecki and Jakub Łucki, supervised by the coordinator of the project, Ms Ekaterini Papas-Rotko and the coordinator of the high school, Mr Janusz Woźniak, realised the goals set in the MIGRANT- Erasmus+ project.
Delegations from five countries: Poland, Norway, Italy, France, and Turkey flew to Greece, invited by Junior High School in Platykampos, a small town located 150 kilometres south from Thessaloniki. Students, hosted by their peers’ families, had a chance to watch the daily life of a Greek family.
The itinerary was wonderfully prepared by our Greek hosts. We could pay cultural visits to Athens, Thessaloniki, the Meteora monasteries, beautiful Makrynitsa village and other marvellous places where the ancient times meet the present days, lasting in this peculiar symbiosis for millennia.
One of the most important moments for all of us was the visit to a refugee centre for underage refugees who left their countries escaping from war and hoping they would find peace and quiet somewhere in Greece. The situation of the boys, who stay so far away from home, parents, relatives, and friends, brought us all to tears, regardless of the gender, age, or experience. The Polish team donated 300 euro in the form of coupons to buy some clothing for the boys.
There were school activities, too: games, tasks solved together, lectures... But, the most memorable moment was meeting the Greek Minister of Migration, who shared his knowledge about the migration crisis in the world, listened to our opinions, and answered the questions of the participants.
Our visit to Platykampos raised some commotion in the local media, including newspapers, which called us "ambassadors of peace”.
The excursion was an experience which cannot be compared to lectures or learning about the world through media. We experienced something genuinely precious, something that changed our reality forever, making it multicultural and full of fabulous and emotional sensations. We will always remember the phrase which we saw in the headquarters of an NGO in Athens – Action Aid: We all bleed the same colour.
