Where the ‘new kids’ feel at home
A school in the Athens district of Hellenikon that brings together 162 children from 39 different countries – most of them children of economic migrants and political refugees – has become a showcase for multiculturalism in a country that is emerging from its mono-cultural past with some difficulty. «Our mission is to teach these children Greek quickly and help them assimilate more easily into local society,» says headmistress Magda Veltsista. «In fact we do much more. Many of these children have been through a great deal. It isn’t easy to leave your homeland, particularly at such a young age. So our job is to let them find joy in life through learning.» Nearly every day there are special activities such as a maths club, a photography workshop, chess championships, theater performances, visits to museums and the Athens Concert Hall, and Sunday walks through the city’s ancient sites. «These activities help the children learn to cooperate, to assimilate into a group better,» explained philologist Eleni Erga, who has been teaching at the school for five years. «At first it was hard to teach children from so many different cultures, but the atmosphere is so warm that the job becomes easy. Meanwhile the children help each other. To be honest, I have found things here that I had been missing in Greek schools, things like respect and appreciation, both on the part of the children and their parents. They work day and night, and yet still find time to come and talk about their children’s progress. That says a lot.» There are introductory classes in each year for children who do not know any Greek. These pupils also attend art lessons. «They can express themselves through painting; it makes them feel more at ease,» says Veltsitsa. «These moments are very moving. We first get them to paint what they miss most from their homeland. The children from Romania paint mountains – they miss the Carpathians. The Russians miss snow.» As the months pass, the children relax and make friends, becoming more familiar with the language. «There are children who come here knowing no Greek and within four months they are reciting poetry. We have won two drama prizes for correct pronunciation by foreigners. That is our reward,» she added. The bell rings for break and the children stream out into the playground, in mixed groups. A girl wearing a headscarf is playing with a Russian child and another from Sierra Leone. An Albanian boy is playing ball with a Syrian child as a couple of Filipinas keep score. «It’s nice that we are all different,» said 14-year-old Svetlana from Moldavia. «The only problem is that we don’t live near each other. «These children don’t feel as if they are a minority,» says Erga. «The first thing they tell us when they come here is how much it bothers them when people outside the school stare at them. We don’t have that here. Everyone is different so everyone is the same.» That is the message the teachers try to convey to the children from their first day at school. «Out there they might face racism, but here they are loved,» said Erga. «Greeks are not only their fathers’ employers. They are also people like us.»
