Reintegration via creative expression
Petros was a professional sound engineer. He hadn’t worked for quite some time when he joined the Paremvasi Alternative Community run by the Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals (KETHEA). There he was able to find himself again, and his trade. He helped with the sound production at the organization’s events and, when he completed the program, he went back to work. Manthos had no particular skills but at Paremvasi he discovered he had talent, so much in fact that he won a scholarship to the Vakalo School of Art and Design in Athens. Diavassi, another therapeutic program run by KETHEA and aimed at reintegrating former drug users into society, also has a visual arts component. Both programs have courses in photography, ceramics, the construction of musical instrument and graphic arts, some of which involve professional training. Paremvasi is situated in Rafina, on the eastern coast of Attica, and cares for about 60 people. Its name, which means «intervention,» was chosen because the program has been involved in action to protect the environment. Twenty years’ since Paremvasi was founded, KETHEA is marking the occasion with celebrations that culminate on June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, to raise awareness of the environment as an alternative approach to life. Diavassi is an open program, where participants attend on a daily basis, in the morning or afternoon.
