My Greek heritage has always been a cornerstone of my identity. I attended a Greek elementary school in Montreal, partook in Greek dancing classes for years, have indulged in my γιαγιά’s traditional foods longer than I can remember, and have forged meaningful connections with those in the Hellenic community around me. But there was one thing I’ve always felt was missing– visiting Greece.
Every summer, the Greek America Corps, the volunteer program of the Greek America Foundation, offers North American young adults the opportunity to travel to Athens, Thessaloniki, Chios, and as of this year Hania, in order to collaborate and volunteer with local organizations. Last summer, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into one of the volunteer programs.
I’ve always wondered what the experience of going to Greece would be like when the time came. When I boarded those planes to Athens and then Chios, on my first ever flights alone, never would I have imagined the kind of trip that was waiting for me. When I think back to my trip, I remember all the moments as if they’ve been permanently painted in my mind.
On the island, my fellow volunteers and I had the chance to work with METAdrasi, an incredible non-profit that promotes the reception and integration of migrants and refugees in Greece. On one of our first days there, the volunteers and I decided that we would make, alongside the young refugees, home-made face masks with yogourt, turmeric, and lemon. We even made friendship bracelets out of some string I had brought from back home. The unaccompanied minors and the volunteers who participated in those activities that morning really enjoyed it all. We would also often play UNO, where we’d all jokingly argue about the rules, or this card game that one of the unaccompanied minors taught us, which would always have us laughing. A group of us volunteers and refugees would sit in a circle with four cards each, and one by one, each person had to steal a card from the person next to them. The goal was to end up with four of the same card and many of us would end up holding down one card a little tighter so it doesn’t get stolen, and wince when somebody went to steal it– the entire group would laugh.
On certain days, with METAdrasi, we would go in the mornings and give English or French-English lessons for the refugees who were Croatian and fluent in French. In the afternoon, we would go to the shelter and play games or sports with the younger kids of the shelter. Given my fluency in French and appreciation for more academic-oriented tasks, I would often teach in the language classes. I have to say, as much as we taught the refugees, they taught us so much in return– my fellow volunteer Becca and I learnt how to count from one to ten and write our names in Arabic!
We also did excursions with the refugees; we visited The Chios Mastic Museum, which was incredibly formative. We had beach days at Komi Beach, during which, one of the kids and I swam underwater with our goggles to try and find little fish! It was also during one of those beach days when my roommates and I shared a very powerful moment with one of the unaccompanied minors as we were sitting by the edge of the ocean. A sixteen-year-old girl from Congo whose parents died when she was young opened up to us about her journey to Greece– how she was on an inflatable boat that flipped over and everyone but her died in the water and how she was found by the Turkish coast guard and thrown into prison where they whipped her face. That was a moment that put so many things in perspective for me. I knew going into this that these unaccompanied minors had terrible stories, just like so many people also “know” about the refugee crisis through all that’s shared in the media. But there was something so viscerally different about hearing it from the mouth of this amazing young girl who you’ve been interacting with for days, who, against all odds, has remained incredibly kind, can speak seven languages, and wants to come to Canada to start a new life and become a social worker.
The group of volunteers and I also had the opportunity to work with the Chios Animal Shelter. We would take the dogs on sunset walks by the ocean and near the port of Chios since they rarely go on walks given the lack of manpower to walk them all. The moment we would step out of the car, it was like a symphony of barks– they were always so excited to see us. I’d never interacted with bigger dogs before, but it was a real joy…some would even jump up and put their paws on my shoulders! Whenever we walked them by the ocean, many would run into the water, wagging their tails in such excitement. Our involvement with this organization also extended to taking pictures of the dogs and creating social media content and captions to encourage local residents, and people abroad, to adopt the dogs.
Our trip also involved many group dinners, cultural outings, hours spent roaming around the island, and beach exploring. Notably, we visited Pyrgi, the city of painted buildings, which was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, as well as the villages of Olympoi, Mesta, and Volissos. We attended the Chios Music Festival where refugees were performing various musical acts, and a πανηγύρι in Agios Aimilianos– we also visited the Nea Moni monastery, and the iconic Chios Windmill at sunrise where I had my breath taken away. We even got the chance to walk along Agia Markella’s trail bordering the ocean line, walking past crosses that had been placed to symbolize where she’d been hit by arrows by her father who was chasing her for committing to Christianity, finally ending up at her grave and the area where it’s said her head fell into the water.
Another initiative that we partook in, that really marked me, was the cleanup of a Chios beach that served as a refugee camp called Souda in 2015-17. About 300 people lived there until it was shut down by the Greek government in 2017 for multiple reasons; however the day the volunteers and I were there, there were clothes, pills, cans, cigarettes, papers, and food wrappers everywhere, indicating that there are still people that use this beach to this day. It personally made me reflect quite a bit because whenever I think of beach cleanups, I think about cleaning things up that the passing person just litters onto the ground; this was a completely different situation and really widened my horizons. It was also during that experience that we encountered some great locals; this trucker who offered us lots of water bottles from the cooler in his truck and these two older ladies who thanked us for our work, telling us they come to that beach every week.
All in all, this trip truly meant more to me than I could ever express. From dancing ζεϊμπέκικο in the street at midnight because some lady told me to join her, to realizing Chios really does put mastic in everything– hand sanitizer, hair products, drinks, food– to eating some incredible dishes, drinking countless lemonades, visiting Venneti cafe every morning, and all the volunteer work I got to do, this experience is truly once in a lifetime.
The things I learned and the memories I made…I’ll carry that all with me for a very long time. A large Chios-shaped piece of my heart belongs to that island, and to the people that were by my side.
On the thirty-five-minute plane ride from Chios to Athens leaving the trip, I wrote this poem, and I thought it would be the perfect way to end off everything I’ve said, knowing I could never truly have the words to describe what those two weeks were.
the feeling i had when i first stepped off the plane
the wind in my hair and the heat of Greece
i will always remember
glistening crystal waters where we swam
salt in our eyes and yet the biggest smiles
i will always remember
laughing till we couldn’t breathe
hysterics and giggles that made my heart flutter
i will always remember
dilly-dallying in our wreck of a room
Ειρήνη walking in on us in our towels
i will always remember
stuffing our faces in the one-too-many plates Ἑλένη would order
trying every restaurant we possibly could
i will always remember
sights that took my breath away
eyes glued to the ocean, the mountains, and the sky
i will always remember
the people i said hello to in the street
the ones i danced with
the others whose stores i went to every day
the kids i spent time with
and especially
those seven people right there with me
i will always remember
Inspired by Demetra’s experience on the island of Chios? Apply now and join our volunteer program.