This May I was in Ursula’s dance group, which goes beyond dancing and gives a lively insight into everyday life and culture. I was particularly interested in the lives of children, because in the last 10-12 years there have been more young people on the island and therefore more children. As a German, I was a bit cautious at first, but when some girls on the beach loudly called out the country of Yermania while “throwing a ball in the air”, I had to smile and was happy about how carefree it was.
In addition to English as the first foreign language, French and German are also taught and I was able to learn a lot in conversation with Christos Rahes’ super nice German teacher. In Westikaria there are primary schools in Christos Rahes, in Agios Polikarpos and in Karkinagri, they go up to the 6th grade. This is followed by 3 years in Rahes and another 3 years until the Liceum (end of the 12th grade).
The private school bus collects the children and takes them to school from Karkinagri, 2 hours away, via sand tracks. School is compulsory, but the driver did not receive his salary from Athens last year. After continuing to drive at his own expense for a while, he stopped traveling and his parents had to step in.
Another impact of the dire financial crisis is teacher salaries. They have been reduced by almost a third, for example from EUR 1400 to EUR 900! New school books could not be printed this year and the copier is temporarily broken. In winter there is no hall in which the sport could continue.
My idea is therefore to find supporters for social projects, such as the school or the retirement home, or for cultural projects that could perhaps create jobs for young people.
This could also be the formation of an association in Germany, for which only seven members are necessary.
Who is interested in having their own ideas, sees the time as ripe for active action and lives in Bremen or Umzu so that we can easily meet?
In conjunction with the parents’ association in Christos Rahes, we could get started and collect donations!!
Thank you very much, dear Ursula and Martin, for the great internet forum.
I’m looking forward to lots of feedback!
Kirsten Grimm, Bremen
Note from Ursula: I think this is a really great idea from Kirsten and will of course fully support all efforts from here!
