My name is Emilio Carbajo Vázquez and my adventure in Greece began one week ago. I will be a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps, where I am going to carry out a project with the Esai en Roi association that works in Thessaloniki. The project, Kaizen Youth for Health is part of the programs of the European Voluntary Service and thanks to the support of the organization, I will be able to carry out activities in health promotion, special education, immigration, art and youth empowerment.
In my first week in Greece, I have been received in Athens by various associations that work on issues related to the fields that I will work with. On my first day of work, I was able to interview the president of the International Taekwondo for disabled hellas association, Nikiforos Kotrides who works in different schools in Athens, as well as in his own gym where he teaches Taekwondo to children with special abilities. Nikiforos showed me how through Taekwondo, these children can practice a sport based on structured and dynamic movements, promoting group playing and physical activity.
Also that morning, I visited one of the schools where Nikiforos works and which is run by the psychologist Kleio Linaraki: the Asterion Drasis association. In this school, children with special abilities share, live and learn; and have different spaces where they can carry out activities, helped by a multidisciplinary team made up of psychologists, speech therapists, physiotherapists, teachers, trainers, health workers, etc. The school is based on a system implemented by Kleio, that tries to adapt the abilities of these children, allowing them to develop theirselves in an environment as close to real life, always seeking the child's happiness and meeting their individual needs.
The next day, I was able to meet the renowned nutritionist Evangelos Zoubaneas and the coach D. Voudouris, who work together in a nutritional support clinic in Athens. They are part of the Institute of Nutritional Studies & Research with whom we will collaborate during these months. We had a very interesting conversation about health promotion and the current needs of the population in terms of nutrition and sports. They welcomed me very warmly and I hope to see them again soon.
A last interview could not be conducted due to personal issues, so the last days in Athens I was able to enjoy the wonderful life of the city, full of beautiful and exciting places, its warm people and the happy atmosphere in its streets, despite the lockdown that Greece is living for several months. I travelled to Thessaloniki on Friday, motivated to continue knowing, discovering and starting to work on this project that is gradually being established.
