Galery

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Anastasia Balezdrova

Little Maria, who was found in a Roma camp in October 2013, is in good condition and is feeling well at the home where she is living with other children, as stated by director of "The Smile of the Child" Kostas Giannopoulos. In his words, she has completely adapted to the environment at the home. "I would like to give a very typical example. Once we had to take her to a doctor but she refused to leave the room. She left it to be taken to the examination only when we gave her keys, telling her that she would take the keys to the house with her.

Maria is a strong-willed person and she holds her own. She selects those who can be close to her and, although she is very young, her strong will shows that, in life, she will require things to which she is entitled." She is not looking for the Roma family at whose house she was found and, during all these months, she said the word "Mom" only once, not to address some of the social workers but in connection with a misunderstanding while playing with the other children.

During the press conference for the activities performed by the organization last year, Giannopoulos related the chronicle of the events after Maria was entrusted to the foundation, which will take care of her until the final decision on her custody.

"We take care of children by a prosecutor's order. The prosecutor defines our actions and ensures compliance with all procedures that are provided for in the cases when the state takes care of a child. In the case of Maria, "The Smile of the Child" has been instructed to receive the child at one of its homes and take care of her.

After the first trial, the court had entrusted Maria’s temporary custody to the foundation. Then another trial followed and now the court has to decide to whom it will entrust the permanent custody of the child."

The head of "The Smile of the Child" confirmed the information disseminated by the Greek Ethnos newspaper that Bulgaria had formally submitted a request to the court in Larissa to be entrusted the custody of the child.

"We know that there was an intervention by the Bulgarian ambassador. Here I would like to emphasize that the only authority entitled to decide what would happen to Maria and to any other child in this situation is the Greek court and the prosecutor for minors. Therefore, no state has the right to claim custody of a child, even if his or her parents are citizens of the specific country.

The trial did not take place today and I am not aware of the reasons for this. It will be held on 18 March when we will learn the court’s decision, which it will take solely in favour of the interests of the child. No other factor can affect its judgment.

This is the common procedure in such cases. In this case, however, the story of Maria has gained great publicity."

Kostas Giannopoulos said that at some point the Greek Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity had called him to ask whether the foundation would like him to speak with his Bulgarian counterpart to settle the matter. "I explained to him that only the legal authorities are responsible for addressing these issues. We will give Maria and all other children everything they need and wish them that they have a better future. I am saying this because we have learned that Bulgaria has taken action and has prepared premises to adopt her. You understand that these actions are aimed at attracting the media interest."

He criticized the statements made in Bulgaria, saying that they are not in favour of the child. "She is greatly recognizable and this is a serious problem. She cannot go out freely because she is a "celebrity" and everyone recognizes her. However, we will not change her everyday life at all and we will take her out like we do with all other children, until the final court decision on her custody."

Meanwhile, Giannopoulos warned the media that there is a prosecutor’s prohibition of publishing her ​​pictures and videos. "The only photograph for which such a permit had been issued was that for the poster to search for her parents. The publication of all other pictures and videos of Maria can pose legal problems to the media."

The information about Maria was presented at a press conference for the activities of "The Smile of the Child" in 2013. Within one year, the organization helped a total of 63,299 children and families in various ways. At 10 homes for permanent residence and 3 homes for daily care, the foundation volunteers are taking care of 356 children, including Maria.

The 1056 helpline for children received a total of 272,605 calls or 747 calls a day. In 679 cases, the calls reported child abuse and in 158 cases, the team of the organization had to intervene by sending a psychologist to meet with a teenager who had attempted suicide, or by sheltering an abandoned child. In 72% of cases, the cause of the interference was child abandonment.

The severe cases of child abuse in 2013 were 55.4% more compared to 2012. Almost half of the children were victims of physical violence and 40% of them were aged from 0 to 6 years. The trend of the main perpetrators of such violence being the children’s mothers, namely 37.5%, continued for another year in a row.

Last year the foundation was involved in the search for 160 missing children. In 70% of cases, they were runaway teenagers, the most common reasons for this being family relationships, 43% of cases, and relations with members of the opposite sex, 31%. 87% of the missing children in the 13-18 age group were girls.

At the same time, there was an increase in the number of requests for assistance from needy families. The foundation provided support to 10,547 children, 25% of whom had found themselves under its care for the first time. 48% of 1,257 families sought help from "The Smile of the Child" for the first time too. In 79% of cases, the children's parents were unemployed or their income was very low, 26% were single-parent families and 13% large families.

Kostas Giannopoulos said that despite the difficulties parents do not abandon their children and seek assistance to meet their basic needs.

The foundation has a wide range of activities, including consultancy services for children and teenagers, organizing campaigns against school violence, creative activities for children who are under treatment at the children's hospitals in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, and preventive medical examinations through the mobile medical stations.

In 2013, it carried out 34,000 examinations of 17,955 children in 49 municipalities, which is a 156.5% increase compared to 2012.

"The Smile of the Child" is the coordinator of the European network against school violence, which includes Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It is expected that the project will be officially announced in June, within the context of the Greek Presidency of the European Union.

"For yet another year people ranked the foundation first among the NGOs, according to their activities. This is particularly important at this time, when the financial scandals in some organizations give rise to scepticism among all of us. However, NGOs cannot solve all the problems of society, the state authorities have to take actions too. We note an increase in cases of sexual abuse, child abandonment in hospitals, keeping them in a poor and harassing family environment due to lack of reception facilities, serious deficiencies in the provision of basic needs such as health, education and food. Children in Greece suffer due to the lack of coordinated care for them rather than from the crisis," concludes the director of the foundation.