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What can the public spirited and hungry for a change Athenians do

23 January 2011 / 11:01:25  GRReporter
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A little later a small Gipsy woman about 50 years with cunning eyes came up to me and whispered to me also in broken Greek: "What a lovely girl you are! Why don’t you bent down and pretend to be looking for something and pull that coat with the leather for me and a blouse, but my size". When I refused politely, she looked at me kindly and asked me where I was from. Apparently she had noticed my accent. It turned out that she was a Bulgarian gipsy from Plovdiv. She came in Greece a year and a half ago to find work after being laid off from a plant in the area. "Here also there are no jobs. In the hotel they ask for four euros per night and I cant raise money to go home in Bulgaria".

Another woman who turned out to be Greek asked for a duvet cover, which she liked among the piles of collected items. One of the guys in the organization asked her if she is homeless, and she answered almost offended: "Of course I'm not. I’m even coming after shopping" and she showed a small bag with two new shirts one orange and one white. "But, Madam, today's campaign is for people who live on the street and have no money" - tried to explain to the boy. The woman looked at him inquisitively and said: "You are just wasting your time, those people on the streets have no need of anything."

The situation got out of control and some of the clothes had to be distributed.

Once things calmed down, I continued my conversation with Elena. "I feel in a very difficult situation – without wanting it I have to judge who can get help and who cannot" she confesses. Nevertheless, the young woman kept her positive attitude. Atenistas held for the first time such a campaign and Elena admitted that the mistakes they made now will serve as a lesson for subsequent initiatives.

Tags: news society Atenistas charity homeless blanckets clothes
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