Recently, the students at Anatolia
have been practicing for a charity performance to benefit the Syrian refugees
that have been arriving in Greece over the past few months. The performance is
open to everyone in Anatolia’s surrounding community and has a small admission
fee. The performance is a short play that describes the difficult life in
Syria. It explores why there are so many people choosing to leave their homes and
what they hope to find in Greece and other parts of Europe. The play was
written and organized by a group of teachers at Anatolia and it is spoken in
both Greek and English.
I was very interested to learn
about this performance. At first, I found it surprising that such young
students would be speaking about a topic that is not only a difficult subject
to begin with, but one that is highly political as well. The teachers I am
working with explained to me that most of the students are very well aware of
the refugee crisis, as it is constantly in the news and a hot topic among Greek
people as well. Instead of keeping the students in the dark, they felt it was
important they are well informed about what was going on in their home country,
especially because more and more refugee camps are currently opening in
Thessaloniki. Since the issue is highly political, they explained the play simply
tells a story that describes the current situation, and does not make any
political statements regarding whether or not Greece should be letting in so
many refugees.
I was very touched the teachers
went out of their way to not only educate their students, but to do something
that benefited the thousands of refugees that are currently in need. However, I
still had a few questions about Greece’s involvement in the refugee crisis
considering Greece is in an economical crisis at the moment as well. The
teachers explained to me that Greek people have a very strong sense of
community and can also relate to the situation of the refugees. They told me it
was not that long ago that the Greek were under the reign of the Ottoman Empire
and were refugees themselves. Even though the Greek people are struggling at
the moment, they are doing as much as they can to help the Syrian refugees.
Unfortunately, I was unable to see the
play myself, but I was blown away by the charitable efforts of the students and
staff at Anatolia. This particular situation showed me that the teachers at
this school are devoted to educating their students in all aspects of life, not
just the given school curriculum. Knowledge of current events encourage critical
thinking and teaches empathy, two skills that are extremely important not just
to have in school, but in life as well.
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