Photo of the Day: Rememering Those who Fought so WE can be Free...to Live, to Dream...

 Food for thought as we remember and honour those who died so WE can befree, to live, to dream, to love, to have the right to speak...

Remembering OXI Day... 

the day Greece said NO to fascism

Lest WE Forget...

(If anyone knows the origin of this photo please let us know so we can credit, it came to us via email, and we considered it fitted in beautifully with the World Tourism day 2013 Greek Photo Competition we are running on Facebook)

Lest WE Forget... 

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows! 

 © GlobalGreekWorld 2013 All Rights Reserved

Do You Recognise This Child? Please Share and Help Find Maria's Birth Parents

 Do You Recognise This Child?

Click on the poster for details

In a very positive and encouraging move in the fight against trafficking and kidnapping of babies and young children, Greek Police have launched an investigation to help find the birth parents of a blonde haired, blue (green) eyed child known as 'Maria' and discovered in a Roma camp near Farsala in Greece.

Called into the camp to investigate possible criminal activities by the inhabitants of the camp, the public prosecutor accompanying the police noticed the very distinctive lack of resemblance between the young girl and her parents.

Upon further investigation the police found major discrepancies in the explanations given and documents presented by the parents,  a Roma couple who was found to have registered a different number of children in different family registers ( oikogeneiaki merida) in different regions of Greece. Because of this, it appears that the woman was registered as having given birth to six children over a period of 10 months and collected the respective child benefit payments!

DNA tests have shown that there is no biological link between 'Maria' and her 'parents' and the little girl has been placed temporarily in the care of The Hamogelo tou Paidiou, an organisation which has done wonders for the protection of young children in Greece. The couple has been arrested and charged with abducting a minor.

Maria's colouring and characteristics lead the police to believe that the parents could be North European or Scandinavian  and have released this photo and several others of the 4 year old. 

Interpol has been drawn into the case with the Greek police supplying DNA details and all the information they have on the child, who is in good health according to Hamogelo tou Paidiou director and founder, Kostas Yiannopoulos, who also stated that she was confused and bewildered by the events of the last few days.

We can all help by sharing these photos in the hope that someone recognises some of Maria's characteristics and can help identify her. 

Couples who may have 'lost' a child at birth, or in any other way at around the same time might also be able to help in the investigations and return a bewildered and understandably confused little girl to her real parents.

We certainly hope so.

In Greece, this gorgeous blonde angel and the search for her parents has dominated the country's news, just as it has much of the world's media given that this is the reverse of what usually happens. 

This is especially true in the UK, where the search for Madeleine McCann, the little girl kidnapped on holiday in Portugal, has been given fresh impetus with the analysis of her case on BBC's Crime Watch, and fresh hope for her desperate parents. Gerry and Kate McCann have said they have refreshed hopes for finding Madeleine after the abducted four-year-old girl was found in Greece.

The case of  Ben Needham who was kidnapped at 21 months in 1991, while on holiday with his parents on the island of Kos, has also resurfaced, with the Daily Mail reporting that Ben, who would be 24 today, was reported as sighted in the same Roma camp. 

Ben's mother Kerry has left no stone unturned trying to find Ben, even appearing on Angeliki Nikolouli's Greek TV show for locating missing persons, Fos sto Tounel, in her quest to find her son. 

As she told  ITV: 

My family and I are extremely delighted at the news that a four-year-old girl has been found in a gypsy camp in Larissa, Greece. We have always believed that Ben's abduction was gypsy-related and have had a long ongoing inquiry in Larissa. We hope that the investigation into Ben's disappearance will now be looked at again.'


 Ben's grandfather,Eddie Needham told ITV's Calendar News: 'We've always been told over the years it's impossible for gypsies to hide a European child, well this proves that it's not.'What I want now is for the British police to contact Larissa police and have those people questioned regarding Ben.'

As local Greek police chief Vasilis Halastis told Greek TV: "We're always searching for lost children. In this case we're searching for the opposite: the biological, natural parents. This is unprecedented." 

Already, several couples whose characteristics appear to match and were told that their infants had 'died' at birth in 2009 yet the bodies mysteriously disappeared from the tiny coffins, have already come forward and supplied samples for DNA matching.

Police are requesting anyone with information about the girl to call

• the security police in Larisa at +30-2410-683171 and +30-2410-683184-5.  
• Το Χαμόγελο του Παιδιού», Νάταλι Καρακιουλάφη, 210-3306140, 6936-523039 
• the European Hotline for Missing Children at 106000, which operates in 22 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the UK

Let's ALL get involved! 

Click on one of our sharing tools and share, share, share...

 Let's share this around the world and help a little girl find her real parents! 

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows! 

© GlobalGreekWorld 2013 All Rights Reserved

'GREECE IS THE WORD! A Celebration of Greek Culture in London 19 October 2013

 Spread the Word!
 GREECE IS THE WORD! 

If you are in London this weekend this event is a MUST! 
Support Greek Culture, 
Support Greece! 

'I am very proud of Greece is the Word.

 It started as a very small idea,a few  months ago, and now it has grown into this massive event - day - here at the Southbank Centre.
I was really upset at what was happening at the moment in Greece, as a journalist and  as an Arts Journalist specifically. I heard that the Greek book industry was collapsing, that artists, musicians couldn't perform, and I thought I wanted to do something about it...'
 
Rosie Goldmith, Curator/Journalist  

'GREECE IS THE WORD!'

Southbank Centre
Saturday 19 October 2013

The Culture Behind the Crisis: What You Need to Know

Greece Is The Word! is a celebration of modern Greek culture and a cutting-edge, creative response to the Greek crisis. Join historian Bettany Hughes, novelist Victoria Hislop, BBC correspondent Paul Mason and a pantheon of Greek stars for a lively day of debate and performance. Enjoy poetry from inspirational performer Katerina Iliopoulou, comedy from brilliant stand-up Katerina Vrana, top analysis from journalist Maria Margaronis and lyrical literature from Ioanna Karystiani and Alexis Stamatis. Plus fabulous designer Mary Katranzou designs the dresses for some of the stars to wear.

Book for two events for a 15% discount, or book for all three for a 20% discount. All events are in English.

For more info and to book tickets visit:
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/what...

Supported by Arts Council England and the European Commission

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows! 

© GlobalGreekWorld 2013 All Rights Reserved

I Had a Dream....An Evening with Angela... Angela Merkel!

 Last night I had a dream...

I dreamt of Angela... 

Angela Merkel!
Not just an ordinary dream either...

I wasn't somewhere she was, and saw her in passing... 

or in this shop window in Athens when she visited last year...

 nor did I bump into her on the empty streets 

during  her visit through Athens last year

 

I wasn't at the Greece v Germany Football Game

nor was I  shivering in the cold in a street in Berlin waiting for the promised land...

 Not at all!

We were both guests at a social function somewhere I couldn't determine, probably in Athens and I was chatting with her for at least an hour!

What did I say to her? 

Everything that any Greek would like to say to the person whose austerity policies have affected if not destroyed every single Greek household, bringing them to the brink of bankruptcy... to the brink of despair.

 What could I say to the person whose intransigence and adherence to this infamous austerity is especially responsible for the new poverty that has struck Europe.

 

I told it like it was, described the situation on the streets, 

the dire circumstances of 90% of Greece's population and told her that she is entirely on the wrong track! That it would be so much more productive to bring in incentives for employment and development, to free up the money supply to encourage this development and allow Greece to grow. 

That it would be better for Greece but also for Germany!

 

That she needs to give Greece a chance...

That it wasn't just about loans and interest rates. 

That there are people behind the numbers, people who are suffering, suffocating.

 

That two of the main reasons for the rise of the extreme right, a criminal Nazi based party called Golden Dawn, is the newly-imposed poverty and newly acquired misery for the average person, along with the lack of hope in the future for a younger generation that is highly qualified but cannot find a job to suit those qualifications in Greece. 

 

What was particularly pleasing was that she agreed with me and promised she would make sure things changed now that she was re-elected.

I woke up feeling elated and that I had done something for Greece, my homeland, and the rest of Europe!

What a wonderful feeling and no mean achievement! 

Alas for Greece however, it was just a dream... 
some would say a nightmare!

For a moment there though, I felt on top of the world! 

Prophetic? Wishful thinking? Who knows...

To all the dream analysts out there ...

I would love to see how you interpret this! 

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows!

© GlobalGreekWorld 2013-21 

All Rights Reserved

Crete Shaken by a Major Earthquake of 6.4 Richter on Saturday 12 October

Seismic Activity Map of Crete and Greece
The red and green dots indicate where today's earthquakes occurred.

A major earthquake struck Crete yesterday afternoon at 4.11 pm, 64 kilometres West of Chania, and about 30 kilometres West of Platanos, near Gramvousa, one of the most beautiful areas of western Crete.  In the sea, between Crete and Antikythera, its effects could be felt all over Crete. The earthquake was also felt in many parts of the country, including Athens.
 
Thankfully no casualties have been reported so far, although some structural damage, especially to older properties, has been sighted and reported.

Building checks are underway and all schools will be inspected prior to children being allowed to enter.  


The Samaria Gorge National Park has also been closed for 24 hours as a precautionary measure. 

See what one closed circuit television camera in a supermarket captured during the earthquake in the video below.

 You can follow what's happening in Greece earthquake-wise, on a real time basis at EarthquakeNet  and  Seismos.

You can also keep up with what's happening in Chania, with the Chaniotika Nea.

There have been many aftershocks... let's hope this was the big one!

Our thoughts are with all our friends in Crete.  

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows! 

© GlobalGreekWorld 2013 All Rights Reserved