People Power: Young Greeks Team Up to Combat Crisis

Last edited Wed Aug 14, 2013, 11:10 AM - Edit history (1)

Young Greeks are combating the euro crisis by setting up self-help initiatives to provide free medical care, repair street lighting and monitor public spending. A new, unprecedented communal spirit is emerging to tackle the hardship of cutbacks and reforms.

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For Karantza, the crisis represents an opportunity for change. She and Stephania Xydia, 26, founded a non-governmental organization called "Imagine the City." It is both a coordination office for citizens' initiatives and a reeducation program of sorts, with the aim of improving the management of cities and villages.

The Greeks, says Xydia, have never learned to participate in and shape public life. "The government treated us like underage children, and most people were happy about it." Xydia grew up in Luxembourg and attended university in England. She returned to Athens in 2011, after giving up her job as a management consultant in London. Her parents weren't happy about that. "What are you going to do in Athens?" they asked? Change things, she answered.

Now she and Karantza are keeping local governments throughout Greece on their toes. With the help of Imagine the City, Greeks can exchange information more easily, including reports and statistics. As a result, it's no longer as easy for mayors to build new town halls or village squares that no one needs -- except the local officials who award the construction contracts to their friends.

Things have started changing in Greece in recent months. People are doing more than just strike, rant and throw yoghurt in protest. Triggered by the crisis, a new, unprecedented community spirit is taking shape.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/young-greeks-helping-each-other-to-combat-crisis-a-916123.html#ref=nl-international






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