For solidarity, for our school, for Odysseas. Campaign for solidarity and financial support.
Thessaloniki, August 31st
Dear friends,
The story of "Odysseas" (Ulysses) began 23 years ago, in December 1997, at a time when lack of Greek language knowledge was one of the greatest obstacles faced by immigrants, refugees and repatriates, in their effort to integrate in Greek society. Given the lack of state care on the issue, we set up a solidarity school where Greek language was taught by volunteer teachers to adult non-native speakers living in Thessaloniki.
The number of students was constantly increasing and in 2000 "Odysseas" was housed in the building of the Macedonian Labor Institute (now a branch of the Labor Institute of the Greek Trade Union Confederation), where rooms and offices were provided by the local Trade Union Center. Gradually, the school of "Odysseas" was established in the city as an autonomous, collective and non-profit project, in which to date more than 250 teachers have volunteered and more than 9,000 adults from various countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and America have studied for free.
For its students, the school is a link to the learning and certification of the Greek language, their integration into Greek society, their education in higher schools or universities. "Odysseas" is not only limited to language teaching, but is also a place for socialization, cultural exchange, the fight against racism, a place for expression and creativity.
A typical example is the Immigrants’ Theatre Group that was formed in 2000 by volunteers trained in theatre and students of the school. The result of this collaboration was 12 plays that went on stage in theaters and festivals in Thessaloniki, as well as in other cities, winning applause, admiration and awards. Moreover, activities like dance lessons, educational excursions, historical tours, lessons of Greek history, literature and creative writing, have taken and continue to take place as part of the project.
In 2012, at the pick of memoranda policies and the rise of the far right, under right-wing Samaras government, the Tax Office conducted an audit of the account books of "Odysseas", which for a whole decade had not received a single euro from the state. Due to problematic bookkeeping (recorded costs exceeded the recorded revenue), which in no way harmed the Greek state, a series of fines were imposed, amounting to a total of approximately 62,000 euros. The absolute lack of money by the project led to its inability to repay this amount, but also to its going to court, and thus, a year later the fines turned into overdue debt and a lawsuit was filed against the chairman of the board, Antonis Gazakis, a teacher in secondary public education.
Back then, we fought for erasure of the debt. Our fair request was recognized with resolutions and official statements by the Labor Center, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, primary teachers' associations and trade unions, as well as a large number of other social, political and cultural collective projects. However, despite our efforts, we did not manage to achieve a political solution and debt cancellation, even during the SYRIZA-ANEL government, despite the commitment of these parties during the pre-election period.
In the face of the possibility of continuing legal proceedings, we decided to repay the debt, which had now reached 78,000 euros with interest included. Eight years later, we are still paying our monthly payments to the tax office (602 euros/month), having embarked on a more and more strenuous effort to raise money over the years. We have paid, with great personal sacrifices and with the support of many collectives and friends, a good part of the debt (over 50,000 euros), but there is still an amount of around 20,000 euros left.
We address, therefore, anyone who understands the importance of continuing the work of the "Odysseas" project. Being fully aware of the financially difficult period we are all going through, we ask you -hopefully for the last time- to support "Odysseas", so that it gets rid of the fines and the persecution. The motto of our campaign is: by the end of September 2020, 200 people / collectives should deposit 100 euros in Odysseas account -needless to say of course that any other amount is more than welcome. A circle of people has already contributed 14,000 euros until August 31st.
On behalf of "Odysseas" Board of Directors
ΙΒΑΝ (Piraeus Bank): GR2401722290005229083542280
Owner’s Name: ODYSSEAS AMKE
Thessaloniki, August 31st
Dear friends,
The story of "Odysseas" (Ulysses) began 23 years ago, in December 1997, at a time when lack of Greek language knowledge was one of the greatest obstacles faced by immigrants, refugees and repatriates, in their effort to integrate in Greek society. Given the lack of state care on the issue, we set up a solidarity school where Greek language was taught by volunteer teachers to adult non-native speakers living in Thessaloniki.
The number of students was constantly increasing and in 2000 "Odysseas" was housed in the building of the Macedonian Labor Institute (now a branch of the Labor Institute of the Greek Trade Union Confederation), where rooms and offices were provided by the local Trade Union Center. Gradually, the school of "Odysseas" was established in the city as an autonomous, collective and non-profit project, in which to date more than 250 teachers have volunteered and more than 9,000 adults from various countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and America have studied for free.
For its students, the school is a link to the learning and certification of the Greek language, their integration into Greek society, their education in higher schools or universities. "Odysseas" is not only limited to language teaching, but is also a place for socialization, cultural exchange, the fight against racism, a place for expression and creativity.
A typical example is the Immigrants’ Theatre Group that was formed in 2000 by volunteers trained in theatre and students of the school. The result of this collaboration was 12 plays that went on stage in theaters and festivals in Thessaloniki, as well as in other cities, winning applause, admiration and awards. Moreover, activities like dance lessons, educational excursions, historical tours, lessons of Greek history, literature and creative writing, have taken and continue to take place as part of the project.
In 2012, at the pick of memoranda policies and the rise of the far right, under right-wing Samaras government, the Tax Office conducted an audit of the account books of "Odysseas", which for a whole decade had not received a single euro from the state. Due to problematic bookkeeping (recorded costs exceeded the recorded revenue), which in no way harmed the Greek state, a series of fines were imposed, amounting to a total of approximately 62,000 euros. The absolute lack of money by the project led to its inability to repay this amount, but also to its going to court, and thus, a year later the fines turned into overdue debt and a lawsuit was filed against the chairman of the board, Antonis Gazakis, a teacher in secondary public education.
Back then, we fought for erasure of the debt. Our fair request was recognized with resolutions and official statements by the Labor Center, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, primary teachers' associations and trade unions, as well as a large number of other social, political and cultural collective projects. However, despite our efforts, we did not manage to achieve a political solution and debt cancellation, even during the SYRIZA-ANEL government, despite the commitment of these parties during the pre-election period.
In the face of the possibility of continuing legal proceedings, we decided to repay the debt, which had now reached 78,000 euros with interest included. Eight years later, we are still paying our monthly payments to the tax office (602 euros/month), having embarked on a more and more strenuous effort to raise money over the years. We have paid, with great personal sacrifices and with the support of many collectives and friends, a good part of the debt (over 50,000 euros), but there is still an amount of around 20,000 euros left.
We address, therefore, anyone who understands the importance of continuing the work of the "Odysseas" project. Being fully aware of the financially difficult period we are all going through, we ask you -hopefully for the last time- to support "Odysseas", so that it gets rid of the fines and the persecution. The motto of our campaign is: by the end of September 2020, 200 people / collectives should deposit 100 euros in Odysseas account -needless to say of course that any other amount is more than welcome. A circle of people has already contributed 14,000 euros until August 31st.
On behalf of "Odysseas" Board of Directors
ΙΒΑΝ (Piraeus Bank): GR2401722290005229083542280
Owner’s Name: ODYSSEAS AMKE