Volunteers’ Experiences
Dancing: An international language
The history of Pontic Greeks
by Lola Itzá López Lungo
Does anyone remember how beautiful those times were when you didn’t have to wear masks,
there were no restrictions in shops, restaurants, all shops, and entertainment centers were open, and that you could travel everywhere without testing or checking if you are vaccinated? At the moment, I feel as if the above-mentioned examples were fiction, some imaginary reality. The coronavirus has changed the entire world and the lives of millions of people. Due to the pandemic, people became afraid of going out, going into the city, meeting friends, and a significant part of the population either lost their jobs or changed their working mode to remote work. I, as a student and volunteer, belong to this group because I have been studying online for almost two years, so I think that I have some experience in remote work that I would like to share. The pandemic has had an effect on volunteers as well. Helping refugees is much more difficult when social distancing is required because teamwork and communication is heavily affected.
The Pontian are a Greek ethnic group that used to live by the Black Sea, in the mountainous region in the north of Anatolia peninsula (now Turkey). Vasilis Gioranidis, history and dance teacher, Pontian himself, explains that the first evidence of them moving to that region goes back to the 8th century BC. Since it was a highly isolated place, they barely had contact with other civilizations through history. This is clearly perceived in their dialect, which remained close to Ancient Greek. Nevertheless,
due to the “ethnic cleansing” programme of the Young Turks starting in 1915, Pontian Greeks were forced to leave their land so as to survive the extremely violent persecution they were enduring. This migration turned definitive with the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923.
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Let’s take the time to imagine how it would
be to leave the place you grew up in. The hard decision to say goodbye to the place your ancestors have been living for centuries, knowing that you do not have the choice either to stay or to come back. You can’t take with you the flowers nor the fruits or the smells. With the minimum of material belongings, you start your journey.
This is how, luckily, you get into a ship with your fellows. After weeks of travelling in the sea, you arrive to land at last! An island in the Aegean Sea, since now you are a refugee and you must quarantine. Still, when your feet touch solid ground again, the landscapes have changed. Now the trees come in different shapes and shades. All the group’s hearts are longing for home… Until someone takes out a lyra. The music and the voice surround you as if you were
