Local Life Overcoming struggles
Interview with Christina Evgenidou Dedicating your existence to improve the living conditions of vulnerable women by Alix Ibar and Simona Poje
A t Irida social center, solidarity is spread, Can you tell us what is the mission
paths are crossed and stories are shared. Different backgrounds, different points of view, different sensitivity… Christina is the head of Protection and Safeguarding at Irida, she has been working to improve the living condition of women for several months now.
What did you want to become when you were young and what inspired you to work at Irida social center?
When I was young, I didn’t have a lot in my
mind. I think I mainly wanted to become a princess or a teacher. I never thought of becoming a psychologist, which is my bachelor’s degree. And as the years were passing by, I decided that psychology is what suits me best. But, growing up and slowly, slowly, I decided that psychology is what I should do in my life. I decided to work for Irida maybe a few months ago. Well, actually, I always wanted to work for Irida because it’s a great organization that supports women.
Why did you specialize in women’s protection ?
I don’t know if you are aware of what is happen-
ing here in Greece, lately. But there is a lot of violence against women from their husbands and a lot of gender based violence in general. So I decided that since I am also a woman and that it affects me as well… Or not affects me, but maybe concerns me, I decided that I would like to work for an organization that supports and protects women.
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of the center and how are you contributing in supporting it?
The mission of the center is dual. First of all, we want to protect women. So we have a protection sector that consists of a social worker, a psychologist, two lawyers, and myself. And we also have a livelihood program, which is mainly what we aim for the women to be integrated in society. So it has volunteers and teachers that can teach our ladies : Greek, English, German, computers, sewing lessons, and in general any kind of activities that would help them empower themselves and be an active part of the community. In what ways do you see the center making a positive impact on the lives of the refugee women?
So by learning Greek they can integrate better
in the Greek context. By learning English, they can integrate anywhere and by learning German, which is most of the people’s destination country, they can start fantasizing about their journey after leaving Greece. In the meantime, the protection services can help them in a different way. In the way that they can feel safe here in Greece, they can have a house, they can overcome the trauma, they can finish all the legal aspects of
“Out in the society, they’re all alone. And by making friends here at the center, it means that automatically they are not alone anymore.”
