The community through my eyes

How the individuals can change the community, and the community can offer hapiness to individuals.

Coming from a country that is lying in the heart of the migration issue, I am observing the ongoing situation with great interest. As a student of Journalism and Mass Communications in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, my interests very, starting from diplomacy, foreign policy, international relations and the background of political and military leaders. So, for me the migration issue is one of the key issues, in my efforts to understand both some parts of the unexplored field of the international relations, as it has affected the relations of several countries and international organizations, and about the study of individual key — persons, either in its creations or in its solution.

Recalling, Greece welcomed 1.2 million people coming from the Turkish territory, after the war between the two countries, in the 1922. Comparing, this amount is almost equal to the whole amount of refugees that Europe has received in the past few years. Furthermore, during the 1960’s, more than a half million Greeks moved to another country, such as the United States of America. Coming to the present time, Greece is facing a huge so called “brain drain”, as slightly above 400.000 people are leaving Greece, searching for a better life, due to the financial crisis and the future uncertainty.

As perceived, it is deeply ingrained in the culture of Greece, to deal with migrants and refugees. Many problems and difficulties do exist. But hope and solidarity have proved in the past and, still proving day by day, that a not only individuals can make a difference, but a united community is able to cause a total change.As a future journalist, the media not only set the frame of the conversation on the migration, but also, due to their actions, receive both positive and negative replies. In those words, my opinion can be found as well. Watching and engaging through interpersonal and public conversations on the migration issue, since the beginning of the Syrian war back in 2011 at the age of sixteen, I am able to admit that my personal perspective on migration has played an dramatic role in the formation of my personality.

Grandmas in the island of Lesvos, Greece, helping a young refugee mother to feed her baby.