Children’s Association of Greece and Cyprus The latter part of 2005 was filled with interesting, exciting and happy events for “The Smile of the Child”. Of course we don’t have enough space to describe all the events that we have been involved with, but we will try to summarize some of the highlights. In September our children returned to school after sun soaked vacations on the beach. Some of our children from Athens were lucky enough to holiday in our home in Corfu, other children went to our friends in Kilini and still others were fortunate enough to enjoy the natural wonders and beautiful surroundings of our home in Ancient Corinth. As all good things must end, our children returned home refreshed and ready to begin the new school year. The memories of the holidays will however keep them smiling through the year. On October 2, 2005 we celebrated the baptism of seven of our children. Godparents, children, friends and neighbours gathered at our small church in Melissia to witness the blessed event. The church is located on the same property as our home in Melissia. Following the baptisms there was a buffet dinner prepared by our volunteers and ladies from the surrounding area. Music, dancing and laughter lasted well into the night. Smiles could be seen not only on the faces of our children but also on everyone present! October was not all fun. There were some very significant steps taken to combat the very serious phenomenon of child prostitution, pornography and exploitation. On October 18, 2005 we attended a focus group in Athens organized by The International Center for Missing and Exploited Children and In Hope. The discussion was entitled: Combating Child Pornography: Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and focused on joint cooperation of NGO’s and governmental agencies in the region. The session led to strategic planning on what steps can be taken in the Balkan region to combat this international phenomenon. Simultaneously in the fall, “The Smile of the Child” became involved in preparing and launching the first every Greek website geared at protecting children from the dangers of the Internet. In cooperation with the police, Internet service providers and educators from the Ministry of Education, the first steps have been taken to create BalkanSafeNet. Once -1-

launched, the site will be interactive. Amongst other features, the site will enable people to report websites and addresses they suspect of dealing with child pornography and prostitution anonymously. Police will then investigate the information and where appropriate work with international agencies and police forces to combat this crime. BalkanSafeNet will also provide information to children and adults on how to serf the net safely. Equally significant, the site will enable international cooperation in effectively protecting children from this dangerous and insidious problem. The International Center For Missing and Exploited Children organised a very informative conference in scenic Lucerne, Switzerland. The conference was held from October 25th until the 27th. Non-governmental organizations from the United States, Europe and from around the world met to exchange information and ideas on how to combat child sexual exploitation, trafficking and child pornography. Our President, Mr. Costas Yannopoulos was on one of the panels and presented the work of our Association. Everyone was surprised at the number of projects that a private NGO has managed to successfully pursue. We met many committed people whom we have kept in contact with and are excited at the prospect of working with them extensively in the future. We are grateful to the organisers for all their hard work. Needless to say, the conference was a great success. As everyone is aware, November 19th is International Child Abuse Awareness Day. “The Smile of the Child” began to organise a number of events to remind everyone of the plight of abused children in Greece and abroad. “The Smile of the Child” decided that the issue was significant enough that we would run a number of events to raise awareness. As a result, a media campaign began in mid-November that included radio, television and print advertisements. Our slogan was “Why don’t you react?”. On November 19th a press conference was broadcast. Through these efforts we increased public awareness surrounding issues such as child abuse, child prostitution and child pornography. In mid-November of this year, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Right of the United Nations, Mr. Juan Miguel Petit, visited Greece. He took the opportunity to visit six out of our seven community homes and meet our children. As well, he toured our SOS 1056 helpline and met with social workers and other staff. During the press conference of November 14 2005, he took the opportunity to comment that he felt that it was noteworthy to “underline the enormous work done by a non-governmental organisation in Greece, “The Smile of the Child”, created by a boy who died…because of the work of this organisation, 1000’s of children have been helped in creative ways…”. Needless to say that this acknowledgement from someone as esteemed and respected as Mr. Petit gives us the strength to continue trying to attain our goal to never say “no” to a child that needs us. As everyone can imagine, December was one of the busiest, most exhausting and yet most joyous months. On December 4, 2005 one of the oldest professional soccer teams in Greece, AEK, dedicated their match to “The Smile of the Child”. One euro was donated to us from each ticket sold for that game. The money being collected is to help us renovate a home in southern Greece in order to take in some of the more than 550 children currently on a waiting list. The players a few days after the match visited our community home at -2-

Melissia where presents were given to every child. From December 6 - 12, with the assistance of staff and volunteers, we held a very successful Christmas bazaar at “Syntagma” metro station. Along with providing information on our Association, we had decorated a number of trees with beautiful Christmas ornaments handmade by some of our older children. We invited people to “undecorated our trees” and purchase the ornaments. We also sold other hand-made presents generously donated by volunteers. Hundreds of thousands of people passed our display at “Constitution square” station. Everyone present felt the warmth of the Christmas season and left smiling because they knew that with their small purchase they assisted us in putting smiles on more children’s faces. Our campaign to increase public awareness against child abuse continued into December. On December 11 2005, with the support of the municipality of Kiffisia (a northern suburb of Athens) we held our first Annual Run entitled “I’m participating in the fight against Child abuse. I am the voice of Children who aren’t heard”. While the subject was serious, our aim was for people to attend and have fun. Hundreds of adults and children from various communities in Athens attended and participated. Our friends from Habitat from Humanity, wearing bright orange t-shirts demonstrated their commitment. As well, people from the Canadian embassy carrying balloons with the famous maple leaf joined our event. Public and private schools brought students to participate. We even had American marines come out and join the fun! As everyone can imagine, we were all delighted that national celebrities such as singers, models and actors participated in the event. From the number of people and their reaction we can say with confidence “See you again next year”! Throughout the month of December we were invited by almost all the national television stations to celebrate the season, continue increasing public awareness regarding child abuse and to raise money. On December 18th, we attended a party held on a Sunday morning television show at “Alpha station”. Celebrity singers and actors sang Christmas songs and popular Greek hits. Some of our younger children attended and needless to say enjoyed the celebrations. They got to sing, dance and eat more than their fair share of homemade treats. During the show, people were invited to send SMS messages to “1056” or call a 900 line we had created. For each call to the 900 line they were charged 1 euro and with each SMS they donated 2 euros. We managed to collect over 300,000 euros. Once again the Greek public demonstrated their generosity and support of “The Smile of the Child”. December 22, 2005 marked the 10-year anniversary of the death of our founder, Andreas Yannopoulos. A service was held in the morning to commemorate not his death but his life. Andrea, even after his death has continued to touch the lives of thousands of people and to save thousands of children. His organisation, “The Smile of the Child” celebrated its 10-year anniversary. While the day was difficult for many, a decision was made that we were going to celebrate his life and on this day especially we were going to make certain that the faces around us had smiles not tears. As a result, we decided to accept the offer to attend a street party. On the same day, our friends at AEK soccer club held a street party in our honour. There was -3-

a huge Christmas tree decorated by us on display. Santa Claus, dressed in the team colour yellow handed out presents. On hand were clowns; and children’s face painters to add to the festivities. During the party various athletes, both old and young attended and donated personal items and memorabilia that will be auctioned off at a later date. The funds from the auction will again be aimed at completing the community home in southern Greece. Hundreds of children including our children were in attendance and enjoyed a festive day with one of the most popular soccer teams in Greece.

On December 23, 2005 we were guests on the national television show “A light in the Tunnel” hosted by Mrs. Aggeliki Nikolouli. The weekly programme, which is broadcasted for more than 10 years, asks viewers to assist authorities in locating missing persons most of the times successfully. As everyone knows, “The Smile of the Child” has a department that works with local and international police agencies in locating children. During the live broadcast we featured two of our missing children. There were some hopeful leads that police are now investigating. During the broadcast the host of the show also asked viewed to send money by either calling the 900 line or sending an SMS to 1056. Over 100,000 euros were donated during the show! On the same note, with the assistance of Scotland Yard, we were able to photo-age another missing child and posters have been distributed in all publicly accessible spaces. Hopefully in the next issues we will have good news to share with all our friends.

“The Smile of the Child” purchased a B-class Mercedes vehicle for a national lottery. Thousands of tickets were sold. On December 28th the lottery was held in our community home in Karea. Someone in Kalamata purchased the winning ticket. The lucky winner will be picking up his brand-new car early in the New Year. What a great way to start the New Year!

We want to emphasise that during all these festivities we continued our lobbying efforts. Child Helpline International asked all its European members to contact our respective Members of European Parliament (MEP’s) and ask them to sign a written declaration pertaining to children’s helplines. The written declaration recommends that the European Union support child helplines as an essential part of the child protection system. “The Smile of the Child” wrote to all 24 Greek MEP’s. We followed up with telephone calls to all their offices. All but 3 of the Greek MEP’s signed the declaration. We were thrilled when it was announced that 390 MEP’s signed the declaration and that it was one of only four declarations that were passed this year. This joint effort demonstrates just how strong our voices are when we work together for such a great cause. We would be remiss if we did not express our appreciation to the thousands of people, schools and community groups who came to visit our seven community homes over the holidays. Daily we had visits from families bringing food and presents not just for our children -4-

but also for all the families that our Association supports through our banks of goods. On December 22nd and on December 30th all the toys, food, clothes and books gathered were distributed to families. Through this effort we managed to bring smiles to children throughout Greece. As we leave 2005 behind, we have to express how lucky we feel with all the friendships that we have, both old and new. We want to wish everyone a healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2006.

Athens, 16 Stournari Str 10683 Tel.: 0030210-3306140 Fax: 0030210-3843038 Thessaloniki, 82 Enatias Str., 54623 Tel.: 00302310-250160 Fax: 00302310-270306 Pyrgos Helias , Araxovis & Perikleous, 27100 Tel: 003026210-81040 Fax: 003026210-24080 Patra, 5-7 Themistokleous Str 26222 Tel : 00302610-332499 Fax: 00302610-332699 Chalkida, 15 Karamourtzouni Str. 34100 Tel. 00302221079788 Fax: 00302221079198 Internet site: www.hamogelo.gr - e-mail address: [email protected]

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