Kandara’s Story, Greece
Photo by Stella Nanou/2013
Kandara is only 11 years old, but he looks much older. Not because of his appearance, but rather due to the maturity with which he expresses himself. The boy from Afghanistan appears fully aware of the responsibilities weighing on his young shoulders: with his father away from the family, he has undertaken the role of protector of his mother and his three younger siblings. They arrived in Greece August 2013 and have been staying in Mytilene ever since, in a former summer camp. Young Kandara started attending classes in the Fifth Elementary Grade in mid-November and within a few months he had already managed to learn how to read, write and speak Greek. From the outset, the Sixth Elementary School of Mytilene embraced Kandara and his family. The school’s director, the teaching staff and parents daily try to support them in any way – both materially and emotionally.
“I don’t play, I don’t have time to think about games; my mind is preoccupied with problems, many problems,” he responds candidly when asked about his favorite game.
“I fled because in my country, Afghanistan, it was not good. You would do the same thing, if in your country, Greece things were not good. Now I want to put down roots somewhere. That is why I am doing my best to learn Greek. I think that if I can understand my friends, my teachers, the people on the island, then everything will be much easier. Perhaps, my mind will have fewer problems then.”
His teachers say they are impressed. “When I first met him, we were celebrating the Athens Polytechnic uprising at school. He immediately mingled with the children in the choir and tried to sing along! ‘Musika, musika’ he kept saying and laughed,” his teacher, Ms. Despina, recalls. “I admire his eagerness to participate, his appetite for learning and his struggle to create conditions for a better life,” adds Ms. Chara, a remedial education teacher.
Text by S.Nanou
