"I went to Theotokos (Mother of God) school for mentally challenged children. That's where I finished primary school and took some bookbinding courses. I also learned how to be consistent in my work and cooperate well with my colleagues. After that, I worked in a state institution library as an intern and they permanently hired me as an employee. Since then I have always had the people from Theotokos school by my side. These people help me solve the problems I have at work, but also in my personal life. I would like to tell you how much my life has changed since I started working. I have my own money and I am able to choose what I'm going to use it for. I have my friends and I see them when I have some spare time. I do things and I live like everyone else. I am thankful for the opportunity I was given to get a job. This way I managed to prove that I can make it".

Producing artwork

All these things described by the graduate of Theotokos Special and Professional Training Centre are almost too good to be true in the Greek reality. They are however 100% true. Thousands of mentally challenged children and people with developmental problems have studied for free in this exemplary non-profit school which is in the Municipality of Ilion. An oasis in today's crisis-stricken Greece.

The school's income comes from insurance funds' contributions, benefactors' donations, state subsidy and the sales of some products produced by the students. Many of the Christmas cards and the decorative objects sold in shops around Athens are made by the students of Theotokos. The school also caters for conventions and events with meals, prepared in the cleanliness conditions that can only be compared to a pharmaceutical laboratory. It also supplies shops with gift and wedding bonbons (like wedding favors), embroidery and textiles, small furniture and light woodwork, lithographs and silkscreens, gardening and olive products.

The school's workshops, providing the specialties mentioned above, are plenty and adapted to help students with different functioning needs. Especially when it comes to manual activities, some students are excellent artisans and many times their success and their achievements are very moving. Many of them could definitely be absorbed in some positions and become very useful for the society in general.

Emotional intelligence

A teacher told me that she often asks herself: "If I had a child with mental retardation what would I do? In life you should take nothing for granted. I learn from my students how to be humble and grateful for life. Some of them don't know how to speak, but I can see what they mean by the movement of their hands and the hidden meaning of their works.  The mentally disabled have rich emotional intelligence and when they're happy they enjoy it with all their heart. Some of them, though, sense that they are different and they suffer because of it. And the suffering is worse for those who have no support system. They only ask us to accept them. They are moved by our acceptance and they try to show it in every possible way. Rejection threatens them and decommissions them".

People with mental disabilities do not have the cunningness needed to face the challenges of life like other people do. The exhaustive conditions of the modern world defuse them and turn them into victims of exploitation, which often lurks in human relationships. The parents of the disabled worry about the day when they will die and they'll have to leave their children unprotected in a world unprepared to protect them.

Lifelong support

Theotokos school’s educational program focuses on providing students with skills that will make them self-sufficient and help them face real life. They learn by experience and become more sociable through the process and their operational intelligence is increased by repetitive training. In addition, the school's people don't abandon their students after their graduation; they keep on supporting them on a personal and professional level for many years.

Many of the 5.500 children who have studied at the school since 1963 when it was built until today, especially those who have lost their families, need to be guided by their teachers. The teacher-student relationship in these cases doesn't follow any time limitation, nor is it unbalanced. It lasts for a lifetime and both sides equally need it.
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

MORE PHOTOS 

Music therapy and taking part in music orchestras are psychologically and functionally beneficial for the students.

They produce very healthy catering meals that are much in request in the market.

Dancing improves their mobility.

The students are excellent in pottery and their works are reasonably priced.

The furniture maker specialty is available.

Capable seamstresses come out of this school.

The children make wedding bonbons.

The students print posters and leaflets that are sold in the market.

They draw Christmas cards, sold in many shops.

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