Little left to lose

It brought to mind memories from my childhood, I spent the biggest part of my life growing up alone in a poor neighbourhood of Athens. I remember my self trying to find away out of my daily life, but it was difficult. In my neighbourhood we have had crisis ever since I remember myself. I remember people waiting in queues to receive food from churches, anxiously expecting the end of the month to receive their salary in order to cover their basic needs and at the same time struggling to live their family with dignity. What was everyday news for some people it was my reality.

Greece has gone bankrupt five times so far, in 1827, in 1843, in 1893, in 1832 and 2010 when the financial crisis in Greece burst out. The social fabric has been ripped apart by austerity, imposed by successive governments in return for loans by the European Union and International Monetary Fund that saved Greece from bankruptcy. My world did not change to a great extent but many Greeks have had their wages and pensions cut, while taxes and unemployment soar. The middle class has collapsed under pressure and the poor have become poorer. Unemployment - the highest in Europe - has forced the country's brightest minds to emigrate. Hundreds of businesses have shut and merchants face a financial dead-end as Greeks struggle to afford even their basic needs. Elsewhere, "Sisa," a cheap new drug known as the "cocaine of the poor" has conquered dark narrow streets. Prostitutes, desperate for cash and drugs, charge just 5 euros for sex. HIV and Hepatitis cases have risen throughout the years of the financial crisis. However, Greek governments kept ignoring the problems.

It has been almost 10 years of crisis. Today, looking back at the past and trying to understand what exactly has happened during all those years and I myself being a side effect of this crisis without any kind of health insurance, I can sympathise with the people who try to survive with dignity and self-respect in these difficult times.

My intention of this body of work is for the next generations to learn what happened the last ten years in my country via my experiences.