On Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th May the newspaper team of “Migratory Birds” together with the Network for Children’s Rights attended the 14th International Thessaloniki Book Fair.
In theory, this was a work-related trip, but for us it was also recreational.
The scenery throughout the train journey was very beautiful. The journey took six hours and as soon as we arrived, we went to the house where we would be staying.
The house was simple but lovely. Since I had been living in a tent or in a container for a year and five months, I found the house like paradise.
There were a lot of different booths at this fair and one of them was for us.
We presented the newspaper in a workshop entitled: ‘The creation of a newspaper: the example of “Migratory Birds”, put together by Afghan refugee girls who live in the accommodation centre of Schisto’. It was an experiential workshop for the expression of thoughts and feelings and the assertion of freedoms and rights through the press.
When the workshop was finished both participants and non-participants made statements:
“I found this newspaper very interesting, a very worthwhile initiative. It was important to listen to those children’s voices. No one leaves their homeland if things are going well. It is difficult conditions that drive people to a new country”, stated Mr. Patsoglou Savvas, a school teacher in the west of Thessaloniki.
Mrs. Athina Papanikolaou, education coordinator at the Softex refugee accommodation centre in Kordelio, Thessaloniki, said the following when asked what she thought about our newspaper:
“It was delighted when I read the first issue of the newspaper and eagerly await the second. I would like to congratulate these young girls and hope they become professional journalists in the future”.
The positive opinions and applause of people lifted our spirits and encouraged us to continue.
After that, we visited one of the museums called the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art. The museum had many paintings, handicrafts, and art and it was very interesting. The second day ended with our visit to the museum.
On the third day, we went to the same book fair again and we continued the same things we did yesterday. At this festival or book fair, seminars were held. On the third day, from three o’clock in the afternoon to five o’clock in the afternoon, we formed a seminar in the form of a round table. This seminar was for our group. In this seminar, we discussed many topics, for example, the formation of the first newspaper and its difficulties, our ideas for the second newspaper and many other topics.
When the seminar ended, people started asking us questions and we answered them and we were very encouraged by the people and they gave us a lot of spirit to continue our work.
At the end of the third day, we went home and relieved our tiredness and prepared ourselves for tomorrow, to return to Athens.
Finally, the last day came and we all walked to the railway and got on the train and walked to Athens.
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