By Chloe Hadjimatheou
BBC News, Evia, Greece
As Greece sinks ever deeper into the most severe economic
depression in living memory, some young people are taking drastic action to
change their lives.
In the spring of 2010, just as the Greek government was
embarking on some of its harshest austerity measures, 29-year-old Apostolos
Sianos packed in his well-paid job as a website designer, gave up his Athens
apartment and walked away from modern civilisation.
In the foothills of Mount Telaithrion on the Greek island of
Evia, Mr Sianos and three other like-minded Athenians set up an eco-community.
The idea was to live in an entirely sustainable way, free
from the ties of money and cut off from the national electricity grid.
'Crisis of civilisation'
The group sleeps communally in yurts they have built
themselves, they grow their own food and exchange the surplus in the nearest
village for any necessities they cannot produce.
“The Greek financial
crisis is not all negative”
--Apostolos Sianos
"What others saw as a global economic crisis, we saw as
a crisis of civilisation," Mr Sianos explains.
"Everything seemed to be in crisis - healthcare, the
environment, education. So we made the decision to try something
different."
Mr Sianos and his eco-activist companions first met in an
online forum in 2008 and after two years of exploring ideas decided to put
their principles into practice.
"When I first made the decision to give up the city and
move to this patch of land I was a little nervous," he admits.
"But now I can't imagine ever being attracted by that
kind of lifestyle again."
The community calls itself "Free and Real" - an
acronym for Freedom of Resources for
Everyone, Respect, Equality, Awareness and Learning.
Now in its second year, it has 10 permanent members and more
than 100 part-time residents who spend some of the year there.
But the last few months have seen an explosion of interest
in the community from Greeks who feel let down by the system and find life in
the financially crippled cities stifling.
Last year the country's economy shrank by 7% and 2012 could
see a similar dip; in real terms that means thousands of businesses going bust
and tens of thousands of people being laid off.
A recent survey by Thessaloniki University suggested 76%
of Greeks would like to emigrate, but for those who cannot afford to start
a new life abroad, going back to farming the land is an increasingly attractive
alternative.
Mr Sianos says that this year has seen an enormous movement
of people from big cities to the countryside, with many contacting his
community to ask for advice on sustainable living and organic farming.
"The Greek financial crisis is not all negative,"
he says.
"It is providing a huge opportunity for people to see
that the system they live in is not working, so they can begin looking for
alternatives."
Seasonal jobless
Hundreds of miles away, another group of young Greeks is
taking an entirely different approach to the dire circumstances their country
finds itself in.
Like most people in Greece's fourth-largest city Heraklion,
Andonis Sklavenitis is what he calls an "insecure worker".
Last year he worked a few months helping out on an
archaeological dig and this year he has managed to get a few shifts a week as
an airport security guard.
Since leaving university with a degree in tourism he has
worked in bars, restaurants and shops, but in almost every one of those jobs
his employers have refused to give him sick pay, holidays or pay his national
insurance contributions.
To make matters worse it is all seasonal work. As soon as
the summer is over he will rejoin the growing numbers of unemployed.
Mr Sklavenitis's experience is typical; Crete has the
highest jobless rate of any region in the country, with nearly one in four
people out of work and many others in unstable positions without decent
conditions.
In 2010, when Mr Sklavenitis and his unemployed friends
realised that their numbers were growing, they decided it was time they stood
up for their rights.
They established the first Association of the Unemployed,
which had two main objectives: to fight for decent working conditions and to
provide practical and psychological support to those struggling financially.
“If I didn't have
that connection with other people in my position, which reassures me that I am
not alone, I would probably have killed myself by now”
--Nikos Vrahasotakis
After the latest round of cuts, unemployment benefit in
Greece is now around 350 euros (£273; $431) per month, but only those who have
up-to-date national insurance contributions are eligible; and even then it only
lasts for one year.
"When the 12 payments are up you are completely on your
own," Mr Sklavenitis says.
Among the association's demands are free travel on public
transport for the jobless, as well as discounts on electricity and telephone
bills.
One member who desperately needs help with his bills is
Nikos Vrahasotakis.
The 30-year-old does odd jobs as a cleaner, making around 10
euros daily, barely enough to feed his young family.
"I just got an electricity bill for 600 euros; it is
the fourth bill they have sent, so I am expecting them to cut us off any
day," he says.
Food and support
Mr Vrahasotakis, who is not entitled to state benefits,
lives with his wife and 18-month-old daughter in an old building that used to
be a canteen.
"In the winter it is freezing and a few months ago part
of the ceiling caved in," he says.
Without the support of the association he says he would not
be able to cope.
"If I didn't have that connection with other people in
my position, which reassures me that I am not alone, I would probably have
killed myself by now," he admits.
As well as the psychological support the association
provides, they also distribute food parcels to families in dire circumstances.
Director Nikos Karantinakis, 31, says he and his whole
family - father, mother and fiancee - are all unemployed and depend on food
handouts to supplement the little they manage to grow in their garden.
"There are arguments every day at home because everyone
is so stressed," he says.
It is estimated that around 1,000
people a day are losing their jobs in Greece and already the
percentage of the population not working is higher than those who are employed.
It is those under the age of 35 who have been the hardest hit.
"Our whole generation is on hold," Mr Karantinakis
says.
“Being able to work
is a basic human right in a civilised society”
--Nikos KarantinakisDirector, Heraklion Association of
Unemployed
He and his fiancee are unable to plan a future together.
Starting a family is completely out of the question.
Since the Association of Unemployed was created in Crete,
other chapters have been cropping up around the country, in big cities such as
Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras.
Beyond the support it provides its members, Mr Karantinakis
says the association has had few successes, but it has allowed him to feel he
is doing something.
Before he began focusing on unemployed rights he used to sit
in his room staring at the ceiling. Now he spends his days petitioning local
government and organising demonstrations.
"Being able to work is a basic human right in a
civilised society," he says.
"If the government won't provide us with it then we
will have to fight for it."
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