In the Shadows of the Acropolis – When All You Need Is Hope!
Athens has truly stolen my heart! Spending a month here we got to know the city beyond the tourist sights! One of the most memorable experiences we had here was visiting Shedia Home – a place where the homeless find hope and purpose. Joining their Invisible Tour was an eye-opening and unforgettable experience I would like to share.
Athens
In October 2020, during our ongoing COVID ‘nomadism’, we decided to spend a month in Greece. All we needed was a nice place to stay, not too expensive, with good wifi and ideally a becoming climate! Since we were dwelling in Europe our choice fell on Athens.
I had never been to Athens before and was blown away by its beauty and easy-going atmosphere! I loved it instantly! We booked an Airbnb in the Koukaki neighbourhood, which made our stay in the city just perfect! Close enough to all the sights around Plaka, but truly local, without any of the tourist hassle!
How we met Shedia Home
Our previous employer G Adventures has a non-profit arm of the business called Planeterra. This NGO helps to set up community tourism to alleviate poverty in the communities visited during their trips. Most of the time, Planeterra sets up new projects, sometimes they work with already existing projects on the ground! Through this connection, we were lucky enough to get to know Shedia Home.
Shedia director Chris Alefantis is a rock of a man with a presence that exudes confidence and passion for what he does. It’s easy to see how he gets anyone excited to help with his projects. Together with his German wife Katrin and a dedicated team, they run Shedia Home as a haven for the poor and homeless. Chris was so kind to show us around and explain all their amazing projects.
What is Shedia All About?
Shedia is all about uplifting, empowering and giving job opportunities to those who have experienced extreme poverty!
It initially started as a street soccer team, which even entered the Homeless Street Soccer Worldcup in Melbourne, Australia a few years ago. From here the Shedia street magazine was born – in other countries known as “The Big Issue” – which gives homeless people a dignified opportunity to earn a little income. By now there are about 100 Shedia street vendors in Athens and about 50 in Thessaloniki. Soon enough it became clear that Shedia would not just need headquarter for the magazine, but also a hub for dialogue and innovation to combat poverty and social problems. Chris and his team managed to secure a beautiful heritage building in one of the most bustling corners of Athens city centre. Downstairs is now a beautifully decorated cafe where you can stop for coffee, food and drinks. Upstairs is the editorial head office of the magazine as well as a workshop to upcycle the leftover magazines into paper mache art – ‘Shediart’ – which again is sold in the cafe and online.
Over the past few years, Greece went through some tough economical times and several financial crises. This saw many people in good positions ending up with nothing! Especially people over the age of 60 have close to no chance at all to find new employment. For many homeless people, selling the Shedia magazine on the streets gives them purpose, a better feeling about themselves. It’s a place where they can get the tools to get back on their feet.
The Shedia Home Café
Everything at Shedia Home is connected and has a purpose! Socially and environmentally – everything is utilised and nothing goes to waste! The Shedia Home kitchen is run by former vendors over the age of 60 years, trying to give the older demographic a chance! The kitchen staff have been trained by one of Greece’s best chefs, who also set up the menu for the restaurant! The Shedia vendors have a base here to come and make use of the “suspended coffee” system, where customers can pre-pay for the vendor’s coffee.
The design of the cafe is focused on being accessible and workable for the disabled! Meanwhile, the design is classy and stylish, it is also wheelchair friendly! The tables and a part of the bar have been lowered to wheelchair height and the toilets have been designed to be wheelchair accessible. For the visually impaired the menus are also in braille and the bar is equipped with an audio version of the menu. There are so many little thoughtful details in the cafe, the most touching one for me were the house-shaped lampshades dangling from the ceiling! Each house represents one person who has managed to find permanent housing since joining Shedia!
Shediart - the paper workshop
The workshop is the brainchild and run by Katrin, director Chris Alefantis lovely German wife! Instead of recycling the leftover magazines, Katrin came up with the idea to upcycle them and make art out of the old magazines. From earrings and other jewellery to pots, lampshades, clocks – there is barely anything you cannot find at “Shediart”. We had a chance during our visit to see the workshop and meet Katrin! Her passion and creativity are so infectious, it’s impossible not to get excited about this amazing project! In the beginning, Katrin experimented with the paper workshop and trained initially eight vendors on how to put the artwork together. Now with Shedia Home being set up the workshop is so successful that Katrin was able to fully employ two of the previous vendors on a full salary and benefits. We met one of them, Christiane from France, who has been living in Athens for the past 30 years. Talking to her you can see the passion and happiness that the job brings her! Needless to say, we had to buy one of the awesome artworks and carrying it with us now around the world!
The Most Memorable Tour of My Life!
During our visit and tour around Shedia Home, Chris told us about their Invisible Tour to the ‘dark parts’ of Athens. This tour is lead by one of the Shedia vendors, showing guests the city from the homeless perspective! Meanwhile, you walk right through the city centre you never notice the hidden shelters for the homeless, soup kitchens, drug centres and prostitute hangouts. The invisible parts of Athens, all right there under the tourist’s noses, but no one knows about it!
About Michael
As per Chris’ recommendation, we booked the Invisible Tour starting in the morning from Shedia Home Café. Here we met our guide Michael, a Shedia vendor, to set off on our little group tour. Michael is a man in his late 50’s, well-spoken and funny. What made this tour so unforgettable was Michael’s life story. For me, hearing about his life and how he ended up on the streets of Athens was something I won’t forget. Our entire group was hanging on his lips while he was telling us what happened.
Michael is an educated man whose life took a couple of nasty left-turns that left him homeless! It’s a stark reminder that homelessness can happen to anyone. Especially now, during the COVID crisis, the idea of being able to lose everything is something we all can identify with more easily.
Not a Sob Story!
And while it’s easy to feel so sorry for Michael, there is no need. He got his life under control by selling the Shedia magazine and guiding the tours, making a small income for himself. For the past few years, he has a steady bed in one of the shelters and in his free time he is part of the Shedia theatre group, pursuing his passion! The last thing he wants, Michael told us, are handouts. He is not begging, he doesn’t need to. He just wants to sell his magazine, earn his money the right way and be proud of a good day’s work. Having a purpose and self-worth are the most important goods for him!
What I take away from this experience
Meeting all the people at Shedia – Michael, Chris, Katrin and Christiane – and hearing the stories, it became clear that the worst thing you can lose is your purpose and self-respect. It also hit home that it is much easier to end up in a seemingly hopeless situation than we care to think.
As soon as you are part of a project, a community where you have a task to do, where people are counting on you, you’ll find your purpose and self-worth again. Isn’t that the engine that drives all of us? All we need are the tools and someone who believes in us a little bit!
What I found most refreshing about all Shedia projects is that the focus is never on the sad situation people are in, but on how to motivate and empower them to help themselves. Even if it is just to take their minds off their situation for a few hours by being part of a soccer team or a theatre troupe. As soon as you are part of a project, a community, your outlook on life changes.
If you travel to Athens I hope that you take the time to visit Shedia Home. As mentioned the Café and headquarters are right in the city centre, easy to get to! Have a meal or a coffee here, maybe buy a meaningful souvenir at their ‘Shediart’ shop, but most of all I encourage you to go on their Invisible Tour. It surely made a lasting impression on me and I would count this to one of my favourite unique experiences.
If you made it all the way through – thank you for your attention. This was an experience I wanted to share. I hope you enjoyed the read!
Until next time again! As always – Like & Subscribe!
