From a homeless unaccompanied, graduate of the University of Ioannina!

The distance he had to travel Amandou as an unaccompanied minor from his home country of Guinea to Greece was long. Even greater, however, was the effort he made to go from homelessness to being hired as a mentor at Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors and today until his swearing in as a graduate of the Department of Tourism Business Administration of the University of Ioannina.

THE Amandou Cain Camara he was born and raised in Guinea, but had to leave his country at the age of 16 because his life was in danger. Because of his escape, he was forced to drop out of the school he loved so much. He managed to study until the 1st Lyceum.

In 2010 he came to Greece as an unaccompanied childfrom Turkey via the Evros. “When you’re young you don’t think about the consequences of leaving, if and when you’ll be able to come back. I said let’s go no matter what. When I arrived in Greece, however, I realized how difficult the whole journey was“, he describes to APE-MPE.

For a year in Greece he lived in the squares of Athens and collected bottles to survive. Even then, however, he had in his mind that he had to continue school. He had treasured his parents’ advice that school is the best thing one can do for oneself. He asked for help from his compatriots, but he describes that they all urged him, instead of enrolling in school, to leave Greece for another country.

Amandou did not give up trying to survive in the country. When he tried to get a residence permit, he was found to be a minor and was transferred to a hostel for unaccompanied children in order to have a safe place to stay. It was the first time since he arrived in Greece that he found support. While he was staying at the hostel, he also enrolled in the 1st Lyceum at the Hellinikon School of Intercultural Education.

“I saw it as an opportunity to learn the language and finish what I had left when leaving my country“, he explains. His studies were not easy as he first had to learn Greek, a language that he found difficult, as he says, but with perseverance he succeeded. “There are some things that when you consider them important in life, you focus and set goals,” he points out.

In 2014 he finished high school and two years later he received a residence permit. While he was waiting for the procedures to be completed and to receive his documents, he decided to continue his education at a technical school to learn the trade of refrigeration assistant, “so that I can work and live.” His teachers, both at the High School and at the vocational school he attended, saw his thirst for learning and urged him to take national exams to enter a university. Amandou read a lot and went to the Tourism Business Administration Department of the University of Ioannina.

It was his dream to engage in tourism to introduce his continent, Africa, to the Greeks. “My classmates asked me what Africa is like, how we live there, do we have houses or do we live in trees,” he describes, adding: “I thought it would be a good idea to open a travel agency that organizes trips to African countries so that let the Greeks get to know them”. Today, however, he has abandoned this specific plan, “because I see that most people organize their own trips”.

During his studies at the university and while living in Igoumenitsa, Amandou learned about the work of the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors. During that time, the then special secretary, Irini Agapidaki, took the initiative of creating a group of refugee mentors, who having experienced similar difficulties in the past, support unaccompanied children living in Greece today. Since July 2021, Amandou has been working with the Special Secretariat as a mentor and, acting as a role model, supports other unaccompanied teenagers living in the country.

The Mentorship program is implemented by the Special Secretariat with the support and funding of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). Four refugees create bridges of communication between the Ministry of Immigration and the children residing as unaccompanied in the country today. Among the mentors is now 19-year-old Kouros Baigi Nurmohamadi, who excelled in this year’s nationwide exams. The team also includes, apart from Amadou and Kouros, Hadi Mohebi and Keita Alasan.

The mentors they discuss their problems with the children, provide personalized guidance every step of the way in Greece, while at the same time conveying to the ministry the challenges the children are facing. As Amandou says, unaccompanied minors often discuss with mentors their anxiety about their legal status and future. “We tell them we’ve been through it and we know what it’s like,” he explains, adding: “My advice to them is to be patient. I give them examples from my life. I went through difficulties, but I had goals and I kept going and now I’m working. Everyone finds their own way.” He also emphasizes to the children the importance of education and how much it has helped him. “At school I learned many things, I made friends, I also speak the language. Education is very important for inclusion“, he emphasizes.

As the special secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors points out to APE-MPE, Herakles Moscow“the inclusion of refugee and immigrant children in Greek schools has only a positive impact, as it creates a framework of peaceful coexistence, contributing to the mitigation of stereotypes and prejudices, promoting practices of interaction between identity and otherness and preparing the future democratic citizens of modern multicultural societies ».

Recently, the 27-year-old Amandou received his degree from the University of Ioannina wearing a tibenno. His feelings, as he describes them, were joy and sorrow together. “I wanted to have my family here to share my joy, to have a big party“, says. His parents are not alive, but his siblings, when they saw the swearing-in photo, said they were very proud of him. Herakles Moskoff characterizes the swearing-in of Amados as “a special day of joy and pride for the entire team of the Special Secretariat».

Now Amandou is planning his future as a graduate and hopes to use his knowledge and manage to build a large rural farm where guests can also stay.

At the same time it sends the message that “I managed despite the difficulties to finish university, but there are too many children who try and are not seen” and asks the world to stand by all unaccompanied children.

RES-EMP

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