In the heart of Central Africa thousands of kilometers away from Greece there is a community that has never erased and more than 100 years of history. The Greek community. Workers, traders, people with a vision of rooting there, threw anchor and have stories of shocking.

Elli Kasoli and Prime Time’s camera arrived in Lububasi in the Democratic Republic of Congo and present to us stories of Greeks who have never been written in history books.

The first Greeks arrived there in the early 20th century, looking for opportunities and a better life. Today on the streets of Lububasi, life is unstoppable and seems to be turning into an endless game of contradictions. Kids climbing cars, horns, voices, colors, sounds, movement.

And in this intensity, people who connect the seasons appear. Septepts that stand out without trying to escape the landscape.

Like Ms Argiro Pavlidou, 75, who has been in Africa since 1969 with her husband, “for a better life”, as she says.

“Key” the railway

According to Antonis Chaldean, a historian and researcher, Lububasi came in the history of Europe and the western world in general through the railway. Among the first European whites found in the area were some Greek traders who were trying to look for a better fate.

The roads are full of life and traffic. Cars, motorbikes and pedestrians fight for the same space. It is obvious that poverty coexists with vitality and hope. Pictures of different and unusual, but at the same time full of their own unique beauty and energy.

Kyriakos Metaxas, a businessman, was born in Congo. He opened with his father a bakery in 1986, which operates to this day.

March 25th celebrations

Between palm trees and dust, a celebration begins. With Greek flags, wreaths, and children – children of Greeks, Congolese and mixed families – honor March 25th. Early in the morning, all the families of the Greeks gathered at the Church of the Annunciation, which was founded in 1956 with marbles moved from Greece.

Underneath the pioneer of the Virgin Mary is all equal. There they shared together, black and white, and they were chanted with Theophilistos Kosmas – in a function reminiscent that faith has no borders and the kilometers could not separate any of the traditions of his homeland.

The whole Greek community speaks Greek. We love Greece and we like to be Greeks and speak Greek. Says George Psarmatis, President of the Greek Community, businessman.

Born in Africa, but they grew up with Greece in their hearts, they hold the blue -white and march with pride – for a homeland that some may never see, but feel their own.

And a traditional Greek celebration, set up in Africa, with fustanels that are proud and songs that talk about roots and memories.

His Greek school Lububasi

After the celebration, life continues at the Lububasi school which in 1968 was recognized as equivalent to the schools of the Greek state. There, there are children not only learning letters, but also how to carry Greece in their hearts every day. It is the last and therefore the only purely Greek school in all the sub -Saharan Africa.

Today, at the Lububasi school, 20 children attend the Gymnasium – High School, 28 children in elementary school and 12 children in kindergarten. By the end of the 1970s, early 80s the school had over 1,000 children.

How the work of Greek Orthodox mission changes lives in a very poor Congo area

Colouzi is an hour away from Lububasi. It is one of the toughest and most forgotten corners of Africa. And there, however, there is Greece, Orthodoxy. In a place where poverty and difficulties are not just statistical numbers, it is the reality. But there is something else, hope. The sacred mission there offers not only food, shelter and education but also something much more meaningful, the feeling that no one is alone.

The image can hardly be forgotten. Priests of African descent operate in Greek and Swahili with zeal and
devoutness.

Another important work of the Mission of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Katiga is the hospital. It started as a very small clinic about 30 years ago, 15 years later the expansion was made and is now called Agioi Anargyri Hospital. The Greek element is a strong and typical example is the Director of the Hospital who has worked in Thessaloniki and Kozani.

The first Greeks were traders

The first Greeks found in the area were traders. The next stream took place just after the end of World War II, when someone who learns in his village about a place where he can find diamonds, find gold, find something that will change his life automatically creates a picture that I will go and find the land of the profession, notes Antonis.

Today, there are about 330 to 340 Greeks in the city of Lububasi.

The coexistence of the two worlds in the area has not always been easy. There have been years of tension, removal and great injustices. At the time of nationalizations, many Greeks were forced to leave, leaving behind a whole life. But there were not times when they themselves became part of an unequal power relationship, reproducing practices that hurt the local population. And yet, despite the wounds, today the two sides live together – with respect, trust and with common memories.

Today the relationship of the Greeks to the locals is the best of always, stresses George Psarmatis. “And we participate in the public without causing problems, without getting involved in politicians,” he adds.

Greeks were not colonists

During the period of independence, the Greeks were treated like the rest of Europeans. So they were forced to leave the country.

“I ever wish, never, never live it again because we remember something since 1991 that we were bored on airplanes and chased us away, says Evangelos Marietis, Greek Consul,

It is noteworthy at the time that not all Greek property was bothered during the nationalization period, at the time when white leaving the country. And this is indicative that for some, good behavior has been recognized, good relationship with the local population, Antonis Chaldea emphasizes.

The 300 of Leonidas

In Congo, the Greeks live away from their homeland, but Greece always remains part of their hearts. It wakes up in pride and emotion. Despite the difficulties and years that passed, Greece remains their home, even if
The conditions did not allow them to return.

The Greek community has existed for 102 years and will continue to exist, at least with few, says the President of the Greek Congo.

“This trip led us to another Greece. Not geographically, but emotionally. In the heart of Africa, we met people who speak Greek, who grew up, but never forgot. They felt forgotten, but never stopped remembering. Through their words, the moves, we have understood that Greece is not just a homeland. Elli Kasoli ends.