When I studied abroad at Franklin University in Lugano, Switzerland, I had the privilege of choosing a travel course on top of my other academic courses. One of the many benefits that Franklin University has to offer involves numerous courses that go to various locations around the world. According to Franklin, “Academic Travel represents the single most distinctive element of the Franklin curriculum, in which travel is used as an experiential learning tool completely integrated into a series of course offerings in disciplines applicable to all majors," (Franklin University Switzerland). The whole purpose of academic travel is to increase opportunities for experiential learning. The travel course I chose to take went to Athens, Greece and it was a class about refugees and forced migration. In this class we learned about the current state of Athens as well as the refugee crisis and programs that help to try and make a difference for refugees.
When our class first arrived to Athens many got to experience the reality of the city for the very first time. The economy has definitely seen its better days over in Greece as some parts of the city can portray this. There is a colossal amount of graffiti throughout Athens as many individuals utilize the walls of the city as their canvas to express their overall perspectives. Graffiti was primarily a way to make your voice heard and many people put out of business by the financial crisis found themselves illustrating their take on Greece’s current state as well as the system that failed its people. There are many people who reside in Athens who are not happy with the current situation in terms of the political corruptness. Greece has received huge loans over the years from the European Union causing their debt to rise. Unfortunately, not all of the money received is being put to good use.
Being 100% Greek, I have some relatives in Crete and they gave me some insight on their problems with political corruption. Political leaders in Greece often pocket some of the cash flow being brought in from the loans and in the past every time a new official is up for election the same thing is likely to keep happening due to an on going cycle from the impurities of their system.
One of the organizations I got to work with a long with my class was Athens City Plaza. City Plaza in Athens, Greece houses over 400 refugees, volunteers and activists who share the daily tasks of cooking, cleaning, and security. City plaza provides residents with three meals per day, language classes, workshops and many other benefits for those in need. At City Plaza we helped to clean up the kitchen in order to serve food as well as have a background from one of the volunteers at this facility.
Miguel at City Plaza spoke on this exact same issue about how the people of Greece were frustrated with the overall situation, as many knew not all of the money from the loans was being put to good use. Miguel also stated how it was evident that their government was not fully committed to helping as he said the condition of the city spoke for itself. Just walking in the streets of Athens you would see it was not well kept and there were even some people sleeping on the streets. It is pretty difficult to find a job with decent wages let alone finding a job in Athens. Their unemployment rate is at 18% as it is a really an unfortunate situation. Although Greece still has a long way to go hopefully time will heal the burden of Greece’s economy, as the people of Greece are hopeful that one-day the economy will be back to normal.