Thanks LiAnna, I'll upload it to Commons at the first opportunity:)

As for the reduction in teachers, I'm sad about it because even if I manage to 
"escape" being fired, another colleague with similar achievements and 
difficulties as myself will be in my place. It's not a personal problem, all of 
Greek society is living under unprecedented conditions, that can be compared 
only to war... this doesn't get through on the media, it's all being carefully 
concealed. The one thing that's keeping us afloat is our "kefi", which means 
"joy for life", and I think that is well conveyed in the video:)

Mina
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: LiAnna Davis 
  To: Wikimedia Education 
  Sent: Monday, July 01, 2013 7:06 PM
  Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Education] good news... and bad


  Mina, I love the video! You should upload it to Commons as well. :)


  I'm sorry to hear about the reduction in teachers; I hope something manages 
to work out and you can continue your excellent work somehow!


  LiAnna







  On Sun, Jun 30, 2013 at 1:27 PM, Mina Theofilatou <[email protected]> wrote:

    Hello all

    I'm writing to share some news with you... first the good news: we 
successfully completed and presented two school projects for the school year 
2012-13. The projects were featured in the Wikimedia Global blog post I wrote 
in February. In the post I had mentioned that we would be holding an outdoor 
event to engage the locals in our work on Wikimedia Commons: the event was 
initially planned for mid-March, but the weather was so unpredictable this 
spring that we had to wait until mid-May to be certain that we would not have 
to face a storm! Anyway, here is the video I just uploaded : 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWffhaJjAcY (in English). In addition, I have 
submitted the video to the European "generations at school" competition, as it 
was an intergenerational project both in the making and presentation. 

    And now for the bad news: this may be the last project I will be running in 
secondary education in Greece: the "Troika" (IMF-ECB-EU) has demanded that 
12.500 people are fired from the public sector, and the government intends to 
fire around 8000 school teachers. They are looking primarily at ICT teachers 
(such as myself), as they intend to gradually eliminate ICT from secondary 
education curriculum (they have already removed a total of 4 hours per week in 
1st and 2nd grade of upper secondary since last year). With no evaluation, no 
forward thinking or planning and no consideration for the quality of work ICT 
teachers have produced, we may find ourselves jobless in a matter of days. 

    The crisis in Greece has led many people to despair: with an unemployment 
rate of nearly 30% (60% for the 18-25 age group), social structures crumbling 
(schools, hospitals etc. are closing down on a daily basis) and salaries cut by 
at least 40%, it's not surprising that suicide rates have tripled over the last 
three years. Anyone interested in an eyewitness account of the situation can 
read a post I wrote in English on my blog. 

    Anyway, sorry to convey sadness... hope you all have a nice summer, and 
keep up the great work:)

    Best,
    Mina (saintfevrier)

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  -- 
  LiAnna Davis
  Wikipedia Education Program Communications Manager
  Wikimedia Foundation
  http://education.wikimedia.org
  (415) 839-6885 x6649
  [email protected] 


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