We received the following message from Evgenia Papadopoulou
You are invited to post your comment at the end of the message
Dear All,
I must say I appreciate this new initiative and hope that it is a successful.
To be honest, I think that as a community we can do a lot, if we put our minds to it. The Greek School is already doing very well, and a community has built up around it comprising of students and parents - it is a good place to start to build a full community.
As a group, we can offer many things beyond just the socialising. There are many new Greeks and Cypriots coming to Dubai and the Emirates in general who could greatly benefit from meeting others and getting much needed advice.
We have all struggled a bit when we first came out here but can help the 'newbies' settle a little more easily here. Many of us sometimes need help or advice when we need to do things we've not done before (example legal advice). Sometimes we have issued at our jobs and wish to change. Having a support structure makes it so much easier!
Through forums and discussions, we can spread the word on activities and events which would be of interest to the group. We can also pitch in and organise functions which not only bring us all together, but help us to maintain our culture. We could emulate many other cultural groups who do not have a permanent 'steki' yet manage to build a strong community bond nevertheless. Some even have funds and support groups to offer advice and information to community members in any area of concern.
It is easy to shift the burden onto someone else, but we cannot expect the Embassy to carry the full burden - they are a small team and many of them are relatively new to the UAE. Nevertheless, I have seen many efforts by them which have not been appreciated by the community. That can be disheartening to the organisers. An example is the play organised by the Embassy which, sadly, was not well attended. The same applies to the National Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi.
All community members have been asking for functions such as these and yet when they are organised, very few attend. In fact, when I personally tried to organise a group to go to both these events, many tried to dissuade me! I'm glad they did not succeed. My friends and I enjoyed them.
Having lived in the UAE 25 years and thus been deprived of many aspects of our culture for so long, I personally am eager for every opportunity to improve my long-forgotten Greek and to learn more about both Cyprus and Greece. For me it is very disappointing to know many Greeks who are forever asking for activities, yet turn down any proposals - register for the
websites and yet never post anything, offer an opinion, or make suggestions - accept invitations and not show up. Regardless, I still consider any Greek/Cypriot I meet as a friend and hope that I can convince them to take a more active role in the community. Without a little compromise and maybe even sacrifice no community bond will ever be built!
So, friends and compatriots, let's work a little harder and make our community a success!
Best regards to all,
Evgenia Papadopoulou
(EugenieP@techdata.ae)
