His house as it was engulfed in flames, he painted a child who escaped the fire in Attica, he and his family, but they could not save anything else. This is the horror of the children that we are called to face, the President of the "Smile of the Child" in Greece, Kostas Giannopoulos, told KYPE, five members of which, together with five volunteers of the Support CY organization from Cyprus, will be operating today in the fire-stricken areas of Attica to record needs and address needs that have arisen.
The head of Support CY, Marios Stavrou told KYPE that the order they received from the competent authorities is to record the needs in the fire-stricken area of Nea Makri to Penteli by noon and after noon they will receive new orders. Mr. Stavrou said that the Cypriot team also has fire-fighting equipment with them, if and when needed in a small resurgence. Members of the team have a firefighting certificate from the Fire Service, he said, while others have attended firefighting training courses in Greece as well.
Mr. Stavrou noted that Support CY responded yesterday to the activation of the "Smile of the Child" crisis response plan in Greece, with which they have been cooperating for years, and that is why his own mission in Athens, where they arrived last night, did not was affected by the dispatch of firefighting forces from the Republic of Cyprus to Greece. Supoort CY and "Smile of the Child" cooperation, he explained, goes back years in crisis management and recalled that the two organizations had also cooperated in the catastrophic fires in Mati, northern Evia, in the floods in Thessaly last year and elsewhere. When we were also needed in Cyprus, "Smile" sent mainly scientific personnel to Cyprus, he added.
"We are available for as long as needed", said Marios Stavrou saying that they have set a goal to record the first needs in the areas they have been assigned or will be assigned in the next 48 or 72 hours and depending on the needs the composition of the team will change or will remain the same.
We are not on the first line, but on the second, and we provide support both to the victims of the fire and to the families and people who have been affected by the great fire, said Mr. Yiannopoulos for his part, noting that "Smile" was forced to evacuate as a precaution the building he owns in Melissia with 17 children. "The disaster is great. It's the first time something like this has happened in Athens," he said, posing the question: "Did you realize how small we are after all?"
The fire created a disaster, and it is still not over, but we are already called to deal with the needs of the families, he said, saying that some municipalities called on them yesterday and the day before yesterday to employ "Smile" psychologists for children, creating a safe environment for them to forget even for a while a little so they can play and not feel in danger. "The children drew. And a painting shows his house and the flames ahead if they have burned it down. It's what's left in the children's psyche."
It is also difficult to operate in the affected areas with the dense smoke and high temperatures they are operating in, he added, but they have – as he said – the appropriate equipment.
Mr. Yiannopoulos said that what is needed now is not so much food, but first aid items. He thanked the Support CY team and the Bank of Cyprus for their help and support, noting that they worked together in previous natural disasters in Attica, Evia and elsewhere. This collaboration, he said, is an effort that is paying off "and makes us feel proud of these workable ideas." The people from Cyprus have given everything in previous actions and we thank them, "thank you in Cyprus to everyone who helps and supports us".
Costas Yiannopoulos said that once again the greatness of the volunteers can be seen, referring to all those without masks, sometimes even without shirts, to save their own properties when there were no fire engines, but also other people's.
Source: KYPE