One of the most important days for Greece is the 28th of October, also known as Οχι day. It commemorates the day where the Greek Prime Minister Ionannis Metexas said “No” to an ultimatum made by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to allow Italian troops to enter Greek territory and occupy strategic locations.
But how did this translate to the learning in the Kindergarten of Agios Markos in Vrontados during the week of the 28th of October? At the beginning of the week the preparations started with decorating the school with the Greek flag, also known as Galanólefki. The children painted the flag in various ways, like for example using dried legumes, like lentils and beans that had been previously painted in blue and white to organize them and form the flag. After that they learn about the conflict through pictures and videos.
The teachers told them a little story about the Second World War and how the Germans and the Italians wanted to occupy Greece, but the Greeks said “OXI”. After that they not only learn about important historical figures like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, but they also learn the names of their countries, they location in the map and their flags. For that they used little crafts where they had to paint the flags and unite them with the name of the country and the historical character.
Soon after they learn about the war between Italy and Greece. For obvious reasons they didn’t get into details, but the kids learn about the spirit of resistance and bravery of their people and were very proud. In that topic, they talked about the soldiers who fought in the war and how they would have felt. They painted little soldiers that both the teacher and I had previously made for them, and they got to bring them home. After that they had another very interesting activity where they had to draw what they taught the soldiers in the war were missing from home. Most of them thought about the same things, in this order: food, their mother and friends.
While talking about the war, they were also taught about the difference between peace (Ειρήνη) and war (Πόλεμος) and did a little exercise where they had to differentiate between what would happen in a world in peace, where all children would be happy and go to school, and in a world in war, where the children would be sad and not go to school.
The week ended with the holiday, finally it was the 28th of October. The kids didn’t have to go to school, and neither did we. But there was a special occasion where we saw each other, and it was the parade. The other volunteers’ schools had practice for the parade, because they are older, but not the kids from the kindergarten, even though I got to see some of them parading. The parade took place in the main street of Vrontados. It was full of parents, grandparents, and friends. They had typical Greek music playing in the background as they got ready to start the parade. When it started, everyone started clapping as the children passed by wearing their uniforms and holding the Greek flag.
After the parade the rest of the volunteers and I decided to Chios city. In our way an old couple congratulated the day to us by saying “Χρόνια Πολλά”, which literally means “Many years” and in Greek it’s used to congratulate people on any occasion and to wish well upon someone. When we arrived in Chios it was full of people. From children to grandparents, all of them dressing very formal and celebrating together.
It was an amazing experience to live this national holiday as a Greek and specially being a part of the children’s learning process.
