Olga Monachou of the Hellenic Red Cross in Athens
The people of Greece have been enjoying the homecoming of the Olympic Games, some 108 years after the first modern games was staged in Athens.
Like their compatriots, the Games are a source of great pride for the Hellenic Red Cross, whose main contribution has been to make volunteers available to the organizers.
Around 500 Red Cross volunteers have been enlisted as “Athens 2004” volunteers, mainly offering first aid to spectators and other volunteers.
“I am happy to be here because I feel needed,” says Lina Tsitsou, a 33-year-old nurse and first aid instructor, who has been with the Hellenic Red Cross since 1993.
Lina, who has in the past taken part in earthquake relief operations inside Greece and been deployed on Red Cross missions in Albania and Afghanistan, is now working as a volunteer at the rowing stadium in Athens, supporting the medical post there.
“I feel that I am supporting my country and contributing to the Olympic ideal,” she says. “This corresponds perfectly with an inner impulse. It is a great feeling. I am grateful for having been given the opportunity”.
It is a feeling shared by 34-year-old Vassilis Chatzopoulos, a volunteer first -aider, rescuer and water safety instructor who is working as a first-aider as a volunteer at the Olympic football stadium in Patras.
“I am lucky. I have the chance not only to see the Olympic Games in my country but also to participate actively in them,” says Vassilis, who since 1985, when he became a Hellenic Red Cross volunteer, has taken part in four earthquake relief operations.
“This is something unique. Previous generations and others to come did not or will not have this opportunity,” he adds.