Career Days Welcome: “I want to mobilize young people from whatever country they come from to be strong, to work”
Christos Jamil, a student of the Migrant Integration Center (KEM) of the City of Athens, was one of the 500 candidates, refugees and migrants, who came into contact with businesses at the “Welcome 2023” Career Days at Serafio of the City of Athens.
“I am a photographer and videographer, and I came to the job fair to ask companies and hotels whether they have a position in my field”, said Christos from Pakistan who has been in Greece for 5 years. The 25-year-old added: “I love my job and I am self-taught. I have a YouTube channel to mobilize young people from whatever country they come from to be strong, to work.” His channel is called Hardwork 344.
Christos works as a delivery man, but at the Career Days he came in contact with companies in order to find a job he likes more. He is waiting for a response from some companies, while he scheduled a second meeting with others. In this year’s 3rd event, which took place on March 27th and 28th, 42 companies participated from sectors including tourism, catering, technology, food production and product transportation. He learned about the event from KEM, where he attends classes.
“A friend of mine told me that if you want to stay in Greece, you have to learn Greek. That’s how I came to KEM, I got a certificate of attendance for A1 and now I’m taking classes to take the exam for A2 from the Ministry of Education”, said Christos and continued: “Greek is a difficult language but the teachers at KEM have helped me a lot. I also met friends in class, we celebrated and went to the Acropolis together”.
He has also attended IT courses at KEM. “We learned basic computer skills (Windows, Word, Excel and Internet), which helped me in my job, while the attendance certificate I got is a qualification for future employers.”
Christos’ love for Greece moved us: “My life is here. I only have Greek friends and we have travelled throughout Greece together.” While he speaks 5 languages, he likes Greek a lot. He even wants to continue his journey of learning: “I hope to get into university to study Greek literature, to learn Greek like you.”
More information about KEM: https://www.accmr.gr/services/kem/
A few words about Career Days “Welcome 20233”
The event took place at the initiative of the Employability & Access to Livelihoods Working Committee of the Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues of the City of Athens (ACCMR), with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the framework of the HELIOS Integration Program and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. For the organization, the stakeholders cooperated as a whole: ACCMR | IOM Greece | HELIOS Project | Ministry of Migration and Asylum | Nostos | ΚΕΜ City of Athens | ΜΕΤΑδραση – METAdrasi | ActionAid Hellas| Caritas Hellas | Catholic Relief Services | International Rescue Committee | Ithaca Laundry| SolidarityNow
Text: Athina Vrakatseli, Migrant Integration Center, City of Athens
Φωτογραφίες: Marina Tomara, Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues, City of Athens