Feature: Athens Social Hackers Academy helps refugees, unemployed land jobs

    Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-27 02:34:50|Editor: Yamei
    Video PlayerClose
    GREECE-ATHENS-REFUGEE-SKILL TRAINING

    Young people learn web development skills at Social Hackers Academy in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 24, 2018. In a lively district of the Greek capital, the newly-founded NGO Athens Social Hackers Academy trains marginalized youth in software engineering to help them land jobs and build a better future. Set up by a group of tech and marketing experts, web developers and other volunteers, the school provides lessons free of charge to refugees, migrants and long-term unemployed to help them acquire new skills to boost their chances of finding employment and integrate into society. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

    by Maria Spiliopoulou, Valentini Anagnostopoulou

    ATHENS, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- In a lively district of the Greek capital, the newly-founded NGO Athens Social Hackers Academy trains marginalized youth in software engineering to help them land jobs and build a better future.

    Set up by a group of tech and marketing experts, web developers and other volunteers, the school provides lessons free of charge to refugees, migrants and long-term unemployed to help them acquire new skills to boost their chances of finding employment and integrate into society.

    Following a short computer literacy class, students attend the coding school for five hours once a week. They begin with basic programming skills and build up to building complex websites, all the while gaining more confidence in themselves. The courses, which started last September, last for about six months.

    So far, 24 youth have enrolled in the academy which is the brainchild of professionals of different backgrounds sharing a common vision: to find a way to give back to society by helping people affected by the refugee and financial crises.

    The managing director of the academy is Damianos Vavanos, who has a background in digital marketing and operations and who has worked in many NGOs for years. He quit his previous job to give his all to the academy.

    "I was looking at the refugee crisis from my sofa and I wanted to help out, but I didn't know how to do it. And I was thinking, thinking, thinking," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

    The penny dropped when he realized that most NGOs as well as state and international organizations do not substantially empower people nor do they give them the proper tools for their next steps.

    "I wanted to help them integrate. In order for them to integrate they need to find work. This is my thinking. So in order to find work we need to train them in something...I decided to do this because there is a huge market for it," he explained pointing to trends in job hunting.

    The need for web developers is on the rise even in Greece where many professions have been hit hard in the past eight years. A total of seventeen developers volunteer at the academy.

    "Everybody has a reason for being here. Most of them just want to give back, especially the developers. Because they were very fortunate, they have a job which was not affected by the crisis, so they just want to give back," Vavanos noted.

    Some refugee students who registered in September volunteered as mentors to support the next group that joined in December. They, too, want to give back.

    "Refugees who have walked literally from Bangladesh or Afghanistan. They come over here, they have nothing, and they want to give back to society -- that really and honestly makes us very humble," he added,

    The Athens Social Hackers Academy has partnered with similar projects across Europe and other NGOs to exchange expertise and advice. Financially, they rely on crowd funding to keep going and hopefully grow. Vavanos hopes that a new academy will open on Crete island soon, as demand from applicants is also going.

    The school received 65 applications for the first class and 125 applications for the second. Their capacity at the moment is 12 students per class.

    "The amount of people who want to help has been the most amazing thing...I didn't know it would be so easy to find people who wanted to help," co- founder Chris Owen told Xinhua.

    An experienced developer, Owen quit his job in London once Vavanos told him about the idea of the academy and moved to Greece to start teaching as a volunteer.

    The classes are not easy. They are demanding and most of his students start out nervous.

    "The most difficult part is reassuring people that they can do it...And the most rewarding is being there at the moment when they realize they can do it. That is definitely the best part," he told Xinhua.

    Alyas Omer Shams, 24, a refugee from Afghanistan who reached Greece two years ago is one of the students who have overcome insecurities and obstacles, and has made remarkable progress.

    "I hope to become a developer... Now I feel more confident of myself," Shams told Xinhua.

    Twenty-eight-year-old Arthur Shakirov from Russia has also made significant discoveries about himself after attending the classes, especially about teamwork.

    "I used to work alone, but now I realize, I discovered for myself that the work in a team is quite good," he said.

       1 2 Next  

    KEY WORDS: refugees
    EXPLORE XINHUANET
    010020070750000000000000011103261369279361
    主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久国产乱子伦精品免费强| 夜夜偷天天爽夜夜爱| 亚洲精品免费在线| 被民工蹂躏的雯雅婷| 国产精自产拍久久久久久| 亚洲a∨精品一区二区三区下载| 丁香六月综合网| 天天干天天射天天爽| 亚洲国产一区二区三区| 精品国产粉嫩内射白浆内射双马尾| 国产欧美在线观看| AV无码久久久久久不卡网站| 无码人妻精品一区二区在线视频| 亚洲国产精品嫩草影院久久| 草草影院ccyy国产日本欧美| 国产精品污视频| www.爱爱视频| 日批视频在线看| 亚洲av永久无码精品水牛影视| 爱我久久国产精品| 啊灬用力啊灬啊灬快灬深| 99在线精品免费视频| 无码丰满熟妇一区二区| 亚洲av无码国产精品麻豆天美| 泰国一级淫片免费看| 午夜视频免费观看| 韩国三级bd高清中文字幕合集| 国产精品免费视频网站| 中文精品久久久久人妻| 激情综合色五月丁香六月欧美| 国产999视频| 黄色一级视频在线播放| 国产精品无码久久久久| a在线观看网站| 日韩欧美亚洲另类| 亚洲成年人免费网站| 男人的j插女人的p| 在线观看亚洲一区| 中国大陆一级毛片| 日本大乳高潮视频在线观看| 亚洲精品无码久久久久|