In response to the UEFA Solidarity Project, PAOK Action – together with the PAOK Academy – paid a visit to the «Faros tou Kosmou» (Lighthouse of the World) in the Dendropotamos area, to deliver a check for 500 euros, commemorating World Roma Day. Four PAOK Under-19 players in Vassilis Gordeziani, Dimitris Tsopouroglou, Konstantinos Koulierakis, and Giannis Manolioudis had the opportunity to offer some joy, encouragement and solidarity to less privileged children.

The UEFA Solidarity Project is a training program from European football’s governing body that encourages the teams participating in the UEFA Youth League to adopt a solidarity plan. And yes, although the pandemic did not allow the UEFA Youth League to take place, the «show went on», as far as the solidarity program in concerned.

The Lighthouse of the World operates in the Agios Nektarios (Dendropotamos) area of Thessaloniki which is inhabited by about 4,000 Roma, a number that represents more than 90% of the inhabitants of this settlement. Archimandrite Athenagoras Loukataris set as the purpose of his life to support the young Roma, both materially and morally, in their effort to learn to read and write, so that they can overcome the obstacles that isolate them socially. Apart from the «Lighthouse», where children are hosted to grow up after a prosecutor’s decision or via parental consent, this non-governmental organization also tries to support the households of older children who have opened their own homes.

• World Roma Day, April 8, is a day to celebrate Roma culture and raise awareness of the issues facing Roma. World Roma Day was officially introduced in 1990 in Cerok, Poland. Gypsies – Roma, as they call themselves, are a nation of over 15,000,000 people without a state, with a heavy blood tax from Nazi concentration camps, and usually racist treatment in the places where they live.

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