Help Theo Come to Canada
Donation protected
Well this has been quite the year for everyone. I hope everyone has remained safe and healthy.
As you know Theo returned to Greece almost a year ago. The plan was for him to work, save some money, and return to Canada to attend the Plumbing Program at Louis Riel Arts and Technology Centre (ATC) beginning February 2021.
Theo accepted into Plumbing Program February 2022
Covid hit the world and changed everyone’s lives. Our two planned large fundraisers had to be cancelled: an annual organization’s event who was going to give their charitable donation from the event to Theo and an order-your-curry project. We can only hope that we can have these fundraisers in 2021.
The normal tourist season in Greece, which is usually 5-6 months, was significantly reduced. Theo was only able to work for 6 weeks, the time the hotel was open this year. As a result, he was not able to save any money for ATC. His winter survival job, which he worked 6 days a week, has now been reduced to 4 days and the place will close in a month. He will hopefully be able to find another job to get him through the winter. No one can guess whether there will be a full 2021 tourist season.
In the meantime, the Canadian government was not allowing students to enter Canada when Theo was required to submit his documents to get a student permit. Thankfully, ATC deferred Theo for another year for entrance into the Plumbing Program starting in February 2022.
When I started this GoFundme campaign about a year and a half ago, my hope was to give Theo a better life and a future in a safe and peaceful country. What I learned from him visiting Canada, and living in my home for a year, is that he touched all those who met him. He shovelled the snow for all my elderly and single neighbours even if it was 35 degrees below 0. Whenever they needed help, he was the first to offer. He helped me in ways that are beyond mention.
I know that when he completes the Plumbing program, he will have a bright future in Canada. Once he is working, he will be able to get his older brother and his family out of the Congo. He will be able to provide opportunities for his two nieces in Athens whose parents struggle to survive. He will become an active citizen in Canada.
AMOUNT NEEDED
I am redoing the budget without a contribution from Theo as there is no guarantee that the tourist season will occur in 2021. If he is able to work a full tourist season, the money required will be adjusted.
So here I am again, asking for your help and support. We have raised $8,046, which is amazing to me. I am forever grateful for your support. The money we collectively raised to date allowed Theo to attend English language classes till he reached the level required for entrance into the Plumbing program. It allowed him to apply for the Plumbing program and make the required deposit of $1400 to secure his seat in the program. It enabled him to purchase required health insurance while in Canada. The remainder of his living costs were covered through Theo’s savings and by me for the year he stayed in Canada. We currently have $533 remaining in our GoFundme account.
Like before, I will cover Theo’s living costs and any additional expenditures. Hopefully, Theo will be able to find a part-time job and be able to cover his bus fare and some smaller everyday expenses.
It is now estimated that we need to raise another $17,849 in addition to the money already raised. Here is a breakdown of the monies required along with their due dates:
Due Date Amount ($) Purpose
April 1 150 Student permit application fee
85 Biometrics Fee
155 Work permit Fee
July 3 1,300 Airfare to Canada
604 Health Insurance coverage prior to program
November 1 12,600 ATC remaining tuition*
550 Student Medical Insurance
2021 SUB-TOTAL $15,444
January 1 50 Student Fee for both semesters
100 Book Deposit
35 Grad Fee
200 Additional Program Fees
500 Program supplies
2022 SUB-TOTAL $885
February 1 2,153 Health Insurance while awaiting PR
2023 SUB-TOTAL $2,153
SUB-TOTALS $ 18,482
Subtract current savings - 533
FINAL TOTAL $ 17,949
HOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE
There are many different ways each of you chose to donate. One person, the generous Angela Brander from the UK, donates a generous sum each month. Like me, she was a guest of the hotel Theo worked at in 2017 and saw his potential. Some donated one-time large sums while others chose to give what they could. Theo and I are forever grateful for your help!
Before Theo left Canada in November 2019, he asked me to share this with you, "I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed for me. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and all your efforts to help me to change my life and make it better. When people unite they can change not only one person's life, but also thousands. I wish everyone individually, and all together happiness, peace and health."
To raise another $17,949 seems daunting. I always believe in the goodwill of others and know that if we work together we can raise this money.
Do you buy a cup of coffee each day?
A Tim Horton’s Medium Size Original Coffee (Canada) is $1.95. If you donated some of what you would spend on a cup of coffee, we would easily reach the target 2021 goal of $15,444. If you recruited a friend to also become a Coffee Donor, we would be well on our way to reaching our goal.
Small amounts donated regularly by many quickly add up.
Coffee Purchase Monthly Donation Number of Coffee
Donated/Week Donors to reach
@$1.95 each 2021 Goal: $15,444
3x $25.35 51
4x $33.80 38
5x $42.25 31
Please share this campaign link on your social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and with your friends and families. Ask a friend to become a Coffee Donor or hold your own fundraising event to help.
If you have any fundraising ideas or as a business would like to fundraise for Theo, please share your ideas with me.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NEW TO THIS CAMPAIGN HERE IS THEO’S STORY:
The Meeting
There was something different about him. Shortly after my husband passed away in 2017, I travelled to Zakynthos, Greece with a group from the United Kingdom. Friendships were made that have carried on. What was unexpected was meeting Theodoros Kozis (Theo), the bartender, and the beginning of what would become an extraordinary bond and friendship between us.
Theodoros Kozis (Theo), Bartender, Zakynthos, Greece, 2017
There was something different about Theo. I could not say exactly what it was, until I started to have conversations with him. When I asked Theo where he was from in Greece, he said he was born in the Congo. At that moment it came to me, the difference I saw was all too familiar, it was the look of a refugee, a faraway look of someone searching for a place to call home. A look I had seen many times in my professional life working with newcomers to Canada. What followed has become one of the most cherished friendships and experiences of my life. My name is Barbara Dixon and this is the story of Theo and why I am asking for your help.
The Backstory
How did Theo go from being born in the Congo to living in Greece? Well, in September 1991, Congolese soldiers in his hometown started looting to protest unpaid wages. Theo remembers the chaos on the streets and witnessing two women being shot dead in front of him. He was only eight years old.
Theo’s aunt realized that things were going to get worse in the Congo and made arrangements to leave. The day following the looting, Theo, along with his two brothers, aunt and grandmother hurriedly left the Congo on a military plane. They flew to Greece, the family’s original homeland.
Theo never saw his Mother again. He does remember hugging her legs and begging her to go with them to Greece. She chose not to and told him not to worry, that they would see each other again. She passed away a many years later.
Irodotos, Milton and Theodoros (Theo) Kozis in the Congo
Although Theo was of Greek origin, he was like a refugee in Greece. He had to learn a new language. He had to adapt to new food. He had to learn a new culture and make new friends. Basically, he had to learn how to behave as a Greek and not as an African. During this process, he changed schools 3-4 times and each time as the “new kid”, he faced bullying.
In talking with Theo, it was clear that the Congo was in his heart as he stated how he wished he could go “home”. Up until now, he felt it was the only place where he felt safety, affection, love and the comforts of home – exactly, the feelings that a real home gives you. But, he was also now a proud Greek. Like so many displaced persons, there seemed to be a disconnect, where Theo was neither here nor there.
There is much more to Theo’s story. What I observed is that the Greek crisis was not over for the people of Greece. Theo like many others worked seven days a week. No coffee breaks. No lunch breaks. No benefits and working hours way over 40 hours per week.
Given all this, I felt the need to offer Theo the potential of a better life in Canada. I said I would provide him with housing and living costs if he wanted to come to Canada as a student. I am sure he thought that I was a bit crazy. My hope was that Theo might finally find a place that felt like home.
At the time, I did not realize the effects of the Greek crisis on earning power and that there was no way possible for Theo to ever be able to afford international students costs.
“A Series of Unfortunate Events”
I learned a lot about Theo and his family the night before I left Greece and when I returned a few months later to do research for the book I was writing about his family.
Theo’s dream was to become a professional soccer player. In 2003, his dream came true for two years when he played on Cyprus’s 2nd Division team and helped the team move up to the 1st Division. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond his control, Theo had to return to Greece after his second year of playing, as he did not have the resources to sustain himself in Cyprus.
Theo playing professional football (soccer) in Cyprus
When he returned to Greece, there was no one left to help him. His father and older brother had returned to the Congo. His aunt and grandmother were both dead. The only one left in Greece was his younger brother who returned to the Congo a year later. Theo did not go with him because he still wanted to pursue his football dream.
For the next couple of years, he played for different amateur teams in different places. He also worked two jobs. One was at a gas station where he worked 8 p.m. till midnight. The other was as a garbage collector where he worked from 4 a.m. till noon. Between the two jobs, he had football training that started at 5 p.m.
The Greek crisis hit in 2008. Theo lost both jobs. He had to stop playing football. He separated from his girlfriend who he had lived with for four years. He ended up with no home, no job, with NOTHING. With very little money in his pocket, Theo stayed with a friend’s family for a month until he was able to find a job.
As he told me, he called his father in the Congo and told him he wanted to return. His father told him it was better for him to stay in Greece, homeless, than return to the situation in the Congo.
When Theo was 20 - 21 years old, he started thinking about how he could find his mother in the Congo. At the same time, his Aunt who had raised him was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She became very ill, very quickly, was in a lot of pain and passed away.
When going through his Aunt’s belongings, he found some letters from his Mother in the Congo. The boys had never seen these letters. In one, she told her children that she had been kicked out of the Kozis family home after the boys left. This was very sad news for Theo. There was another letter that referenced a letter that had been sent to his Mother. In the letter addressed to his Mother, she was told that her husband had remarried and had a new set of children, and that her three boys had been sent to an orphanage. She was told not to communicate with the family again. Theo could not imagine how someone from his father’s family could write such a cruel letter to his mother.
Theo and his brothers started asking questions about their Mother. Cousins in the Congo told them, that their Mother had passed. It was only in the early spring of 2018 when Theo learned how she died. His Mother was pregnant and travelling, when she unexpectedly went into labour, haemorrhaged and died.
In 2018, when I was in Greece again for 2.5 months helping Theo learn English, he told me he had never cried about losing his Mother, from the time he left the Congo up until I asked him probing questions about his Mother. We had built trust between each other, and he was finally able to let his grief pour out. He bawled from a place deep inside him.
Theodoros's mother Izabelle
In 2014, Theo's father, Michel, returned to Greece. He was not doing well in the Congo. He was very thin, his body was weak and his mind was tired. Within a few months, he was ill, once with a severe case of pneumonia and the other with the fatal diagnosis of leukemia. He was hospitalized for a month with the pneumonia and almost three months with the leukemia. Theo was his lone caregiver.
To understand the situation in Greece a little better, there are public hospitals and private hospitals. Theo’s dad did not have insurance to pay for the public hospital nor money to pay for a private hospital. It all fell on Theo to figure it out.
When Theo’s dad was released from hospital, part of his treatment for the leukemia was to have blood transfusions twice a week at the hospital, a 40-minute car ride. In Greece, donating blood is not as common as some other parts of the world. Friends, family and community are asked to donate blood when someone needs it.
Theo asked all his friends to donate blood as often as they could. But, it remained a challenge to get his dad to the hospital twice a week for transfusions. He did not own a car and public transportation was out of the question. Theo scrambled to borrow a car or find a friend who could drive them. Often times, Michel only received one transfusion a week, which did not help his situation.
Theo's father Michel - first day back from Congo
Throughout all of this stress, Theo continued to work. Theo’s dad kept on asking Theo to bring his younger brother and his family back to Greece. It became clear, that Michel did not think that his youngest son, Irodotos, would survive on his own with a pregnant wife and 3-year old daughter in the Congo. Theo decided that bringing his brother back to Greece might prolong his father’s life so he borrowed €3000 ($4,525 Cdn) to get his brother and his family to Greece.
Michel’s health seemed to improve with the arrival of Irodotos and his family. He was very happy when another granddaughter was born.
Theo and his two nieces in Athens - Izabelle and Nicky
Theo earned €670 per month ($1010 Cdn), which was barely enough to support one person. Theo’s total monthly costs were more than his monthly income. He decided it was more important to feed his family so he deferred paying rent. He could no longer live in his home anymore because there were only two rooms. He visited daily to ensure everyone was okay and that there was enough food, medicine and baby items such as diapers.
Although Michel was happy and his health was improving, he so noticed the strain on Theo to keep everyone housed and fed. Somewhere between his happiness for having his family around him, he also made a decision that he could not put such pressure on Theo to take care of everyone. He decided to stop eating. He knew that it would lead to his death. By the time Irodotos and Theo realized what was happening, it was too late. Michel passed away about a month after Irodotus arrived.
Theo owed back rent, electric and cable bills, and the borrowed money of €4600 ($6,950 Cdn). In addition, there were now his father’s burial costs of €1600 ($2,417 Cdn). Theo once again had to borrow money to pay for this cost. No matter how hard Theo seemed to try, he always faced difficulties.
It was difficult to pay the debts and survive. So, Theo made the decision to leave Athens and his family, and move to Zakynthos, where he could earn more money in the tourist industry. His desire to start his own family had to be delayed.
One Year in Canada
Theo was reluctant to automatically accept my invitation to Canada. He decided he would come for a visit. He arrived in Winnipeg mid-November 2018 for a 5-month visit. Even though he came to one of the coldest winters in one of the coldest cities in the world, he embraced Canada and at -35C, was out shovelling my front drive, the City sidewalk and all my neighbours’ front drives.
Theo near Winnipeg, Canada 2019
Theo started to realize that he could have a better and more peaceful life in Canada. He knew his first step was to improve his English language skills. With my help, he spent 6+ hours a day on English lessons. I can only take him so far in the development of his English language skills and know that he needs to go to formal language training.
Becoming an international student, and then applying for permanent residency once employed after graduation is the only way that Theo can make Canada his home.
Like most of us, Theo’s dream is to get married, have kids, work in a trade, buy a house, coach kid’s soccer, and build a future in Canada. He is a good person, who has had some bad luck in life, and who deserves some happiness, security and care. Theo just needs a break. I know I can only help Theo so much, and that is why I am asking the community for help. Together, we can change Theo’s and his family’s life.
Theo and Barb's last photo before he returned to Greece 2019
Thank you for your support!
As you know Theo returned to Greece almost a year ago. The plan was for him to work, save some money, and return to Canada to attend the Plumbing Program at Louis Riel Arts and Technology Centre (ATC) beginning February 2021.
Theo accepted into Plumbing Program February 2022Covid hit the world and changed everyone’s lives. Our two planned large fundraisers had to be cancelled: an annual organization’s event who was going to give their charitable donation from the event to Theo and an order-your-curry project. We can only hope that we can have these fundraisers in 2021.
The normal tourist season in Greece, which is usually 5-6 months, was significantly reduced. Theo was only able to work for 6 weeks, the time the hotel was open this year. As a result, he was not able to save any money for ATC. His winter survival job, which he worked 6 days a week, has now been reduced to 4 days and the place will close in a month. He will hopefully be able to find another job to get him through the winter. No one can guess whether there will be a full 2021 tourist season.
In the meantime, the Canadian government was not allowing students to enter Canada when Theo was required to submit his documents to get a student permit. Thankfully, ATC deferred Theo for another year for entrance into the Plumbing Program starting in February 2022.
When I started this GoFundme campaign about a year and a half ago, my hope was to give Theo a better life and a future in a safe and peaceful country. What I learned from him visiting Canada, and living in my home for a year, is that he touched all those who met him. He shovelled the snow for all my elderly and single neighbours even if it was 35 degrees below 0. Whenever they needed help, he was the first to offer. He helped me in ways that are beyond mention.
I know that when he completes the Plumbing program, he will have a bright future in Canada. Once he is working, he will be able to get his older brother and his family out of the Congo. He will be able to provide opportunities for his two nieces in Athens whose parents struggle to survive. He will become an active citizen in Canada.
AMOUNT NEEDED
I am redoing the budget without a contribution from Theo as there is no guarantee that the tourist season will occur in 2021. If he is able to work a full tourist season, the money required will be adjusted.
So here I am again, asking for your help and support. We have raised $8,046, which is amazing to me. I am forever grateful for your support. The money we collectively raised to date allowed Theo to attend English language classes till he reached the level required for entrance into the Plumbing program. It allowed him to apply for the Plumbing program and make the required deposit of $1400 to secure his seat in the program. It enabled him to purchase required health insurance while in Canada. The remainder of his living costs were covered through Theo’s savings and by me for the year he stayed in Canada. We currently have $533 remaining in our GoFundme account.
Like before, I will cover Theo’s living costs and any additional expenditures. Hopefully, Theo will be able to find a part-time job and be able to cover his bus fare and some smaller everyday expenses.
It is now estimated that we need to raise another $17,849 in addition to the money already raised. Here is a breakdown of the monies required along with their due dates:
Due Date Amount ($) Purpose
April 1 150 Student permit application fee
85 Biometrics Fee
155 Work permit Fee
July 3 1,300 Airfare to Canada
604 Health Insurance coverage prior to program
November 1 12,600 ATC remaining tuition*
550 Student Medical Insurance
2021 SUB-TOTAL $15,444
January 1 50 Student Fee for both semesters
100 Book Deposit
35 Grad Fee
200 Additional Program Fees
500 Program supplies
2022 SUB-TOTAL $885
February 1 2,153 Health Insurance while awaiting PR
2023 SUB-TOTAL $2,153
SUB-TOTALS $ 18,482
Subtract current savings - 533
FINAL TOTAL $ 17,949
HOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE
There are many different ways each of you chose to donate. One person, the generous Angela Brander from the UK, donates a generous sum each month. Like me, she was a guest of the hotel Theo worked at in 2017 and saw his potential. Some donated one-time large sums while others chose to give what they could. Theo and I are forever grateful for your help!
Before Theo left Canada in November 2019, he asked me to share this with you, "I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed for me. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and all your efforts to help me to change my life and make it better. When people unite they can change not only one person's life, but also thousands. I wish everyone individually, and all together happiness, peace and health."
To raise another $17,949 seems daunting. I always believe in the goodwill of others and know that if we work together we can raise this money.
Do you buy a cup of coffee each day?
A Tim Horton’s Medium Size Original Coffee (Canada) is $1.95. If you donated some of what you would spend on a cup of coffee, we would easily reach the target 2021 goal of $15,444. If you recruited a friend to also become a Coffee Donor, we would be well on our way to reaching our goal.
Small amounts donated regularly by many quickly add up.
Coffee Purchase Monthly Donation Number of Coffee
Donated/Week Donors to reach
@$1.95 each 2021 Goal: $15,444
3x $25.35 51
4x $33.80 38
5x $42.25 31
Please share this campaign link on your social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and with your friends and families. Ask a friend to become a Coffee Donor or hold your own fundraising event to help.
If you have any fundraising ideas or as a business would like to fundraise for Theo, please share your ideas with me.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NEW TO THIS CAMPAIGN HERE IS THEO’S STORY:
The Meeting
There was something different about him. Shortly after my husband passed away in 2017, I travelled to Zakynthos, Greece with a group from the United Kingdom. Friendships were made that have carried on. What was unexpected was meeting Theodoros Kozis (Theo), the bartender, and the beginning of what would become an extraordinary bond and friendship between us.
Theodoros Kozis (Theo), Bartender, Zakynthos, Greece, 2017There was something different about Theo. I could not say exactly what it was, until I started to have conversations with him. When I asked Theo where he was from in Greece, he said he was born in the Congo. At that moment it came to me, the difference I saw was all too familiar, it was the look of a refugee, a faraway look of someone searching for a place to call home. A look I had seen many times in my professional life working with newcomers to Canada. What followed has become one of the most cherished friendships and experiences of my life. My name is Barbara Dixon and this is the story of Theo and why I am asking for your help.
The Backstory
How did Theo go from being born in the Congo to living in Greece? Well, in September 1991, Congolese soldiers in his hometown started looting to protest unpaid wages. Theo remembers the chaos on the streets and witnessing two women being shot dead in front of him. He was only eight years old.
Theo’s aunt realized that things were going to get worse in the Congo and made arrangements to leave. The day following the looting, Theo, along with his two brothers, aunt and grandmother hurriedly left the Congo on a military plane. They flew to Greece, the family’s original homeland.
Theo never saw his Mother again. He does remember hugging her legs and begging her to go with them to Greece. She chose not to and told him not to worry, that they would see each other again. She passed away a many years later.
Irodotos, Milton and Theodoros (Theo) Kozis in the CongoAlthough Theo was of Greek origin, he was like a refugee in Greece. He had to learn a new language. He had to adapt to new food. He had to learn a new culture and make new friends. Basically, he had to learn how to behave as a Greek and not as an African. During this process, he changed schools 3-4 times and each time as the “new kid”, he faced bullying.
In talking with Theo, it was clear that the Congo was in his heart as he stated how he wished he could go “home”. Up until now, he felt it was the only place where he felt safety, affection, love and the comforts of home – exactly, the feelings that a real home gives you. But, he was also now a proud Greek. Like so many displaced persons, there seemed to be a disconnect, where Theo was neither here nor there.
There is much more to Theo’s story. What I observed is that the Greek crisis was not over for the people of Greece. Theo like many others worked seven days a week. No coffee breaks. No lunch breaks. No benefits and working hours way over 40 hours per week.
Given all this, I felt the need to offer Theo the potential of a better life in Canada. I said I would provide him with housing and living costs if he wanted to come to Canada as a student. I am sure he thought that I was a bit crazy. My hope was that Theo might finally find a place that felt like home.
At the time, I did not realize the effects of the Greek crisis on earning power and that there was no way possible for Theo to ever be able to afford international students costs.
“A Series of Unfortunate Events”
I learned a lot about Theo and his family the night before I left Greece and when I returned a few months later to do research for the book I was writing about his family.
Theo’s dream was to become a professional soccer player. In 2003, his dream came true for two years when he played on Cyprus’s 2nd Division team and helped the team move up to the 1st Division. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond his control, Theo had to return to Greece after his second year of playing, as he did not have the resources to sustain himself in Cyprus.
Theo playing professional football (soccer) in CyprusWhen he returned to Greece, there was no one left to help him. His father and older brother had returned to the Congo. His aunt and grandmother were both dead. The only one left in Greece was his younger brother who returned to the Congo a year later. Theo did not go with him because he still wanted to pursue his football dream.
For the next couple of years, he played for different amateur teams in different places. He also worked two jobs. One was at a gas station where he worked 8 p.m. till midnight. The other was as a garbage collector where he worked from 4 a.m. till noon. Between the two jobs, he had football training that started at 5 p.m.
The Greek crisis hit in 2008. Theo lost both jobs. He had to stop playing football. He separated from his girlfriend who he had lived with for four years. He ended up with no home, no job, with NOTHING. With very little money in his pocket, Theo stayed with a friend’s family for a month until he was able to find a job.
As he told me, he called his father in the Congo and told him he wanted to return. His father told him it was better for him to stay in Greece, homeless, than return to the situation in the Congo.
When Theo was 20 - 21 years old, he started thinking about how he could find his mother in the Congo. At the same time, his Aunt who had raised him was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She became very ill, very quickly, was in a lot of pain and passed away.
When going through his Aunt’s belongings, he found some letters from his Mother in the Congo. The boys had never seen these letters. In one, she told her children that she had been kicked out of the Kozis family home after the boys left. This was very sad news for Theo. There was another letter that referenced a letter that had been sent to his Mother. In the letter addressed to his Mother, she was told that her husband had remarried and had a new set of children, and that her three boys had been sent to an orphanage. She was told not to communicate with the family again. Theo could not imagine how someone from his father’s family could write such a cruel letter to his mother.
Theo and his brothers started asking questions about their Mother. Cousins in the Congo told them, that their Mother had passed. It was only in the early spring of 2018 when Theo learned how she died. His Mother was pregnant and travelling, when she unexpectedly went into labour, haemorrhaged and died.
In 2018, when I was in Greece again for 2.5 months helping Theo learn English, he told me he had never cried about losing his Mother, from the time he left the Congo up until I asked him probing questions about his Mother. We had built trust between each other, and he was finally able to let his grief pour out. He bawled from a place deep inside him.
Theodoros's mother IzabelleIn 2014, Theo's father, Michel, returned to Greece. He was not doing well in the Congo. He was very thin, his body was weak and his mind was tired. Within a few months, he was ill, once with a severe case of pneumonia and the other with the fatal diagnosis of leukemia. He was hospitalized for a month with the pneumonia and almost three months with the leukemia. Theo was his lone caregiver.
To understand the situation in Greece a little better, there are public hospitals and private hospitals. Theo’s dad did not have insurance to pay for the public hospital nor money to pay for a private hospital. It all fell on Theo to figure it out.
When Theo’s dad was released from hospital, part of his treatment for the leukemia was to have blood transfusions twice a week at the hospital, a 40-minute car ride. In Greece, donating blood is not as common as some other parts of the world. Friends, family and community are asked to donate blood when someone needs it.
Theo asked all his friends to donate blood as often as they could. But, it remained a challenge to get his dad to the hospital twice a week for transfusions. He did not own a car and public transportation was out of the question. Theo scrambled to borrow a car or find a friend who could drive them. Often times, Michel only received one transfusion a week, which did not help his situation.
Theo's father Michel - first day back from CongoThroughout all of this stress, Theo continued to work. Theo’s dad kept on asking Theo to bring his younger brother and his family back to Greece. It became clear, that Michel did not think that his youngest son, Irodotos, would survive on his own with a pregnant wife and 3-year old daughter in the Congo. Theo decided that bringing his brother back to Greece might prolong his father’s life so he borrowed €3000 ($4,525 Cdn) to get his brother and his family to Greece.
Michel’s health seemed to improve with the arrival of Irodotos and his family. He was very happy when another granddaughter was born.
Theo and his two nieces in Athens - Izabelle and NickyTheo earned €670 per month ($1010 Cdn), which was barely enough to support one person. Theo’s total monthly costs were more than his monthly income. He decided it was more important to feed his family so he deferred paying rent. He could no longer live in his home anymore because there were only two rooms. He visited daily to ensure everyone was okay and that there was enough food, medicine and baby items such as diapers.
Although Michel was happy and his health was improving, he so noticed the strain on Theo to keep everyone housed and fed. Somewhere between his happiness for having his family around him, he also made a decision that he could not put such pressure on Theo to take care of everyone. He decided to stop eating. He knew that it would lead to his death. By the time Irodotos and Theo realized what was happening, it was too late. Michel passed away about a month after Irodotus arrived.
Theo owed back rent, electric and cable bills, and the borrowed money of €4600 ($6,950 Cdn). In addition, there were now his father’s burial costs of €1600 ($2,417 Cdn). Theo once again had to borrow money to pay for this cost. No matter how hard Theo seemed to try, he always faced difficulties.
It was difficult to pay the debts and survive. So, Theo made the decision to leave Athens and his family, and move to Zakynthos, where he could earn more money in the tourist industry. His desire to start his own family had to be delayed.
One Year in Canada
Theo was reluctant to automatically accept my invitation to Canada. He decided he would come for a visit. He arrived in Winnipeg mid-November 2018 for a 5-month visit. Even though he came to one of the coldest winters in one of the coldest cities in the world, he embraced Canada and at -35C, was out shovelling my front drive, the City sidewalk and all my neighbours’ front drives.
Theo near Winnipeg, Canada 2019Theo started to realize that he could have a better and more peaceful life in Canada. He knew his first step was to improve his English language skills. With my help, he spent 6+ hours a day on English lessons. I can only take him so far in the development of his English language skills and know that he needs to go to formal language training.
Becoming an international student, and then applying for permanent residency once employed after graduation is the only way that Theo can make Canada his home.
Like most of us, Theo’s dream is to get married, have kids, work in a trade, buy a house, coach kid’s soccer, and build a future in Canada. He is a good person, who has had some bad luck in life, and who deserves some happiness, security and care. Theo just needs a break. I know I can only help Theo so much, and that is why I am asking the community for help. Together, we can change Theo’s and his family’s life.
Theo and Barb's last photo before he returned to Greece 2019Thank you for your support!
Organizer
Barbara Dixon
Organizer
Winnipeg, MB
