Headline Jan 13, 2015/

''' HELL IN HOMELESS '''

THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY  -the exclusive ownership of every student in the world, -with  ''one share piece-peace'',  "!WOW!"   -has the delight   -to extend to O'' Captain Imran Khan:

!Our Very Best Wishes!  on his marriage. This rare human is a great friend of both Justice and Students.

It was befitting to see the O'' Captain share the joy and the moments with the orphans in the orphanage. Victor Hugo, the great French novelist, had a point : 

** ''Life is to give,   not to take.''**

But without much ado,  -live,  at places near you, in Pakistan, !WOW!  continues the singular honour of serving the homeless, and  the forgotten.  

Mariam, Rabo, Dee, Haleema, Shazaib, Saad, Salar, Mustafa, Hussain, Ali, Fatima, Rehan(Switzerland), Paras, Sorat, Umer, Haanyia, Armeen, Hamza, Haider, Aqsa, Danyial, Ehsen, Waleed, Hazeem:

Must ever continue the great serving and the great tradition of honouring humanity.       

THE WOMAN SAYS her name is Yianna.

With her long, shiny brown hair and ruffled blouse. she looks out of place sitting on a plastic crate with two bruised, toothless people who live in a battered alley in central Athens.

Less than a year ago, she was running a small  ouzo bar that she owned  on the island of Chios.

The recession slowed business, her taxes surged, and she could no longer pay her bills. At 37, she moved to Athens to look for work. Still jobless months later, she is out of money and has stuffed everything she owns into a bright blue duffel bag:

''I never thought I'd find myself here,'' she says looking down. ''But here I am.''

And here too is Greece, the down-and- out member of Europe's family of nations. The country then was facing default even after a over a year of painful austerity measures that have squeezed its citizens-

And stalled its already weak economy. Unemployment is at more than 16%   -and about 40% for young people.

Crime, personal bankruptcy, homelessness and suicide are all increasing. Yet international lenders say  the country isn't trying hard enough to reform its economy and rein in spending.

Greece has promised to slash  30,000  additional public-sector jobs and impose a new property tax that will be collected through electric bills.

While Europe's leaders wrestle over how to save the continent's collective economy, many Greeks are already living in the reality of a developed economy gone terribly wrong.

''It seems like the  -austerity cuts-   will never be enough and that it will never end,'' says Anita  Papachristopoulou, a  44 year old environmental scientist, who works for the  Athens Water Supply & Sewage Co.

As a civil servant, she's seen her salary cut in the past years and worries that new measures will endanger her job. She's so worried about of keeping up with her bills and paying the new taxes that she has little energy to plan for the future.

''Maybe I should leave Greece,''  she says, sighing. ''I feel like I am being pushed out.'' 

Papachristopoulos, who lives in a pretty neighborhood near Acropolis, used to love walking around Athens. Now it depresses her.

She sees grandmothers in worn dresses asking for spare change, homeless men in suit pants sleeping on benches. drug addicts slumped in front of the National Archaeological Museum, home of Greece's national treasures.

''And the tourists see this?'' she says. ''It's shameful.''

Inside the museum, Eleni Constantinidi works as a curator of the prehistoric collection. A 43 year old mother of a toddler, she makes just under $2,000 a month, even with a doctorate.

But she says she still counts her blessings.

Her husband has good sales job. She's cautiously optimistic that she won't lose her job in the latest round of cuts, but she adds, '' How can anybody be sure?'' She has marched in nearly  every antiausterity demonstration.

''I want to fight.'' she says. ''I want to be optimistic for my son because I want to believe   -that he will have a future here.''

There are some places in Athens where economic crisis has smothered what little hope remained.

The central-Athens neighbourhood of  Agios Panteteimonas, anchored by a Cathedral named after a  saint of compassion,  was once a place filled with neoclassical houses and frequented by famous actors.

It was already in decline when the economic crisis began. Now its buildings are abandoned, the streets filled with trash. Dozens of shops around the square have closed.

Only five remain, including the cosmetics and jewelry shop that  58 year old Spyros Yannatos has run for 22 years. he says he's always paid his taxes, but now that business is down 50%, he may no longer be able to.

''I have followed the rules, and my country is rewarding me by bankrupting me,'' he says.

Father Maximus Papagiannis, the priest at Agios Panteleimonas, says he listens to stories of despair every day. Some people show up simply because they're hungry.

The church serves hot meals to  160  people every day and hands out care packages filled with flour, rice, oil and beans.

Yianna, the former ouzo-bar owner, also eats at a soup kitchen:

''I'm not giving up,'' she says, managing a smile. ''But I'm getting tired.''

She sits outside a shop that sells cheap Chinese clothes and finished her donated meal of lentils, salad and bread.

Then she curls up on the sidewalk against the building, rests her head on the duffel bag pillowed with her clothes and closes her eyes. 

With most respectful and caring dedication to all the Homeless people in the world.  See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' The Future '''

'''Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless