AHEPA CANADA May 2011 Ambassadors of the Diaspora The AHEPA 83rd Annual Pilgrim.. For the 83rd time since 1929, the Order of AHEPA embarked on a historic and epic excursion to Greece. Many Canadian Presidents have visited Greece and the Mediterranean but this year I felt privileged to be part of a trip that had ground breaking and historic elements to it and I was proud to part of it representing Canada. In trying to convey the exact feeling of the trip, it is confusing and complicated to find the right words to express the actual feeling of the work we accomplished while on the trip. The meeting schedule was grueling, packing 23 meetings in 4 countries in 9 days! The itinerary begins in NY and Toronto with our international flight from JFK to Athens. Accompanying the Supreme President on this journey was Grand President of the DOP Christine Constantine, Supreme President of Canada Nick Aroutzidis, Supreme Treasurer Col. Nick Vamvakias, Grand President of the Maids of Athena Kiki Amanatidis, DOP Executive Director Elena Saviolakis, Sammy Thomas a member of District #5 District Lodge, Dr. Frank Pappas, Past Canadian President Tony Mavromaras.
Greece Cyprus Israel - Konstandinoupolis We were joined briefly by District Lt. Governor Savas Tsivikos as well. The trip began as soon as we arrived in Athens with a briefing and meeting with US Ambassador Daniel Bennet at the American Embassy. Ambassador Bennet discussed with the Supreme President the current economic situation in Greece. After a small meeting with the entire group the Ambassador insisted we go outside on the Embassy grounds and take a photo together. Directly after that briefing, the delegation went to the hotel where we broke up into 2 groups. The DOP had a District wide meeting attended by members of local DOP chapters and the AHEPA met with member so of the Hellas District Lodge. Later that evening, the AHEPA met at the Amalia hotel where each chapter in District 25 sent a representative to discuss current developments. We ended our first night by going to dinner all together. A long first day! Day 2 saw the aggressive schedule began early in the morning. After a brief meeting at 9AM at our hotel, our first meeting was at the Evagelismos Hospital which has an AHEPA wing, we met with the President of the Hospital along with few Doctors later we were escorted to the Greek Parliament building where our group was introduced to members of the Greek Parliament. At 11:00AM we had out meeting with Prime Minister George Papandreou. A variety of subjects were discussed and most importantly there was a discussion on how the AHEPA could participate in assisting promoting Greece in their time of trouble. The Prime Minister knew very well who the AHEPA was and stated repeatedly how important AHEPA is in Greece and how important our role is and can be in the future. 2 lorem ipsum :: [Date]
He spent 45 minutes with the Supreme President and the leaders of the group and then invited all the remaining member of the group to come for public photos of our meeting together. At 12:00 noon the Supreme President participated and spoke at a session of the Diaspora committee which was being held in Parliament and broadcast over live TV. The Supreme President spoke on the value of our great organization and many of the members of Parliament asked questions on how they can assist in promoting Hellenism in America. At 1:00Pm the delegation rushed over the Presidential Palace where President of the Hellenic Republic Carolos Papoulias invited the AHEPA to meet with him. President Papoulias was delighted to welcome the AHEPA family into the Presidential Palace and visited with us for close to 1 hour. A variety of subjects were discussed and broadcast on live TV later that evening. At 2PM we rushed back to the Greek Parliament where we met with the President of the Greek Parliament Mr. Philipos Petsalnikos. This was a good meeting also and pleasantries were exchanged. At 4PM we had a scheduled meeting with the Minister of Citizen Safely and Protection, Minister Christos Papoutsis. This was a delightful meeting because the Minister (like the Prime Minister) was very well aware of the AHEPA and knew several members of the entourage. A detailed discussion ensued about border controls and immigration. Our final meeting was scheduled for 6:30PM with the Minter of Finance Minister Papakonstantinou. A very detailed discussion ensued on the Diaspora binds and how AHEPA could help. All in all the meeting in Greece were extremely insightful and helpful. All courtesies were extended the AHEPA and it was a proud moment for the AHEPA having met with the Prime Minister, President of the Republic and the President of the Parliament. After our last meeting we traveled to the campus of the University of Indianapolis where a reception was held in honor of our visit and we discussed the annual AHEPA Journey to Greece program. (continued) 3 lorem ipsum :: [Date]
On day 3 we departed early for Cyprus. Upon arriving in Cyprus we checked into our hotel and changed and rushed to meet with the 2011 District 27 Honoree Mr. Photon Photiades, at his offices in downtown Nicosia. Later that evening after the meeting in the offices of Mr. Photiades, we were hosted by the previous Mayor of Nicosia Michael Zampelas. The reception at the residence of the Zampelas family was truly a great evening where 2 new AHEPA chapters were initiated and installed. The Supreme Lodge members took pride in initiating the new brother in AHEPA chapter CY4 and CY5. The new brothers all received their AHEPA cards and pins by the AHEPA Supreme President. On our 4 th day, Friday, Our aggressive meeting schedule did not let up. At 10AM we met with His Eminence the Archbishop of Cyprus, and we discussed various opportunities for AHEPA to assist in preserving churches on the occupied side of Cyprus. At 11AM we met with the President of the House of Representatives Marios Karoyian. At 12:45 we met with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus Mr. Markos Kyprianou and various updates on the situation in Cyprus were discussed. Mr. Kyprianou was extremely appreciative of AHEPA s efforts and asked us never to forget the issue on Cyprus. After a brief lunch, with former Ambassador to the US Ambassador Andreas Kakouris, we rushed to go to the American Embassy in Nicosia with our meeting with US Ambassador Frank C. Urbancic, Jr. The Ambassador was a gracious host opening his home tour visit. The highlight of this day was when we visited the Presidential palace in Cyprus. President Christofias of the Republic of Cyprus greeted us with open arms and asked the entire delegation to sit at his cabinet meeting table where we began to discuss the developments of the talks on the island of Cyprus. Many issues, ideas and scenarios were discussed and the Supreme President spoke openly about the AHEPA s commitment to assisting whenever possible. During the evening we participated at the Order of AHEPA Awards banquet which was held at the Nicosia Hilton honoring Mr. Photiades. Many prominent members of the government and community came to visit the AHEPA delegation, and all of us got to meet and greet with old friends. On Saturday, the group finally was afforded a late morning and most of the group took the time to rest waking up late on Saturday. Our flight was schedule for early evening so we really took the time to recap our visits and sort out the balance of the trip. At 7:30PM we departed for the airport for a 10:35 flight to Jerusalem. Apprehension set in while we waited for our flight. With constant reports of violence and danger in Jerusalem some of the members of the group began to question the wisdom in going. All those fears dissipated when we finally arrived in Jerusalem. We arrived very late and checked into our hotels around 1AM, knowing we had to leave at 8AM for Palm Sunday church services all of us rushed to go to sleep. On Sunday we rushed to attend Palm Sunday services at the Holy Seplecur Church in old PART OF Jerusalem. The Patriarch of Jerusalem was waiting for AHEPA and we were treated royally. The service was an event in and of itself. I do not command the English language enough to find the correct adjectives and adverbs to best describe the emotion all of us felt attending these church services. It was a truly humbling feeling and one which none of the participants will soon ever forget. The chanting, smell and aura of where we were are etched in our memories forever. As an innocent bystander I can tell you that many of the members of our group were emotionally compromised while attending services and viewing the mass of people showing their faith was an unreal, experience. I have always been a proud Greek Orthodox Christian, but this Palm Sunday service was truly something far beyond anything I could have dreamed of. His Beatitude Theofilos III received the group immediate after services and discussed how he thinks AHEPA can assist in the preservation of the Greek Church in Jerusalem. 4 lorem ipsum :: [Date]
Later that afternoon the Supreme President, Grand President and Canadian President met with 3 members of the Israeli government. Col. Dr.Eran Lerman of the Israeli National Security council where we had a very informative and open discussion on the general issues facing Greece and Israel. The Supreme President discussed the ground breaking conferences AHEPA hosted in October 2010 in Washington, DC and in Montreal Canada in April of 2011 the National Security council members were all aware of the fine work AHEPA accomplished in this area. They congratulated and complimented the Supreme President on his leadership and AHEPA s fine work to improving relations between Greece and Israel. At 3:00Pm we met with the Deputy Director of the North American Division of the foreign ministry. Mr. Barukh Binah. This meeting dealt more with a historical perspective of what has happened in the past, but the foreign ministry also complemented AHEPA on the fine work we recently did on improving relations with Greece and Israel. Our final meeting was with Naor Gilon, Deputy Director General of Western European affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This proved to be the most animated meeting of all three. Discussions varied on classified and unclassified issues, so I will leave it at that, but it was a truly open discussion and one which the members in attendance will not forget! On Monday His Beatitude arranged to have a tour guide show us all the Holy places in Jerusalem. Our tour began at 10AM and concluded at 7PM. Every Holy Place in Jerusalem is a Greek Orthodox Church. It was truly a fantastic tour and one which I would recommend to everyone to go once in their life. It is a trip which will always be vivid in my mind and moving in my heart. On Tuesday we departed for Constantinople. Upon arriving, we installed the newly created Constantinople AHEPA Chapter. Ten (10) members of the Greek Turkish residence of Constantinople were installed and the meeting, which lasted for 2 hours, ended up with dinner on the rooftop of the Hilton Park sa Hotel. Past District 25 District Governor Tassos Mastroyiannis was instrumental in making all of the arrangements while we visited and he is to be congratulated for his efforts. On Holy Wednesday the Supreme President led his group to the Phanar where we met with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew after church services. The Patriarch was very pleased to see AHEPA visit him once again and also to hear of the wonderful news of the AHEPA chapter established in Constantinople. His All Holiness invited the group to eat lunch with him. We were escorted into his private dining room, where a vibrant a joyful discussion ensued about all of the wonderful programs AHEPA has to offer. The Supreme President offered a small gift, as well as the President of Canada on behalf of the Canadian chapters who contributed towards this small financial gift of support.. At 4:30 the group attended Holy Unction services at St. Georges Church in the Phanar. The following day the group departed for home, exhausted but accomplished. All in the entire trip was truly one of the finest trips in recent memory having met with all the most important figures and discussing all the important events. We were given the respect and accolade as the true ambassadors of the north American Diaspora, making us very proud to serve the serve the AHEPA Family. 5 lorem ipsum :: [Date]