Near the end of June 2018, I read an announcement on fb that the group "Nectar of Love" in the area of Agios Yiannis, Renti needed assistance in the preparation of food which would be offered to the homeless sleeping on the benches at the Port of Piraeus. I had been seeking a way to offer my services for some time now. Affirming the quote (by Lao Tzu) “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”, it is exactly how this opportunity came into my life. And of course they proved to be great teachers since they have accepted our services so humbly and with such gratitude.

Hence, we go to “Nectar of Love” every Wednesday and Friday from 17.00 to 22.00, some days together with Helena Daskalopoulou and Giannis Vitalis, we prepare food which we offer to the homeless and we also enjoy it ourselves. We are moved by the love and care these people have for individual needs, not only concerning the nutrition but also of clothing the homeless. We were equally impressed by the cleanliness in the kitchen, the gloves and aprons we were given, the sanitization of the countertops after every single use, the suggestion to respect the well-being of our hands because they offer such useful aid. How fortunate to have met such special people! And amidst them, the humblest of all, the people that sponsor this humanitarian project as a whole, offering also their personal time in the process, one of the three families that voluntarily and usually anonymously and tirelessly offer their support, humble and effortless walkers of our common spiritual path and with great respect for Constantin Foteinas.

SUPPORTING THE SURVIVORS OF MATI, ATTICA, GREECE

We will be offering our services "pro bono" for a year (September 2018 to August 2019) to our brothers and sisters who survived the deadly wildfires of Mati, Attica (June 23, 2018) with individual or group counselling according to the method “Café Ecole-Constantin Foteinas and/or stress management and release through Yoga of ‘Himalayan Yoga Meditation’, whichever/whenever needed. This service is organized by "Omorfi zoi" (beautiful life), a non-profit organization, advertising spiritual groups.

AND WE HAVE NEVER CEASED TO FURNISH SCHOOL AND NEIGHBOURHOOD LIBRARIES with our children and adult CAFÉ ECOLE EDITIONS.

The children of "Himalayan Yoga Meditation of Hellas", in order to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of International Yoga Day, have cleaned the sea and seashore of Skinias as a seva offering, built a Yoga Mountain, did some “Laughter Therapy”(breathing exercises), ended the meeting with a Yoga Hug, swam in sea, had pic- nick with their parents and finally carried the poster that we made to explain about the Yoga International Day, 3rd year Celebration, by singing a song they composed on site, with the music of “happy birthday” singing "we are the children of yoga hug".

Sofia Foteina with the elder
Grandmother Agnes of the
"13 Indigenous Grandmothers" The activities of the Grandmothers of Hellas, which is part of the Council of the European Grandmothers, belong to the social welfare of Café Ecole. Sofia Foteina-Chatzikokoli represents Hellas in that Council. This year 2017, the Council of the European Grandmothers meets for the third time, and the meeting will be held in Trondheim, Norway, from the 22nd to the 25th of June.

The goal of this council is to offer to our grandchildren a better world than ours remembering the deeply rooted moral values of our civilization and our connection to nature. It is amazing how these two are interconnected.

"We have lost an enormous amount of wisdom, of knowing – about interconnected life and death of all species, in deed all existence.

However amongst some people and especially indigenous people – that wisdom is still being preserved, respected and used. There is no doubt in the mind of many that regaining some measure of that wisdom, on all levels of life – and not just human life, is adamant to "all our survival"; including the earth itself with all Her beautiful, diverse inhabitants (the two legged, four legged, winged ones, crawling ones, the plants, mountains, rivers, seas, skies). With this awareness, spirituality gains a new (or regains its old) meaning.

Throughout the ages, female elders – let’s call them "Grandmothers" were keepers of this all embracing wisdom and its spiritual dimension.

Now as ever, mothers are/were busy providing for daily life in one way or another. However the elders had experience and time to gather and share wisdom of all kinds; thus they were taking charge of the continuity – including the new generations and their spiritual, ethical and educational needs.

They took care of "the meaning of life", thus protecting and healing life, bringing balance and harmony. This is still so in many hidden corners of the globe.

The "Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers" is an expanded global version of this. However, sadly, within Europe we lost (due to our history) any apparent sense of this. As a consequence much of the younger generations are lost and seek meaning in alcohol, drugs, violence etc. and are easy prey for the manipulation into materialism – marketed as "Progress" with the effect of drowning in "soul-less technology" and a "ruthless consumerism" of destruction.

One day, in the mountains behind Merano (South Tyrolean Alps) the idea was born amongst a group of women, to create a simile to the ‘Indigenous Grandmothers‘ for Europe. A Council dedicated to gather, revive and share ancient and modern ways of ‘knowing’ a deeper meaning, a deeper connection to life for the benefit Of ALL – yet primarily for the next generations! So as to live in awareness and beauty with each other, nature, earth and all that live on her.

This is a huge Job of turning around of mental attitudes and habits of thinking, of patterns of expectations and indoctrinations…much beyond any individual being’s capacity; hence a Council is needed to guide with wisdom and compassion – from all corners of Europe (but of course not in isolation, but with awareness of the interconnectedness of ALL).

Not an organization, that repeats the mistakes of all institutions… but an organism, which leads into a "New Harmony", a "New forward". Not a circle of "chosen ones", but an organism that stays alive, is open and responsive to the spiritual, human and ethical needs; whatever is required in individual situations. Life itself is permanent change within the ONE existence, within the sacred universe"

Excerpt from council of the europeangrandmothers.