Translator: MARIANGELA LESTOU Reviewer: Chryssa Takahashi
Good evening.
I have five minutes to talk about the organization.
I am also a member of a big family.
Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization.
Our main mission is to alleviate the pain
of all people in need anywhere in the world.
Regardless of color, gender, religion, race, political or other discriminations.
Always with respect to human dignity.
I was also, at some point, in one of the missions,
and probably the most important of my life, in Zambia in 2004.
I was there for 10 months.
It was a difficult program, treatment of HIV/ AIDS patients.
There were a lot of patients, few doctors,
very expensive treatments and dissolved health systems.
I saw that with very few things, with very few resources,
but with a lot of persistence, we managed to do a lot.
And many of them, we managed to keep them,
even today, alive.
What struck me most
was that our patients, those who could stand on their feet,
were coming back and asking, how, if there was any way,
they could help others, the less strong.
That thought will hunt us forever.
Looking back from the offices or from the missions in the next years,
and being the president at the moment in the Greek division.
On a daily basis the issue of survival is a difficult thing
all over the world.
So I see that both this collective consciousness,
and the social self-organization, are the only tools
that can help to get out of any crisis.
And even more specifically, this whole matter of survival,
is a chain, a human chain that is set up,
and in one side are the strong ones,
the people who are able and want to help everyone else.
We are just in the middle.
We are an intermediary link
to be able to transfer and transform
this help in actual medical humanitarian assistance
to people who need it.
That way, we manage everywhere,
in any corner of the world, in the Middle East at this moment,
in Asia, in Africa, but even in Greece,
to provide this help.
Yes, even in Greece.
Because suddenly this linear relationship that I am describing, is disrupted.
One country, a donor as a society, is unfortunately becoming a patient as well.
And we can understand very well
why this happens in the past few years.
So even here and under these very difficult circumstances,
people are anxious and want to learn how they can help.
And we were struggling to find new ways in order to materialize this.
And I believe there are such ways.
For us it is a very simple way.
It's "Pastilles for someone else’s pain".
I will probably not tell you more about this,
but I certainly believe it is a very simple way
so we can all work together to multiply
the power and assistance.
I would like you to look in your bags, to see our cards,
to understand in some way how important is your help as well
in an online community in order to help,
to seed this new disease,
to transmit this virus, to all the sceptics,
apathetics, cynicals, and create a new epidemic.
An epidemic of solidarity.
And may we never heal from it.
Thank you.
(Applause)
Video: When I woke up this morning it was still raining.
It took me two hours to get to work.
But I made it in time for my first appointment.
I met with some suppliers.
I had a working lunch.
After that I had to deal with some pretty tough customers.
And then I looked in at another branch.
This afternoon I did some weight-lifting, still managed to meet some friends for drinks.
And then I've been called back to work for a last minute emergency.
[To make this an ordinary day takes extraordinary efforts]
[Our doctors and nurses can't do it alone]
(Applause)