In his interview to Neos Kosmos, he stated: “The fact is that through his death, Duzon saved my life. From the first day he gave me his heart… I am responsible for both of us. I have now lost the spontaneity of my movements…It would be dishonest, on my part, not to think for the sake of both of us.”

He then continued:”The discussions over Duzon’s life with his family, my visits to the house he grew up, the fact that I walked into his room, have brought me very close to him. The photos, from the day he was born until the tragic day of his murder, decorate my house. I feel his presence everywhere. Every beat of our hearts, strengthens our special bond. We have become friends. He is my guardian angel. ”

Now that Grimbilas has just become a father, he said: “I think Constantina Angelica (his daughter) has two dads and she will keep alive the memory and the greatness of Duzon’s heart.”

In an outburst of joy and emotion, holding his daughter up to his heart, he says: “How can I ever forget Duzon, when every beat of my heart, reminds me how lucky I really am? Without him, neither me nor my daughter, would be here.”

“I owe Duzon’s parents, not one, but many thanks. Their generosity saved my life, “said Grimbilas who wears Duzon’s silver leather bracelet day and night. He talks to him every night before he goes to sleep and lights a candle for his soul.

Last year, Halkitis raised $18,500, ranking as the ninth highest money raiser in Australia and the fifth highest individual fundraiser out of 145,000 Australians taking part in the national event.

This year the Northern Territory local hopes to raise over $20,000to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other male cancer initiatives in Australia.

Halkitis first did Movember in 2010 and every year since on Nov. 1 he starts to grow a moustache for the whole month,posting week-by-week images of his progress on the Movember website.

He told Neos Kosmos that unfortunately, women health issues seem to draw much more the attention of doctors given that men rarely speak of theirs. “The issue of men’s health – and not just cancer but mental health and depression – are very important and people need to realize it,” he said.

According to Halkitis, support from people in the Northern Territory has been widespread. Donations can be made by visiting www.movember.com.au and searching for Nick Halkitis.

Makridakis was born in Chios in 1971 and studied mathematics. He organizes research and educational programs while editing publications for the Chios Studies Centre, which he founded in 1997.

He edits the three-monthly magazine Pelinnaio and has published two books on the history of Chios. His first novel Anamisis Denekes, published by Hestia in 2008, is already in its fourth edition and translated into Turkish.

However, Foreign Correspondent’s interest did not only focus on the writer Makridakis, but also on why he chose to leave the city and settle  instead in a village, cultivate the land and find alternative solutions to the economic crisis his country is dealing with.

Williams said that Makridakis, an activist from Chios, a researcher, writer, historian and  author, impressed with his opinions and general attitude toward life. The show will be broadcast this month in Australia.

• Being a Greek-Australian yourself, what’s the image you had about Greece while living abroad?

For me personally,  no matter what the image has portrayed, I have always had a positive image of Greece, my love for Greece and the Greek culture has inspired the work I do every day and has always been a part of my raising.

My image of Greece was a place of home, a place of hospitality, a place of culture and a place filled with ambience, that’s the image that was portrayed by my Yiayia and Papou. My Papou travels every single year, his love for Greece is second to none. He would always tell me one day we would go together growing up, he recently spoke to me saying sometimes he questioned why he left or why he didn’t move back there. His view, and a view I agree with, is that while Greeks live a poorer life than us in Australia, they’re happier, they’re friendlier and they’re all about family and that is something money cannot buy.

But this is the first time you visited Greece. So, what was the image you had on the country because of the media? Did you notice any similarities between what you thought you would find and actual Greece?

The majority of the media has portrayed Greeks as lazy, the country is in flames because of riots and not to go there as it is a massive risk and they could kill you. Every single report to me is propaganda. Greece is nothing like that, in actual fact they work very hard and I never felt in danger from in Athens to the islands, I felt like I was as safe as home.

Greece was a very cheap lifestyle from food to shopping, it was very cheap. I loved the people’s behavior towards tourists, they were very friendly and always smiling. I had minimal problems but I did see the crisis in the main kentro (centre) of Athens. It was sad to see homeless people and beggars but the local taxi driver did point out a very important thing, that these homeless people and beggars are actually illegal immigrants and they have been there for many years. I hope the Greek Police keep on going with there clean-out of these people on the streets as they cause trouble for tourists, dirty the cities, especially Athens, and are part of an economic problem.

International media keep showing a general image of destruction and desperation in regards to Greece. Do you agree of this image broadcast that all Greeks have been turned from joyful and outgoing people into desperate and poor?

I don’t believe Greeks are desperate or poor. Yes, they live a poorer life than us in Australia, yes, the majority are not well off but it depends on how you measure poor. In my opinion, the majority seem happy and obviously, time will tell especially with Troika coming into play and placing very tough austerity measures for the Greeks. One thing I will say is that the majority of Greeks I spoke to are confident that they will beat this crisis and they never give up.

What do your Australian friends think of Greece right now?

Aussies love Greece, I go to university and all the girls always say how much they dream to get married on the Greek islands. Yes, media impacts them a lot, I remember heaps of them saying “please promise me you won’t get killed.” I laughed because until you experience Greece, you really can’t say that. Aussies and Greeks have many similar tastes and that is why they love Greece.

What do you like the most concerning Greece, and what do you hate?

I loved the people and I loved the culture, there is no place like Greece. The one thing I hated was these illegal immigrants on the streets, yes I understand they’re doing it tough but the European Union must place some tough legislations on this issue otherwise they will continue to dirty Greece and its’ cities. All the tourists and Greeks in general seem to have the same opinion. Maybe built a detention center to house them until their country is identified and is deemed safe to return to.

Several young Greeks decide to migrate to other countries due to crisis, sometimes they head to Australia. What do you think of that?

I think Greeks need to stay in Greece because Greece needs them now. They need unity and they need support. Greece has so much potential to become one of the most producing nations, they just need innovation and hard work. This crisis is an opportunity for Greece to rebuild for the better and just by walking through small towns you see the potential it has. Go back to basics, re-discover your old culture and realize what you have. In saying that, Australia is a beautiful country, it is very modern and has some of the best facilities, jobs are limited in Australia and not everything is as easy as it seems as the whole world is going through tough times.

You are working in the event organizing sector focusing on Greek events. Do you believe Greek-Australians are really interested in events organized by Greek communities of Australia?

I would love to say “yes,” but in my eyes, I have seen a tremendous drop especially in the youth area, 3rd Generation Greek-Australians don’t seem too interested in their Greek culture but I am confident of changing this and with a focused team inspiring Greek-Australians into a new era of events. Greece has inspired me to bring back the Greek partying way and culture with innovation back with me in Australia. I think, since we started Greek Under-18 events in 2010, I have seen a fantastic change of pride and interest in the Greek Cultural Events. Plus, once they go to Greece, they come back with a different mindset and want Greek events.

For further information on Australia’s Greek events or general inquiries, you can contact Mr Billiris by email at billy@fistpump.com.au or visit www.fistpump.com.au.

Professor Ferguson has delivered his first lecture,  at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is discussing the demise of democracy in the west and the huge debt we are leaving our children.

If only history had been explained this eloquently during school, I would have paid more attention in class. The lecture is titled ‘The Human Hive’, after the early 18th century poem by Bernard Mandeville, “The Fable of the Bees.” Mandeville’s central point was that societies with the right institutions can flourish even when the individuals who live in them misbehave.

Also our ex-Environment Minister made a cameo appearance during question-and-answer period and gave a response to  with the following question.

ROS KELLY: Thank you. My name is Ros Kelly. I was Environment Minister in Australia. So I just want to follow that point through. Do you think if we’re going to be fair to next generations, do we have to put a proper price on environmental pollution and carbon taxes, etc?

So make yourself and extra strong machiatto and read the transcript of the lecture below.

Podcasts of the program available only from the BBC.   See below for further information or click show transcript for the full transcript.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/reith-one/4084102

Chief editor of the Ekathermini, Nick Malkoutzis, mentions that Greeks have been withdrawing their funds from banks in Greece since 2009.

Greek voters will return to the polls again this weekend in an election that could decide if the country remains in the eurozone.

Listen to the Interview Below.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/greeks-leaving-tragedy-for-australia/4072554

The 59-year-old head of Afkos Industries, a maker of mining components based near Perth, has invested $18 million into a 109-bed hotel in northern Greece that opened in April.

“I see it as a duty,” Afkos admits to the Australian Brisbane Times, after advancing the scheduled opening of the Afkos Grammos Hotel Resort in Kastoria by eight months. “I can’t be seen as a hypocrite, not helping my fellow Greeks. I wanted to open early to provide some assistance to these people who are in need of a job.”

Australia’s Greek population has grown from seven pirates dispatched by Britain in 1829 to a diaspora of about half a million, making Melbourne the third-largest Greek city behind Athens and Thessaloniki. Australia’s Greeks are deploying wealth to our country  that is in need of 240 billion euros in bailouts.

John Tripidakis, a Greek lawyer with an Athens practice who splits his time between Sydney and Melbourne, said half his clients are interested in buying property in Greece, up from less than 10 per cent two years ago, adding that “they are connected to the sentimental criteria of buying something near the village of their father or grandfather.”

Beachfront summerhouses or suburban bargains in Athens are among the most-desired properties, said Athens-born Mr Tripidakis to Brisbane Times.

“Anecdotally, pretty much every person from my parents’ generation or their children are going over there and purchasing property in the town or area where they grew up,” said George Boubouras, 44, the Melbourne-based head of investment strategy at UBS’s wealth management unit in Australia and a Greek citizen.

“They are very strong and passionate about it, and it’s very much [a matter] of the heart,  not the brain,” said Mr Boubouras, who was born in South Australia and inherited property in Greece, where his cousins and extended family live.

Almost half of Australia’s Greek community lives in Melbourne, and about 30 per cent in Sydney, according to the NSW government site. More than a quarter of Australia’s Greek community returns to Greece for the northern hemisphere’s summer.

It seems that the crisis offers certain benefits to the Greek-Australians who long for property near the place they came from in Greece. Bargain estates often come into their hands, but there’s still the risk of drachma conversion that prohibits many of our expatriates from proceeding with the purchase.

“He knew he was back in Melbourne when a passenger tipped him $10 for good service,” begins the article.

The newly arrived Greek taxi-driver realized this wouldn’t happen in his crisis-ravaged homeland. “Mr Kontsiotsis, 63, left behind a struggling hardware business in Salonika for the chance to have a new life driving a cab in Melbourne”. He now enjoys better working conditions and, most importantly, it seems that he will have a better income too.

According to Herald Sun, he is the first “of what will eventually be an army of 400 specially recruited and trained Greek cabbies.”

Mr. Kontsiotsis, who returned to the land of his birth in 1982 after 22 years in Australia, said the city had changed a lot but he still had no trouble finding his way around.

“There’s a few new buildings around, like Southbank, that weren’t there before,” he said. A few changes won’t stand in his way, as he seems determined to improve his quality of life.

Mr. Kontsiotsis answered the recruitment call of TaxiLink owner Harry Katsiabanis for volunteers to help fill the city’s cabbie shortage.

Mr. Katsiabanis said an average of 10 Greek drivers would hit the road in Melbourne every fortnight. He said interest had been so strong he had set up a permanent office in Athens and would hold the first of a series of recruiting seminars on June 14. “They are coming from an environment that is quite harsh and they really want to make a go of it and contribute to society,” Mr. Katsiabanis said.
(Source, photo: heraldsun)

Nik Halik (left) with other space travellers

By Mary Kouinoglou

He was chosen to be the first civilian from Greece and Australia to travel to space. He is a global wealth strategist, successful entrepreneur, international speaker, high adrenalin adventurer, best-selling author and an astronaut. Nik Halik or Nikos Halikopoulos is a Thrillionaire.

Who’s Greek in your family?

Both parents are Greek. My father’s name was Konstantinos Halikopoulos (which was later cut short to Halik in the mid-1970s). My parents chose to shorten our surname, because almost everyone misspelled or mispronounced it. I was born Nikos Halikopoulos. Both my parents had emigrated from the Peloponnese region, a large peninsula in southern Greece. My father was a complex character, an enigma. He was born in the historical village of Hora, Messinia. Hora was built on a hilltop and has preserved its old-fashioned appearance – stone houses with tiled roofs and narrow lanes. Just outside my father’s village of Hora lies the famous ruined palace of Nestor, who took part in the Trojan War. Nestor was an Argonaut, who was part of a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason and the other Argonauts in his quest to find the Golden Fleece.
My mother Dionisia Antonopoulos had left her remote village of Raftopoulo in the upper mountain regions of the Peloponnese, in southern Greece.

Do you often visit Greece?

I normally spend the summer each year in Greece.

Do you speak Greek?

Yes, I speak, read and write Greek.

Have you studied? If so, where?

I studied in Australia.

Which of your occupations do you enjoy the most?

I don’t really have an occupation….

Are you happy with what you have achieved in your life so far?

I originally wrote down my top 10 goals when I was 8 years of age!
8 goals down…2 to go…

Which of your achievements are you most proud of?

Completing my astronaut certification and being in a position in becoming the first ever qualified and flight certified Greek and Australian Astronaut.

Which was the most exciting adventure you have experienced?

So far…having lunch on the deck of the TITANIC…5 miles deep…

What made you decide to become an astronaut?

I was 4 when I declared to my parents that I wanted to become an Astronaut.
I was inspired by the Apollo moon landings…

What did your training involve?

It’s been a 5 year journey training in Russia. My main Space Training took place at Star City Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Space Centre, not far from Moscow. It has become Russia’s only “school of cosmonauts”. There are four training steps that all aspiring cosmonauts must complete prior to embarking on a mission into space. The first step to becoming “space worthy” is the Medical Qualification Phase. Participants undergo the most intense medical examination of their lives. Over the course of ten days, I was given a variety of detailed medical tests at Moscow’s Institute of Medical and Biological Problems. Then, I was ready for the theoretical lessons, lectures and active hands-on simulator training. Finally, I learnt how to work as valuable member of a cosmonaut team and trained with other members of my assigned mission team.

Are you apprehensive of any particular aspect of space travel?

Space has no fear for me. At this point of my life, I want to travel into outer space for eternity…

Do you consider yourself an adrenaline junkie?

Absolutely! I love thrills and the quality of life…

What are your future plans? What’s your next adventure?

The INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION and walking on the moon….

Eleni Ratnayka won the third prize, the Ovarian Cancer Award, at the International Mrs World Australia competition last month. Eleni is a 25 year old Greek Cypriot and entered the competition –which is exclusively for married women- as she is married with two children.

- How long have you been modeling for?
- Since I was 19-20 years old. I did modeling for Grand Prix, Auto Salons, and many other companies. It has always been interesting &
different.

- How old are your children?
The one is 4 and is called Tarren and the other is 4 months old andcalled Kalen.

- Do you speak Greek at all?
- I understand Greek and can read it, can speak it but not fluently and I don’t speak it at all at home

- To whom would you like to dedicate the award you received?

-The award I won is for everyone that helped by donating and also for those that have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer

- You’ve mentioned you work with youth in your Melbourne suburb- what
is it exactly that you do?

-I mentor youth and would like to lead the young on the right path

-  How important do you think a woman’s appearance is? Especially one with children?

- A women’s appearance is really only important to how the individual feels about how comfortable they are in their own skin and have a choice to modify their appearance with make-up etc which can help them feel better,although in reality you are judged by others upon your physical appearance. After having children it’s important to take care of yourself but as long as you feel good and are healthy then trying to look almost perfect is not necessary. Some people as celebrities have babysitters, nutritionists, personal trainers and can afford to get back into shape and others are naturally able to bounce back to shape with no diet and exercise as myself

- Do you prefer Greek or Sri-lankan food?

- At home I cook all types of food and so we not only enjoy Greek and Sri Lankan food although I think Sri Lankan is my preference

- What do you hope to achieve by winning the Ovarian Cancer award?
- By winning the ovarian cancer award I hope to spread awareness of this cancer further and to help those diagnosed and surviving

- What are your current projects? Any future projects?
- I’m still deciding on my future and what I prosper to continue with

- Any culture conflicts in the family (Greek Sri-lankan)?

-Their are no culture or religious conflicts, my husbands Buddhist and I’m orthodox but we just believe in giving and being good people and thats the most important aspect of any religion I believe.

- Thanks so much for your time, Eleni and all the best!