Maryam Rezaei
Chrissoula Manolakaki
Panos Chreppas
Stamatis Tsagias
Asimeni Tounta
Stathis KetitzianElpis Chrysovergis
Elpis Chrysovergis with the beautiful name which derives from Elpidoforos, meaning the person who brings hope… and he actually does exactly that! His name expresses his cause! He is a young man with a 24/7 smile on his face with a HUGE heart… who he owes to his lovely mother were she has supported him in everything he has done and has encouraged him to follow his heart instead of keeping him close to her, as most Mediterranean women usually do... but he also owes it to all the beautiful people he has met and to all places he has travelled to for the past years; travelling on the road by public transport, foot, cars, buses, trucks, trains… you name it... from South Africa to Egypt… India to China… UK to Greece!!!
After his studies in the Athens University of Economics and during his stay in India with Aiesec, he realized that that was the end of the business world for him! India changed him; it showed him a different world! Even though he had applied beforehand to the UK for his Master’s Degree he couldn’t imagine going back and living the material world of business! So he left India to work in Cape Town… after a couple of years his partner in life and quest, Dora Bitsi, joined him there to start an adventure… They planned a journey from South Africa to Egypt completely on public transport and in many cases hitchhiked in trucks alongside chickens and goats to get to each destination! But that’s just a small part of the story; As they planned the 6 months journey inorder to help!!! They crowdfunded all the way to raise money to build schools and wells in many African countries! All by themselves, without the help of any organization but only the natives! Cutting a very long but truly touching story short, they have travelled to Asia and Europe with the lowest possible budget, something like 4 to 10 euros a day, money which they raised by working in different jobs for months before their traveled… and at the same time raised money to help in every way they can the societies and places they visited!
They are getting ready for their next bike road trip from Constantinople to Crete with a beautiful cause to raise 19,000 euros to buy 100 wheelchairs to give away to people in need! Involving 200 organisations, 300 volunteers visiting 20 cities… trying to also activate, educate and to create awareness of what it means to be in a wheelchair! www.wheeling2help.com
The most beautiful part of what Elpis Chrysovergis and Dora Bitsi are doing is not the act of giving itself, as there are a great number of organizations and people doing so… but their influence and the education they provide to the people and children who follow them; Showing them that everything is possible and you don’t have to be rich in order to give… but it’s a way of life!
Elpis says that we are drawn by our societies and communities into frames and boxes thinking that we have to be one specific thing or to have one role… whereas we are an infinite number of things, most of all we are humans capable of caring and sharing. Elpis and Dora have found their cause… to bring unity to our world… to teach us that distance is not real but only in our minds… As we are all ONE!
http://www.dreamtravelive.com
