Ioanna Matsouka is knitting a bag at her apartment in Athens. © UNHCR/Socrates Baltagiannis
“I want children to feel joy with the vibrant colours of my scarves,” says Mrs Ioanna Matsouka, 93, from her apartment in Athens, where her colourful knits and crafts fill every corner.
Ever since she was a child, growing up in the small town of Gargaliani, in Messinia, Mrs Ioanna displayed a natural inclination for giving and creating. As a young girl, she led the “squirrels”, the junior members of the Scouts, and played a pivotal role in bringing the Scout movement to Gargaliani. When she moved to Athens after she got married and started a family, she remained a very active and dynamic person who was always up to something, giving back to the community.
“In general, my mom was always a very generous person, she never discarded anything and tried to make good use of everything,” says her daughter, Chrysanthi. “We had a shop under our house that made clothes. Mom would take any leftover fabrics, cut them into strips, and make rugs. When she was younger, she crafted everything from scratch – bags, necklaces, crafts, embroidery, blankets – and also helped with events at her grandchildren’s school.”
Mrs Ioanna’s vision is now impaired, but she continues to knit every day, all day long. Her hands move with precision, counting stitches and seeing colours in her mind, not with her eyes. From the moment she wakes up in the morning, she gets dressed, adorns herself and starts knitting until noon. After her lunch break, she continues to knit until late at night. This winter, dozens of her colourful scarves will reach, through UNHCR, refugee children staying in accommodation centres in Attica. With the help of her family’s network of acquaintances, her knitted scarves have travelled to war children in Bosnia, children in Ukraine, child protection shelters in Greece, and others in need through churches.
“Because we saw her profound need to give to others and show solidarity, we are always searching for people or organizations where we could give freely all the things she creates,” says her other daughter, Angeliki. She explains that the more blurred Mrs Ioanna’s vision gets, the more focused on knitting she becomes. It has also helped her to cope with the terrible pain caused by the trigeminal neuralgia syndrome she has endured for years.
“She is the epitome of patience and strength – despite her excruciating pain, our mum’s perseverance has taught her to live with it. The colours and her knits are her motivation, her life,” her daughters assert.
Mrs Ioanna is placing the scarves she knitted in bags, before they start their ‘journey’ to reach children in need. © UNHCR/Socrates Baltagiannis
For decades now, Mrs Ioanna has learned to turn her pain into colourful optimism, offering it to children and others who have suffered and may have lost everything overnight. Upon completing each scarf, she puts it in a basket decorated with recycled bottle caps, her own creation as well. And then she irons them one by one and places them in bags to start their ‘journey’.
“My mother and my father, Kostas, were our unwavering support, a family that provided everything we needed and instilled in us the desire to give back to others too. Because when you have received, you can give,” Angeliki says, while watching her mom knit a new bag.
Kostas Matsoukas, 94, and Ioanna Matsouka, 93, at their apartment in Athens. "My mother and my father, Kostas, were our unwavering support, a family that provided everything we needed and instilled in us the desire to give back to others too,” their daughter Angeliki says.© UNHCR/Socrates Baltagiannis
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