Homeless struggling to survive Greece's cruel heat
Michalis Samolis, 67, resident of a municipal homeless shelter in Athens, holds the popular Shedia street paper sold by the poor and homeless as he poses for a photograph in a street in the centre of Athens. .Athens is a densely-populated concrete jungle lacking in green space, making it ill-prepared for heatwaves.
"When the weather is really bad, I try the trees. But my spot is here," he said from a bench with a view of his makeshift bed in a nook in the wall. One of Europe's hottest capitals, Athens is a densely-populated concrete jungle lacking in green space, making it ill-prepared for heatwaves."Because they live on the street, they are the most vulnerable," said Myriam Karela, 57, a long-time volunteer social worker with the Hellenic Red Cross.
"I'm outside 10 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. So I see the difference clearly," he told AFP. "Besides wearing a hat and cold drinks, I have my dark glasses. And I'm trying very hard," added the former lorry driver who trained as an aircraft engineer. "Believe it or not this protects. If I wear short sleeves, I sweat, and then the wind comes and you get cold," he told AFP.Five minutes earlier someone had brought him water, Spanos said.Yet tourists enjoying cocktails and taking snapshots of the ancient ruins were just a stone's throw away.
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