Latest news with #Sophia
eNCA
2 days ago
- General
- eNCA
Adopted in US, Greek Cold War kids find long-lost families
Robyn Bedell Zalewa grew up and spent all her adult life in the United States, but is part of a little-known chapter of Greek history -- the adoption of some 4,000 infants during the Cold War. Always knowing she came from Greece, she rediscovered her long-lost sister Sophia, who lives in the Athens area, and regained her Greek nationality two years ago. Connecticut-based Robyn goes by the name of Joanna when in Greece. There's just one snag. Her sister Sophia only speaks Greek, so the siblings communicate through an online translator tool. "What hurts me the most is not being able to have a conversation with Sophia," the 68-year-old told AFP. At the close of the Second World War and a brutal occupation by Nazi Germany, Greece was consumed by civil strife between royalists and communists that saw fighting continue until 1949. With thousands of Greek families plunged into disaster and poverty, an adoption movement gained momentum in the 1950s and 1960s, which saw babies and children sent abroad for adoption, mainly in the United States. Gonda Van Steen, director of the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College London, told AFP that Greece "was the main country of origin of children adopted in the US in the early 1950s". "American childless couples were willing to pay any price for a healthy white newborn," said Van Steen, who has conducted extensive research and authored a book on the subject. Greek-American Mary Cardaras campaigned for years so that children born in Greece, who are now in their sixties or seventies, could retrieve their birth nationality. "What followed (the first adoptions in Greece) was a tsunami of international adoptions," she said, citing in particular China, Vietnam, Russia and especially South Korea, where at least 140,000 children were adopted by foreign parents between 1955 and 1999. - 'A better life' - In Greece, the biological mothers of adopted children were often impoverished widows, some of whom had been raped or faced social stigmatisation for having a child out of wedlock. "They saw no other solution than to give the child away for him or her to have 'a better life'," Van Steen said. Greece simplified in May the process of obtaining birth documents to specifically enable individuals adopted until 1976 to regain Greek nationality. On the terrace of an Athens café, Bedell Zalewa proudly pulls her Greek passport and identity card from her handbag. Even though she had her adoption certificate -- not all children did -- she began the process well before new regulations were implemented and had to wait a long time before regaining Greek citizenship. "I always knew I had been adopted in Greece," said the pensioner who was born in Messini, in the Peloponnese region, before being adopted in Texas. AFP | Angelos TZORTZINIS "What I've wanted my entire life is to find my family," said Bedell Zalewa, her eyes welling up. Her story is one of a tenacious search for one's roots. Bedell Zalewa found her brothers and sister and even met her biological mother before she passed away. As the youngest of five, she was apparently given up for adoption because her widowed mother was too poor to raise her. The ties she has forged in Greece encourage her to stay there whenever she can. Cardaras, the retired journalist who was adopted in the Chicago area and lived for a long time in California, also always knew that she was of Greek origin. She kept her Greek birth passport, which was originally revoked when she left the country as a baby. - Faces on the street - When she returned to her native country for the first time on a summer vacation in 1972, she remembers looking "at every woman's face" on the street. AFP | Angelos TZORTZINIS "I wondered... if she was my mother," she said. Everything felt familiar to her: "The smells, the atmosphere, I was completely at home." "But it was only when my (adoptive) parents died that I really began to question the first months and years of my life," Cardaras said. Now settled in Athens, she is taking Greek classes and is making progress in understanding her native language. Better access to Greek nationality constitutes a deeply emotional breakthrough for adoptees with fragmented backgrounds. One of them recently shared their experience on social media. "At 12:47 PM Greek time, I received a message announcing that I am now reinstated as a Greek citizen! I am overwhelmed with emotion, thrilled, and on cloud nine!" Stephanie Pazoles wrote on Facebook.
France 24
2 days ago
- General
- France 24
Adopted in US, Greek Cold War kids find long-lost families
Always knowing she came from Greece, she rediscovered her long-lost sister Sophia, who lives in the Athens area, and regained her Greek nationality two years ago. Connecticut-based Robyn goes by the name of Joanna when in Greece. There's just one snag. Her sister Sophia only speaks Greek, so the siblings communicate through an online translator tool. "What hurts me the most is not being able to have a conversation with Sophia," the 68-year-old told AFP. At the close of the Second World War and a brutal occupation by Nazi Germany, Greece was consumed by civil strife between royalists and communists that saw fighting continue until 1949. With thousands of Greek families plunged into disaster and poverty, an adoption movement gained momentum in the 1950s and 1960s, which saw babies and children sent abroad for adoption, mainly in the United States. Gonda Van Steen, director of the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College London, told AFP that Greece "was the main country of origin of children adopted in the US in the early 1950s". "American childless couples were willing to pay any price for a healthy white newborn," said Van Steen, who has conducted extensive research and authored a book on the subject. Greek-American Mary Cardaras campaigned for years so that children born in Greece, who are now in their sixties or seventies, could retrieve their birth nationality. "What followed (the first adoptions in Greece) was a tsunami of international adoptions," she said, citing in particular China, Vietnam, Russia and especially South Korea, where at least 140,000 children were adopted by foreign parents between 1955 and 1999. 'A better life' In Greece, the biological mothers of adopted children were often impoverished widows, some of whom had been raped, or faced social stigmatisation for having a child out of wedlock. "They saw no other solution than to give the child away for him or her to have 'a better life'," Van Steen said. Greece simplified in May the process of obtaining birth documents to specifically enable individuals adopted until 1976 to regain Greek nationality. On the terrace of an Athens café, Bedell Zalewa proudly pulls her Greek passport and identity card from her handbag. Even though she had her adoption certificate -- not all children did -- she began the process well before new regulations were implemented and had to wait a long time before regaining Greek citizenship. "I always knew I had been adopted in Greece," said the pensioner who was born in Messini, in the Peloponnese region, before being adopted in Texas. "What I've wanted my entire life is to find my family," said Bedell Zalewa, her eyes welling up. Her story is one of a tenacious search for one's roots. Bedell Zalewa found her brothers and sister and even met her biological mother before she passed away. As the youngest of five, she was apparently given up for adoption because her widowed mother was too poor to raise her. The ties she has forged in Greece encourage her to stay there whenever she can. Cardaras, the retired journalist who was adopted in the Chicago area and lived for a long time in California, also always knew that she was of Greek origin. She kept her Greek birth passport, which was originally revoked when she left the country as a baby. Faces on the street When she returned to her native country for the first time on a summer vacation in 1972, she remembers looking "at every woman's face" on the street. "I wondered... if she was my mother," she said. Everything felt familiar to her: "The smells, the atmosphere, I was completely at home." "But it was only when my (adoptive) parents died that I really began to question the first months and years of my life," Cardaras said. Now settled in Athens, she is taking Greek classes and is making progress in understanding her native language. Better access to Greek nationality constitutes a deeply emotional breakthrough for adoptees with fragmented backgrounds. One of them recently shared their experience on social media. "At 12:47 PM Greek time, I received a message announcing that I am now reinstated as a Greek citizen! I am overwhelmed with emotion, thrilled, and on cloud nine!" Stephanie Pazoles wrote on Facebook.
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
‘Stealthing' at centre of recent Quebec sexual assault trial
A Quebec woman is speaking out after her former sexual partner was acquitted this week of 'stealthing' – the act of removing a condom during sexual intercourse without the consent of a partner. The 46-year-old man from Montreal was acquitted on Monday at the Longueuil courthouse of one count of sexual assault. Stealthing is considered sexual assault and has been punishable by law in Canada since 2022, a fact that many may be unaware of. The complainant in the case — we'll call her Sophia due to a court-ordered publication ban — filed a complaint in March 2019 alleging that on the night of Jan. 26-27, 2019, during sexual intercourse, the man removed the condom he had on without her consent. During the trial, the defendant claimed that it was a 'misunderstanding' and that the condom had broken without him realizing it. Reasonable doubt In her verdict, Judge Ann-Mary Beauchemin noted that, 'as is often the case in sexual assault cases, the court was faced with conflicting testimony.' The man was acquitted, but the judge emphasized that the defendant's version 'is not without flaws,' adding that she did not accept — " far from it' — all of his explanations. Beauchemin also said that the complainant's version was not without flaws either. Addressing the woman, Beauchemin said that it was 'possible, even probable' that the accused voluntarily and deliberately removed the condom during the sexual intercourse referred to in the complaint, but that she was 'not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt' and it was therefore her duty to acquit the man accused. Complainant disappointed The complainant said she was disappointed by the verdict. In a message to Noovo Info, Sophia said: 'The defendant and I know very well that he removed the condom without my knowledge and without my consent. He knows what he did, and I know it too. This trial did not clear him or legitimize his sexual assault. On the contrary, it proved that he committed a criminal act by removing the condom, contrary to what he told me.' 'Although the judge did not believe him, she mentioned that he had raised reasonable doubt, so he was acquitted. Obviously, I would have liked him to be held accountable for his actions. But the truth does not depend on the verdict,' she added. Crown prosecutor Annie Landriault-Barbeau told Noovo Info this was not the outcome Sophia wanted. 'We would like to commend her strength and courage throughout the legal process. We will take the time to review the decision to determine whether the [Crown] will appeal,' she said. Is stealthing a widespread phenomenon? It's difficult to determine whether stealthing is a widespread phenomenon or practice in Quebec, as there is very little data on the subject, either from organizations that work with victims of sexual assault or criminal acts, or from various police forces. In most cases, stealthing is included in data related to sexual assault, but there's no distinction. Sexologist Laurence Desjardins said she believes that stealthing is being talked about more following the wave of #MeToo allegations, and Quebec society seems to have reevaluated the word consent and how it is applied. 'With the denunciations, we realized that we were seeing this form of sexual assault in certain sexual encounters, where one partner, without the other's consent, decides to engage in a new sexual scenario, because that's what stealthing is, ultimately,' she explained to Noovo Info. Desjardins also believes that stealthing is more common than it is reported. What are the motivations? It is not always easy to understand the motivations behind stealthing, which occurs in both LGBTQ2S+ and heterosexual relationships, said Desjardins. She said she believes that the act often hides a desire for power. 'It comes down to a question of power and egocentrism, where the person says, 'My sexuality, my pleasure, is worth more than the other person's' or 'What I decide in the sexual scenario is worth more than the other person's; the other person has no say,'' she said. The sexologist added that the reasons men say they remove a condom during sex without their partner's consent are varied — but not necessarily legitimate: it may be a question of comfort, a search for better sensations, an aversion to condoms, or even an act of defiance. 'Removing the condom also removes the barrier between you and the other person. So, taking it off and being able to penetrate skin to skin, mucous membrane to mucous membrane, is something very intimate. If you do it secretly, behind the other person's back, without giving them the option to say yes or no, you are in a power relationship,' explained Desjardins. Multiple impacts Stealthing — like any other type of sexual assault — can leave a mark on victims, including fear of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or, for women, fear of becoming pregnant and possibly having to terminate the pregnancy. Experts point out that victims often lose confidence in themselves, in their partner, and sometimes even in future sexual partners. 'It's deceitful. [...] Sexuality is the most intimate and closest encounter in terms of physical proximity. When we are in that relationship, we are extremely vulnerable. […] When someone decides to change the rules of the game and imposes a certain form of violence […] people are often extremely panicked, taken by surprise, they freeze, it hurts them, it destabilizes them,' said Desjardins. While Quebec has made progress in recent years in rethinking the idea of consent and what is acceptable or not when it comes to sexuality, there is still a long way to go, she added. The non-consensual removal of a condom during sexual intercourse has been punishable by law in Canada since 2022, following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the Ross McKenzie Kirkpatrick case in British Columbia, where a majority of judges ruled that 'the absence of a condom, without consent, can constitute sexual assault.' Canada isn't the only country to ban stealthing. Since 2021, the U.S. state of California has allowed victims of stealthing to prosecute their attackers and obtain compensation. Elsewhere in the world, courts in Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have convicted people for removing a condom during sexual intercourse without the other person's consent.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Meet the Chinese baristas keeping Italian cafe culture alive
At around 9:30 nearly every morning, 81-year-old Claudio Gatta passes the famous Accademia Bridge on the Grand Canal in Venice and steps into Bar Foscarini, ordering an espresso and a tuna sandwich for breakfast. He will have two more espressos there in the afternoon. True to his Italian roots, he has stuck to this coffee routine for as long as he can remember. Equally unmoving, Bar Foscarini has been around for more than 70 years, a quintessential Italian coffee bar, with a long, dark marble counter upon which sits an espresso machine polished to a mirror shine. The menu features what you would expect: coffee and sandwiches for the morning, aperitivo, pasta and pizza for later. Gatta takes a sip of the espresso and teases Sophia, the young barista. 'Hey, you went back to China last month to visit your family. How come you didn't bring back a husband?' Barista Sophia serves coffee on the terrace of Bar Foscarini, which sits beside the Grand Canal in Venice. Photo: Federico Sutera Sophia flushes and continues the banter like old friends, part of the well-worn rapport between local regulars and counter staff. 'Come on! I'm only 20 years old!' she replies in Italian. Born Li Jiayi, Sophia migrated to Italy from Putian, in Fujian province, when she was 11. The other counter staff and the owner of this Venetian establishment are all Chinese, too. Next to Sophia stands Zia, née Weng Qinglan, also from Fujian, prepping ingredients for the day's food service. The 47-year-old chef has worked in the food and beverage industry since she arrived 17 years ago. 'When I first came to Italy, there were hardly any Chinese people running cafes,' says Zia. 'Now there are more and more. Around St Mark's Square , most of the cafes are run by Chinese.'
ITV News
3 days ago
- Health
- ITV News
Exclusive: Meet the mum who puts her 11-year-old daughter on weight-loss jabs
It's a controversial topic… Should we give weight-loss jabs to kids? Over in America, we meet mum Ashley Hamilton, who's allowed her daughter, Sophia, to use Wegovy since she was just 11 years old. Ashley herself has battled with weight struggles since being a teen, and has lost nearly six and a half stone since starting Ozempic in 2023.
