In the village of Fourna Greece, an unlikely partnership between a local schoolteacher, a PHD student studying AI and an Orthodox priest has been able improve the child population.
Last year there was only two children enrolled at the local primary school of the mountain village home to 180 people.
According to the Associated Press, the trio started a despair-fuelled campaign to attract families to Fourna, offering settling-in money raised from private donations and municipal programs.
The campaign has been working, with two families moving to the village and five more on the 2025 waitlist. Hundreds of others have also made inquiries.
Now eight children attend elementary classes thanks to the ‘New Life in the Village’ campaign.
Rev. Constantine Dousikos said the initiative was partly inspired by calls from the Orthodox church hierarchy urging clergy to promote family life.
“I think we did the obvious thing: Help the people here keep our village alive,” said the former lumber machine operator who was ordained shortly before turning 50.
“Of course, village life is not for everyone. You need to be good at manual work.”
World Bank Data says Greece has one of the world’s oldest populations with 23 per cent aged 65 or older last year.
Fourna is in the region of Evrytania, which has an average age of 56.2 – one of the three highest in the EU.
Panagiota Diamanti, the village’s only elementary schoolteacher and co-founder of the campaign described the situation as palpable.
“If the kids don’t come, the teacher gets transferred and the school will close. And a closed school will never reopen,” she said,
“We need bold action.”
More than 200 publicly run schools and kindergartens were shut down across Greece in the current school year due to low enrolment.
Many of them were in remote parts of the country with low populations due to the mainland being mountainous and the islands small.
Diamanti has had many local authorities reach out to help them start similar campaigns.
The children in Fourna, being only few, have a local-celebrity status and their birthdays are often celebrated in the main village square.
Vassiliki Emmanouil relocated to the village with her six children – five sons and a daughter – and said she has been showered with kindness.
Residents leave food outside her door overnight and are encouraging her to restart an old bakery when her husband returns from work in Germany.
“I’ve been here for nearly three months, and I would be ungrateful to say I’ve struggled,” Emmanouil said.
“The local priest and his wife treat me as if I’m part of their family. The entire village has been by our side, from offering daily essentials to emotional support.”
In 2022 deaths in Greece doubled the birth level, which has been gradually getting worse since 2010.
Last year the government created a ministry of family and social cohesion. It has increased family benefits in the 2025 budget and reached out to the Orthodox Church for help.
Over in Fourna, church plays a key role and while two dozen churches in the area remain empty most of the year, they’re maintained and open for important dates.
The arrival of children in the quiet streets caught many residents off guard.
“At the start, I never thought families would come to live here. It’s a remote village, very small, without much here,” local restaurant and guesthouse owner Giorgos Vassilikoudis said.
“But to my surprise, families did come and they’re happy.
“It’s very good for the village and for people who have shops and businesses. For other villages, it serves as an example. It’s a good start.”
*With AP
