Maria grew up in a typical urban family, but from a young age, she experienced the harsh realities of the adult world. At 13, seeking freedom and a sense of belonging, she was introduced to drugs. This marked the beginning of a long and arduous journey, filled with painful moments, until her ultimate redemption.
Narrator: Maria Chartofilakidou
Researcher: Konstantinos Kokiasmenos
Podcast Creation: Haris Pagonidou
Sound Design: Giorgos Ramantanis
Audio Editing: Enes Achmet Kechagia
Istorima is the largest project for recording and preserving oral histories in Greece. Over 1,000 young researchers are finding narrators, listening to, collecting, and preserving stories from across Greece: stories about their hometowns, love stories, and stories that have changed or defined us, both contemporary and historical. These are stories that are not recorded in history books and could be lost to time.
It was created by journalist Sophia Papaioannou and historian Katherine Fleming and is implemented with a founding donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), as part of its initiative for the Reboot and Empowerment of Youth (learn more at www.snf.org). The more than 20,000 stories are gradually published in full at www.archive.istorima.org. Excerpts from the stories are published in the form of podcasts, videos, or written stories at www.istorima.org.