The writer Ioustini Fragouli-Argyri talks to our YouSmiler Theodora.

The writer Ioustini Fragouli-Argyri talks to our YouSmiler Theodora.
We are in the house of Ms. Fragouli. We chose this to be our first interview of Υousmile. Thank you very much for welcoming us at your house..
I thank you also for coming to my house…  I consider it to be my stronghold, my castle.
It is very beautiful… You ‘ve been living in Canada for many years.
Yes, I live in Montreal.
How difficult is it for someone to leave his or her country and emigrate?
It is very difficult but when your adrenaline is at high levels, when you are in love and you want to live with the man of your life, logic takes the back seat and all else is unimportant. When you have chosen your beloved one, you don’t think of a country.
How does the Greek community in Canada view the situation in Greece?
The Greek community in Canada sees the situation in our country with great sadness and I must say that there is a team of women in Montreal that collects money and goods to send to organizations that care for children. One of those organizations is “The Smile of the Child” and I am very proud of that.
Yes, it is something very important that helps many people and especially children. As a reporter, do you believe that the Media fulfill their obligations?
As a reporter, I am sorry to say that at this crucial time, when the Greek News Media should stand up and be counted, they fall inline with the cheap reporting and instead of giving out clear and impartial news, they reproduce an avalanche of rumors, fear and terror. I believe that they apply even more undue pressure on the Greek community, while it experiences the terrible debt crisis at all levels.
Besides being a reporteg you are also a writer. How did you decide to shift from journalism to writing?
I shifted from journalism to writing because in the period 1996-1999 I met Archbishop Spyridonas of th eUS, I followed his 3-year pastorate in the United States that was tumultuous because he was being attacked by paracenters of authorities. When his pastorate was over and he stepped down, he requested from me that I write his biography titled as “the loneliness of an incompatible”. It is then that I realized that an major piece requires first concentration, and then great talent. Knowing how to write is a good talent, but transitioning from one report to major project is a long way.
Talk to me about your last book that is a personal favorite of mine.
The “Love in mist” is a story unfolding in northern Greece, where the river’s waters are blessed, because the place is fertile, but at the same time cursed. A young teacher just hired, Amalia, goes to the village where she falls in love with the son of the village nobleman, an architect. While she tries to adjust to the small closed society that hides several secrets, she learns how to follow her fiancé’s transitions. Amalia will go through a year of intense of love, of microcosm, of the school where she will disseminate knowledge and in the end she will face a peak which for many years will be a mystery for her but in the end the curse of that small place will be revealed.
Let us not unveil the book any further… Following modern times, there is the e-book. Which one do you prefer, the e-book or the book?
Book, book, book! I read e-books only on the plane, when I download the movies I want to see and the books I want to read in during that specific time. That happens when I go south for vacation, where I cannot carry 10 books. It is very annoying to be have to deal with electronics all the time. They damage your eyes, you don’t have the feeling, you don’t have the smell… When I am at home, I with no exception read the real paper book. There is an erotic relationship between the reader and the book. The browsing, the sound, the quality of the paper, the letters.
If you don’t smell it, if you don’t feel it…
I don’t even lend my books… I have them all signed, the motos hanging on the refrigerator and I go back to them, read them and focus on the points that drew my attention in the first place. That is really a insurmountable relationship.
Young people have moved away from the book. Why is this happening?
That is obvious. There are these devilish machines, the computers, that have not only oushed them away from the book. It is always that constant individuality caused by the new smart phones which is tragic for the young people. In a decade, how are young people going to evolve, when they go to a party and instead of talking to one another they send text messages to each other? One of my happiest moments is when Marina, Eleni and Aggeliki, my girlfriends, come over for coffee and we talk…talk!
You said something very important about family. How important is it for a person to feel complete?
Family and good teachers play a decisive role. The good school, the good environment, the family that chooses the right friends. The family loves and shows its love to the child. It is decisive for the development of a young person.
Let’s go back to our organization. What do you know of “The Smile of the Child” and are there any similar organizations in Canada?
Regarding the “The Smile of the Child” I know that it is an organization that helps and supports children who are in need. I am not going to talk about abuse, because I find it a very harsh moment and expression. I will say that the children in need find a refuge. I, having been raised in a very loved and loving family, find it very strange for a child to grow up in a family that throws it out for several reasons. I believe that a place that gives the necessary psychological support, that keeps and hugs those children and makes them feel as part of a whole, is very important. And that role of Yousmile is very important. And of course, in Canada, where people are very sensitive about the weak social groups, there are many organizations for adults, for women and for families.. What I mean is that the shelters are part of the every day life and Canada’s social policy. They are not private. They are completely supported by the Canadian government throughout the provinces and I am very proud to be living in a country that respects the weak.
I believe that when it comes to a child, all is concerned and caring….
Yes, but Oliver Twist, for example, was engraved in my childhood years when I read the story as one a abuse in an orphanage. In other words, they always collected children from the streets, in the garbage, but the meaning of it was always misinterpreted, collecting children in a room and giving them what they are missing. I think the “The Smile of a Child” and similar organizations are organizations that have excommunicated institutional problematic phenomena.
What message would you like to give out through Yousmile to the children that are watching us?
I want to tell children to smile. Whatever happens to you, talk about it. There should be no secrets between you and your parents. We talk about everything, we analyze everything, we ask questions, we mustn’t hide. The biggest success into being a mature person is to talk about whatever happens to you, share it with the people that love you. Those are parents and teachers.
Ms. Fragouli, thank you very much for your kind words and for welcoming at your house. I hope you bring us luck for this is our first interview!
I thank you also, it was a pleasure being with you today!

Writer’s Biography
Ioustini Fragouli – Argyri was born in Lefkada, where she attended elementary and high school. She graduated from the Science Department of Law School in Athens, and is a journalist since 1983 for daily newspapers and magazines of Greece. She is a member of ESIEA and has worked from time to time at radio stations and the Greek Television (ET). Since 1989 she lives and works in Montreal, Canada as a correspondent of the Athenian News Agency and other prints. At the same time, she is involved with the numerous media of the homogeneity of Canada and Greece and also works for the National Herald of New York. She is a member of the French speaking Writers in Quebec, as well as the Federation of English speaking writers of Quebec