Students will be visiting Greece in January for a period of 20 days as part of a Greek-learning program.

The Greeks of Panama established a school for Greek courses and culture from the very first moment of their presence in the country.

The appeal of Greek civilisation, gradually influenced the whole of Central America. In this vein, students from Panama, most of them 4th generation Greeks, will visit Greece in January and participate in a Greek language learning program. The lessons will last for 20 days and are scheduled to take place early in January when the students have their summer break.

The program is organised by the Embassy of Panama in Greece in collaboration with the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad, the Municipality of Piraeus and Odysseus & Athena Institute.

This is an innovative and interesting initiative that strengthens both countries’ relations and became a point of reference at last week’s reception (at Onassis Cultural Center) organised by the Embassy of Panama in Greece, on the occasion of the anniversary Panama’s independence.

This year Panama celebrated the 115th anniversary of its liberation from Colombia (November 3, 1903), and 197 years of independence from Spain (November 28, 1821).

During the event, Ambassador of Panama in Greece, Mrs Christine Liakopulos de Papadikis, expressed her pleasure for the program saying that “this initiative enhances bilateral cooperation in culture sectors and makes us happy and proud”, underlined the strong relationship between Greece and Panama in shipping field.

Greeks of Panama are an outstanding community. They first visited the country since at the creation of the canal in 1885 when the French engineers chose them as workers for the construction of the Canal, because of the skills they had demonstrated in the opening of the Isthmus of Corinth. Their presence has been strong and uninterrupted. From their first day in Panama, they built a Greek school for both Greek language and culture courses.