Tremonti, a recent graduate of Yale University who left a career in the marketing department of one of the nation’s leading cosmetics companies to help super-smart, yet underprivileged, high school students in Harlem and the Bronx get into university, has now launched Edosa Fakelaki (in English, I Paid a Bribe) in Greece.
This new website calls on Greeks to share their fakelakia stories. Some 700 people have so far posted their personal experience – a couple of them have even admitted to taking bribes.
The site, which is as a non-profit, digital democratic platform created to tackle corruption in Greece by harnessing the collective energy of its citizens, was visited by tens of thousands of people in the first few days.
New York-based Tremonti, who was born in Colorado but raised in Athens, says the site is gaining widespread popularity. In an interview with The Pappas Post, the 22-year-old explains why she launched the site and how she hopes it will effectuate change in Greece – a country ridden with corruption and where bribes permeate nearly every single exchange that citizens have with public services.
Why did you launch the website?
During my junior year at college I visited my grandfather in Greece. He was a war veteran who fought in the Greek Civil War. He was also handicapped – he lost a leg when he was 20 years old. He was also diagnosed with terminal cancer. And one night he had this incessant bleeding and we rushed him to hospital in Kalamata and the doctor there asked for a fakelaki. I just thought that this was so disrespectful. My grandfather was reduced to a simple number. Everything he had fought for was just thrown away. I was just so hurt, psychologically. It really scarred me emotionally.
When I went back to school – I was a political science major – I decided to do my thesis on corruption in Greece. When I told my professor I really want to analyze this problem, he told me there is really nothing on it except statistics and this is not enough to write a scholarly analysis.
I knew I needed to find a way to collect this data.
After graduating from Yale last year I started working for L’Oreal in New York. I was in the marketing department. Between you and me, I felt that I wasn’t adding value to anything. I was just thinking abut shampoo and conditioner all day. I just couldn’t sit in my cubical and watch as Greece, the country that gave me everything, burned every morning. It did not align with my moral code. So I quit my job even though my mom thought I was crazy.
I just had to find a way to do something about Greece. I decided to create a democratic platform – a place where Greeks can come and talk about what it is that is wrong with the system. I think the crisis was the perfect time that we could collect as citizens.
Then I started seeing initiatives undertaken by people like Peter Nomikos who started Greece Debt Free and Peter Economides – all these Greeks of the Diaspora who were doing things. They live abroad and they can see that what is happening internally is not okay.
So this is how it came to be.
Was it hard getting the website up and running?
When I was in Greece this summer, I went to a web developer and I asked if he wanted to help me build something like this. He had the tech side and I had the idea. He loved the idea and even though it was a very expensive site to build he offered to sponsor me and he did it all for free. Four people worked around the clock for two months to build it.
The site was launched about a week ago. What’s been the response?
The amount of people who have visited the site is astonishing. We’re talking about 24,300 people in less than five days and they are from all around the world including the United States, Canada and Australia.
I think it’s so good reaching out to the Diaspora – all those Greeks abroad who have also had to pay a fakelaki while in Greece. It would be so great to get their point of view.
The website gives people a tool – or as I like to say, a weapon – to fight corruption. We can now say where, who and how much. Hopefully we will help to increase investigation this way.
The fakelaki is so ingrained into the Greek reality. Do you think your website can change people’s mentality?
Hopefully this will become a mechanism for change. People can use the site as a propeller for change.
Our mentality is not sustainable. We need to change it. We need to start saying ‘no’ to the fakelaki and ‘no’ to corruption. People need to understand that it’s not right. This is what we are trying to do.
People have posted stories that date back to the 1990s. These are people felt violated and they have been keeping it inside them for many years. This is why I call it a collective catharsis.
What about those who admit to taking a fakelaki?
We have a section called “I accepted a fakelaki”. It is so interesting. We’ve had five people comment so far. There are people who take fakelakia and who are proud of it and they feel justified in their actions. And then there are people who regret it. You can tap into the recipient’s mentality and understand their motivation. Some say the government is not paying them enough and that they need the fakelaki.
Are there any posts that shocked you?
Yes. There are so many people who say they got bank loans just to pay the fakelaki. That shocked me. The other thing that shocked me was the number of people who said they had to pay a bribe to get a driver’s licence. And this just makes you think about the safety of Greek roads.
There is also one post by a doctor who said he used to take fakelakia but then stopped after a monk told him that God does not take fakelakia. This changed his whole perception and he started treating people for free. His story was truly inspirational. We wanted to reach out to him, but all posts are anonymous.
Another thing that really shocks me is that there are people who admit to giving a fakelaki to a doctor even though they weren’t asked to do so. It’s their way of thanking the doctor after an operation. This is wrong because we are feeding a vicious circle.
Are most of the posts about hospitals and doctors?
Yes, right now 56.9% has to do with hospitals. Shocking. Shocking. Absolutely shocking. It seems there’s a second black market in hospitals that operates untouched and has been accepted.
How have Greek media responded?
They’re excited about the response and the approach and the idea but they are skeptical about how the data collected will be effectuated into changing things. They wonder whether the government is really going to work with this girl or with this site because it’s not in their interest. But the enthusiasm is amazing and there a lot of people who feel this is the right thing to do.
Have you thought about returning to Greece?
My whole family is there. That’s where my home is. I will be back soon to take the website forward.
Where would you like to see the website in five years?
Well, we are planning to implement sophisticated data counters that will show us in real time where corruption is taking place across the country so that we can tackle the problem at the root.
Greeks are very distrustful of their government and they feel they have no say and they are apathetic. Maybe we can change that.
Are there any other sites similar to yours on the internet?
Yes. When I thought about building this democratic platform I found a site called “I Paid a Bribe” in India. I emailed the guy behind it and he was a Yale graduate like me. He has actually formed a coalition of countries like India and Pakistan and I have joined even though Greece doesn’t exactly fall into this category. It’s a coalition of countries against corruption – of countries that have built similar websites.
Kathy Trivilakis
Source: Pappaspost via XPAT ATHENS
*Thanks Kathy K. for the information and keep it up Kristina Tremonti and co!
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