Athanasia Tzirtzilakis née Manioudakis was born in Neo Chorio, Crete on the 28 January 1952. Growing up post World War II, she lived in poverty and was even a sponsored child. She has four sisters and two brothers, one of whom died because of the lack of adequate medical care available.
Growing up with a lot of siblings and in poverty her family didn’t have the money to send her to high school, only one of her siblings (her brother) went and completed his schooling. Instead of going to school she studied to become a hair dresser whilst also helping out at home and working in the family orange orchard and olive grove.
In the 1960's a few of her sisters were brought out to New Zealand by the government as New Zealand had a shortage of workers. In the early 1970's she left her home in Crete to come to New Zealand as well. Leaving Greece she only owned one pair of shoes, heels, which broke …show more content…
Since moving to New Zealand all those years ago she has always supported the Greek Orthodox Church and was the treasurer of the church for many years. Even now, although retired she spends most of her free time cooking for community fundraisers. This ties into her qualities of selflessness as she is always willing to help those in need.
Her selflessness also carries into her family life as when her daughters marriage broke down she helped to raise her two kids so that she could continue to pursue her career and also opened up her home to them. When I was younger she would also look after my brother and I. When mum first decided that she wanted to go back to work she would look after my brother and me and even make and deliver meals to us to lift the burden off of my mother.
My grandmothers acts of selflessness are visible in her biggest life wishes. All she ever wanted was the best for my mother and aunt. Her wish for them was to have the opportunities she never had such as completing school and going to university, which they both