第2659期:Greek Grandmother Makes Scarves for Children in Need

In her small home in the capital of Greece, Athens, 93-year-old Ioanna Matsouka has knit thousands of brightly colored scarves for children in need from Greece to Bosnia to Ukraine. She has no plans to stop just yet.

在她在雅典首都的小房子里，现年93岁的ioanna Matsouka为从希腊到波斯尼亚再到乌克兰的儿童都编织了数千件鲜艳的围巾。 她还没有计划停下来。

"Until I die, I will be knitting," Matsouka told Reuters. Her knitting tools called needles made noises through her expert fingers, her nails painted red. "It brings me joy to share them,” she said.

“直到我死了，我将编织。” Matsouka告诉路透社。 她称为针的编织工具通过她的专业手指发出噪音，指甲涂成红色。 她说：“这让我很高兴分享它们。”

Since she took up knitting in the 1990s, Matsouka has easily made over 3,000 scarves, her daughters estimate.

自从她在1990年代开始编织以来，Matsouka很容易制作3,000多件围巾，她的女儿估计。

By the door to her home, bags filled with her latest creations await their new owners. A knitted blanket is thrown over a large chair where she spends her days.

在她家的门口，袋子里装满了她的最新作品，等待着他们的新主人。 一张针织毯子被扔在一把大椅子上，在那里她度过了一天。

In the beginning, the scarves were gifted to friends. As the number of scarves grew, they were donated to children’s homes across Greece. Then, through people she knew, they reached children in Bosnia and Ukraine. The latest 70 scarves went to a refugee camp near Athens this winter, via the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

一开始，围巾被赠予朋友。 随着围巾的数量，它们被捐赠给希腊的儿童住宅。 然后，通过她认识的人，他们在波斯尼亚和乌克兰接触了孩子。 最新的70艘围巾于今年冬天通过联合国难民署难民署前往雅典附近的难民营。

"The fact that we give them away gives her strength," said her daughter Angeliki.

她的女儿安吉利基（Angeliki）说：“我们赠送了他们的力量。”

She recounted simple artwork and mail her mother received over the years: "Thank you, be well, keep going. You gave joy to children; you gave joy to people... That's her only reward: a letter, a few words."

她讲述了简单的艺术品，并邮寄了母亲多年来收到的邮寄：“谢谢你，要继续前进。

Matsouka knits one scarf a day now. Her eyesight suffers and she sometimes has severe facial pain, a condition known as trigeminal neuralgia.

Matsouka现在每天编织一条围巾。 她的视力遭受了痛苦，有时会出现严重的面部疼痛，这种疾病被称为三叉神经痛。

Angeliki says her mother is an example of strength and hope.

安吉利基（Angeliki）说，她的母亲是力量和希望的一个例子。

Matsouka wakes up every morning, drinks a glass of milk, puts on her jewelry and gets to work. She takes a break for lunch and a short sleep, then knits into the night.

Matsouka每天早晨醒来，喝一杯牛奶，戴上珠宝并上班。 她休息一下午餐和短暂的睡眠，然后编织到夜晚。

She may have even found the secret to a long life in it, she says. "It's the happiness I get from giving," she said, sitting beside a big blue bag filled with the knitting materials.

她说，她甚至可能已经找到了长寿的秘诀。 她说：“这是我给予的幸福。”