Link 44 by NGO K.A.NE.

September 2013 / Bye-Hello Edition

LiNK P l a i n S TA RT E d i t i o n

nr. 44

Editorial

ummer is almost passed and Youth Centre of Kalamata opening for registrations already on 16th of September for the season of 2013/2014. Time have gone as fast as wind crossing hurricane valley and EVS volunteers who started last year going away from here as the leafs from trees on Autumn time.

So keep thinking positive & try to see life as a path to the balance that will only be balance if there are various feelings mixed inside which are supposed to make a life interesting journey - and never forget to ask from Yourself what could you learn from forthcoming sitCan you believe it, after wonderful uations as without doubt there are masummer it’s all over and starting again. ny-many lessons inside waiting You to Just few last “leafs” still here. Do you unpack them. remember always sunny Serbian language teacher Jelena or Leonard - Ger- Afterall I have to say supermegagiman guy, fluent in Greek - they will ganicelyawesome THANKS for the stay! Otherwise you will have also op- European Comission to have this proportunity to meet plentiful amount of gram for youngsters, National Agennew international volunteers around cies around Europe for accepting the the world (and we mean it - not only projects of K.A.NE., our cooridinators from Europe) - are you curious al- Filaretos and Fotini in our host organready? Plus some new local volunteers isation, sending organisations, local taking initiatives. We are almost ready people we had opportunity to meet, to say official “hi” on person, just a bit among them our helpful mentors & ofmore than1 week more patience. course energitic co-volunteers!

So to wrap the year together what should I say?! After hard work and a lot of positive emotions I had also opportunity to feel the negative ones during my EVS. But all and all I learnt a lot from them as well, perhaps even the most. Forgiving (both to yourself and others) is good for everyone and it also allows people to move on without being sad, pity, angry, empty ... - it’s a way of releasing and it makes you feel great.

So again on the behalf of volunteers from 2012/2013 - thanks you everyone who have played some part in our development to become people we are today. It have been enjoyable journey ... Afterall every end is a beginning of something new, let it be bright, fun, meaningful and pleasant for all of us & you! Peace out :) -Taaniel

Editor:

Taaniel Stoitsev

Staff members of KANE: Filaretos Vourkos Fotini Arapi Georgia Giannakea Panagiota Arapi Giwrgos Housenbelli

Long Term EVS: Amaia Vilas Erika Funa Fiachra Mckeever Jelena Scepanovic Leonard Pristl Lina Ĺ uminaitÄ&#x2014; Melina Savvidis Taaniel Stoitsev

I I I I I I I I I I

K.A.NE., Social Youth Development Youth Centre of Kalamata Plateia Othonos 10 Kalamata 24100 Greece

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Cover photo: Taaniel

I I I I I I I I I

http://www.kentroneon.wordpress.com http://www.ngokane.org

facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/kentroneon

Youth Centre of Kalamata will start registrations on 16th of September 5p.m-9p.m 3

My name is Erika Funa. I come from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. I am 25 years old and am currently in the process of finishing university. In a few months I expect to graduate with a degree in Philosophy and English language, which will enable me to become a teacher of these two subjects in the future. My main interests outside university are art and sustainable development. One of the reasons why I chose Greece as the country of my EVS long—term exchange is the fact that I am half Greek and have long had the desire to learn more about the country of my family's origin, experience the life here, and learn to speak the language well. In my ten months in Kalamata I will do my best to contribute to the local community as much as possible. From September on you will be able to find me facilitating a yoga workshop at the Youth Center as well as offering Slovene and English language lessons. Another project I plan to realize during my stay here is a cycle of socially and politically engaged documentary movie nights as a way to raise awareness regarding neoliberal practises that directly affect European citizens in their every—day lives. Let the adventure begin! 4

My name is Lina Šuminaitė. I live in Vilnius – the capital of Lithuania. Finished Vilnius Fine Arts Academy. My speciality is industrial and graphic design. My hobby is to collect postcards and graphic design interesting examples, also I love theater, history and what is connected with art. In my project I will try to impart knowledge what I have to those whom it will be interesting.

My name is Melina I’m just 18 years o Augsburg, Bavaria how you can see – surename – I have Although my fathe I have family in Th never been really c greek life. That’s w do my voluntary y My project is the T Horse Riding and will be how to con people with horse make them becom Before I came her school and I’m go my EVS project in also attending a lo and salsa parties in will explore the gr here and try to exp as possible! I can’t wait startin and finally becomi girl! I’m sure we w time here and mak experiences!

a Savvidis and old. I am from a, Germany but – because of my e greek origins. er is greek and hessaloniki I’ve connected to the why I decided to year in Greece. Therapeutic my challange nnect disabled es in a way to me better. re I just finished oing to study after n Germany. I was ot of salsa lessons n Germany so I reek salsa scene pand it as much

My name is Amaia Vilas Sarasua and I’m from Galicia, the northwest of Spain. I have a degree in social work, and I have training and experience as a photographer and lighting technician on television and advertising for several years. I have also worked as a teacher of leisure time and participated as a volunteer in various associations and local NGOs. My ambition is to combine the artistic side with the social aspects, particularly in the area of youth.

ng these projects ing a real greek will have a great ke a lot of crazy

New

My name is Fiachra, and I am the Irish guy that you will often see sitting in front of the Kalamata Youth Center, singing away with his guitar or just strumming some relaxing tunes. If you come closer to say hello, I might confuse you with expressions such as: “What’s the craic? (pronounced “crack”)?” or “What’s the story?” My fellow EVS volunteers now already know that these are common Irish greeting phrases rather than me enquiring about drugs . I am 26, and have graduated from university some years ago with a degree in science. Other than that, music and art in general is my main passion and occupation. In fact, I have spent the last two years giving music workshops in different youth centres, which is also what I will be doing here in Kalamata as part of my long—term project. The workshops are going to take place once or twice a week. Apart from that, I will be also offering English language lessons, where you will be able to practice your conversation skills. Looking forward to meeting you!

volunteers arriving 5

impression Balkan balcony by the sea

How would you feel in the foreign country, surrounded -

everything

unknown

unexpected

new

adventures, challanges,

struggling with you self conscious, dealing with

What have thee in store for me? Pocket change and company Now home from home I am to be Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy All these things under clear sky Await me now in blue and white To further cast a shining light

different situations - a lot of emotions are connected and deep feelings to release as well. Our new volunteers tried many days to capture these emotions of their current moods and they without doubt succeeded! Take a look of what Amaia, Erika, Fiachra and Lina have brought out to life!

By:

Fiachra

Start a path path that leads path that leads you path that moves path that moves you

“Human Metamorphosis” by Taylor James

Labokoff

path that removes......

Amaia

By:

“A way to indispensable Adventure of the journey to yourself” In Memory of Jose Luis San Pedro “Un rumbo a la aventura irrenunciable del viaje hacía ti mismo” En Memoria a Jose Luis Sampedro

ave

Polis

Lina

B8 y:

bicycle

“croctails”

cleaning

story?

ants

tomatoes

Fire, water, earth and sky, How beautifully they all align. The mystic scent of flames crackling softly by the sea, Captivating the essence of life around me.

There is a time just before dusk, la hora bruja, When all the sky colours magically In a special shade of orange and red. Freedomâ&#x20AC;Śduendeâ&#x20AC;Śwhisper the spirits And olive trees show us the way As we are moving slowly on a white horse Among the green hills towards the bay.

Photos: http://www.maryannhayes.com/blog/moonlight-beach-fires Fairlight Downs, Sunlight on the Sea Artist: William Holman Hunt A Little Bit of Lacquer: Red Red Wine alittlebitoflacquer.blogspot.com Stock Photo - evening sea sandy shore with sunlight path, Copyright : Yuriy Brykaylo 10 http://beverages.organicxbenefits.com/ways-to-use-figs-as-a-natural-remedy/ http://candidkerry.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/stars-and-horses/

By:

Erika

Light blue with a shade of yellow, It’s the sleepy sea in the light of a new day. Dark red with a taste of honey wine, It’s coming closer when you’re far away. Light green with a touch of brown, It’s the sweetness of figs when they melt in your mouth. Dark tinted blue spilling into velvet black, It’s the night covered with pearls bringing you back.

welcome to hotel Kalamata aka Irish gu

ia dhaoibh!

Fiachra McKeever is ainm dom agus είμαι από την Ιρλανδία. So.... my first days in Kalamata have been fairly intense.

From the moment Dorian, Hippolyte and Melina collected me and Lina from the bus station up until now my mind has been flooded with fresh sights, new faces, crippling heat and frappes. Being from Ireland, where all we talk about is the weather, the first thing that hit me (like a ton of bricks!) was the heat! Although I had mentally prepared as much as one could, my pale skin was in no way ready for the desert highway it was to experience. With any luck, before the end of my tenure here, all my freckles will join together and I'll be bronzing nicely! Once I got over the heat my attention quickly turned to other things. I noticed how friendly and smiley the people here are. Very nice, keen to help in any way and also in possession of a great sense of humour! When we got to the apartment, I was pleasantly surprised by the size of it. And the fact that there were balconies! "I could definitely get used to this!" I thought! After Dorian took us for food at M.a.m we went to the youth centre for a going away party for some of the other EVS volunteers who had been here. There I met a whole host of friendly and animated people, all having great craic. We drank beer and Irish whiskey and I went home at some un12

holy hour in an equally unholy state! Καλώς ήλθατε στην Καλαμάτα o Fiachra!! For the first few days Dorian, an EVS volunteer from the south of France, showed us the sights and sounds of Kalamata. He lit up a candle and showed us the way to the miles and miles of beach (a good man is Dorian!) as we soaked up the sun. We attended an anti-fascist gathering in the park next to the railroad cars, apparently quashing a Golden Dawn gathering that was supposed to be happening at the same time in the same place, met some nice new people, drank some beer and sampled some fruity ouzo. All in all a really nice, relaxing introduction to Kalamata and a beautiful few days. But then of course, some 'work' had to be done. We had to go up to the mountains to a beautiful place with treehouses, an amphitheatre, breathtaking views of the city (and at night - the galaxy), nice people, gorgeous home-cooked Greek food and some good craic thrown in for good measure. Woe is me! :P All this was for the on-arrival seminar for the short-term EVS volunteers who were staying at the treehouses, and we were asked to participate also. It was 2 days of non-formal learning on the topic of EVS and it's practicalities. It was a lovely 2 days - see dedicated article! We were also introduced to the youth centre. The office itself is an inviting place - a glass

uyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first days in Kalamata

wall covered in colourful pictures from different events, projects and activities organised by the youth centre. We sat outside, enjoying the vibe of the square, playing guitar before siesta, inhaling iced coffee. Happy days. In the seconf week we were told we need a tour of the city and Bjartur was assigned as our tour guide. He instructed us to be at the youth centre at 10am Greek-time and he'd show us around; all the things we needed to see, and maybe some things we didn't! He showed us the castle, the old revolutionary church where Greek independence was won, some lovely places for coffee, the bus routes, and other useful places to know like the Greek

equivalent to IKEA, the Post Office and the bike shop. After almost a week and a half in Kalamata I can say that I'm definitely getting used to the weather and am beginning to feel at home here. I've already met some fantastic people and I dread to think of how difficult it will be to leave. But as they say: we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, so I've to enjoy every day here as much as I can. Welcome to the Hotel Kalamata, such a lovely place, such a lovely face. Plenty of room at the Hotel Kalamata, what a nice surprise, come all my alibis! 13

33 wise questions for a wise & simple g 1What is your first memory of the Youth Centre?

very serious, it can be very hard, but if you see it as fun, it is easy. For me it is easy and I fight my problems with huA small place with many smiles inside, lots mor. of people dancing salsa. 5 D o y o u l i k e wa 2You have been a vol- t e r m e l o n s ? unteer at the Youth Yes. Centre for quite some time. What inspired 6What is you favorite you to become one? animal and why?

ing first, but I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accepted so I decided for tourism.

I gained a lot from the A horse, because it is Youth Center, so I want- useful, has a free soul, ed to give something and is strong. back. 7What languages do 3What is the most im- you speak? portant thing that you Albanian, Greek, and English. feel you have gained because of the Youth Center? 8What are your plans for next year? I have made many new friends, I have learned I am going to Spain for how to be myself and three months through how to be non-selfish. the Leonardo DaVinci Program to do an intership in agro-tourism. 4In general, would

The park.

you describe life as easy or hard?

It depends on how you see it. If you take it as 14

9How did you decide to study tourism? It chose me. I wanted to do computer engineer-

10Where do you see

yourself in ten years?

Living in Cuba with my wife and ten kinds, dancing. 11W hat

is your fa -

vorite place in lamata ?

12W hat

Ka-

is your fa -

vorite place at the

Y outh C enter ?

The dancing room. 13Is there something you would like to do

but are not doing now?

Yes. I want to travel.

15Giwrgos is not your birth name. Why did you decide to change your name?

I was born as Lisyan, but I changed my name some years ago when I became a Christian. 16What makes you laugh? Seriousness. 17W hat

is your fa -

vorite book ?

Harry Potter, especially the second book. 18Who is your favorite Harry Potter character and why?

14Who are the peo-

Ron, because he is clever and funny by just being there.

interesting or inspir-

19Do you like movies?

Filaretos and Maria. They are good people and have taught me a lot.

No, because I think they are a waste of time. You spend two hours sitting on a sofa just staring at a screen.

ple you find most ing?

guy Giwrgos 20If you could have a super power, what it would be?

24Is there something you really want to learn?

Yes, how to play the To be able to make peo- guitar. ple laugh. 25How do you imagine 21W hat would be a perfect life? your name as a super hero ?

A world with no narrow-minded people, Joker. Actually, my nick where the only rule name is Faflatas, which would be respect. means the joker of the kings. 26Do you have a lot 2 2 W h at

of experience with

is your

fav o r i t e s o n g ?

Simple man by Lynard Skynard, since five years ago. I like it because of the lyrics. It is the song about a mother talking to her son and telling him to be a simple man. 23Do you have any

memories connected to the song?

narrow-minded people?

How would you

teach them to be more open-minded?

Yes, but it is getting better in the last years. You cannot change people, you can only talk to them, but I think people become more open-minded through volunteerism and travelling. 27Is there something

Yes. My mother sitting you would like to with me and telling me to change about yourself? be a good and simple man. No, I am fine with how I

am now. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean that I think I am perfect, though, and when I feel I need to change something about myself, I do it. 28Are you afraid of anything? Yes, I am afraid of snakes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they have no legs and they move! 29You are Albanian

but have grown up in

Greece. Do you feel more Greek or more Albanian? I feel neither, just human. 30Who would you born as? A horse.

No, I find it nice that you have friends in countries all around the world. We keep in touch through Facebook, e-mail, and even postcards. 32Are you careful

about living a healthy life?

You mean if I am a vegetarian, not drinking, not smoking? No. We are all going to die anyway, so I enjoy my life living it the way I like it.

re-

31Through the Youth Center you have met many people from

around the world.

you find it hard when you make new friends and then they move

back to their countries?

33Do you have a motto? What is it? Yes: have fun. 15

following the Yellow Brick Road…

ello everybody.

My name is Fiachra McKeever. I’m 26 years old and I’m a Pharmaceutical Chemist. Well… kind of. I have two pieces of paper that say I’m qualified enough to work in that field, but…. I have no work. I have been unemployed since I finished college in the Autumn of 2008, right around the time that the economic crisis began. Brilliant timing it would seem; some years in college, many thousands in college bank loans, only to emerge to a gloomy economic climate, with a qualification to work in a contracting industry suffering from patent time-outs and failing clinical trials. Add to that the industry standard requirement of two-plus years work experience and you have yourself a veritable perfect storm favouring my unemployment. I didn’t want their jobs anyway! :P Naturally enough though, I thought… WTF? Naturally, perhaps naively, I expected, with a college degree I would have no trouble finding a job for myself. Not so it would seem – off to the dole queue for me. Now in fairness, the Social Welfare system in Ireland is not as bad as I have seen elsewhere. The Greeks for example have it much worse and I’d be right to consider myself lucky to be on the dole in Ireland. But even so, it’s not the ideal situation. No jobs, little hope of finding one and the bank on the phone to me every other day looking for money I don’t have. And it gets worse. As anyone on the Social Welfare in Ireland will tell you, it’s not a dignified position to be in. Some of the people you encounter as you wade through the bureaucracy, red tape and leery-eyed suspicion, don’t exactly make you feel good about yourself. Even the briefest of surveys of the unemployed in this country will show that a lot are made to feel like second class citizens, and get the unmistakable impression that the people working in the system perceive the unemployed in general as lazy timewasters looking to extort the taxpayers money from them. It may be that some of those working in the Department genuinely do not see the ground level reality that if there’s no money, and therefore no jobs then the number of CVs one sends out is irrelevant, and seems to become redundantly futile after a while. A most definite sense of ‘There’s no point fishing a fishless river’ is commonplace. But the problem is; at certain points there were plenty of fish in the river, more than enough for everybody, so what happened? More and more of the global unemployed community, and then some, are getting the sinking feeling that something fishy is going on… So, how else is life on the Social Welfare you ask? Well you have lots of free time to do nothing. Lots of free time to sleep. Lots of free time

By:

: Fiachra to contemplate the enigmatic mysteries of life, nature, the universe and Jeremy Kyle. It’s actually quite wonderful for the first few months. Your days are comfortably paced. Handing out CVs as you gleefully and casually skip around town at your leisure. These are some of the benefits of being on the dole. I’ve also heard it said that some of the best music was written during times of recession. I’ve dabbled in this from time to time, in between typing and printing CVs to try and find a job, volunteering to keep myself active and watching documentaries on YouTube covering a multitude of weird, wonderful and interesting subjects to entertain and amuse myself. Considering it was the economic crisis that precipitated my situation in the first place, it was no surprise that I began flicking through documentaries discussing finance, the financial system and the fundamental practices of the industry at the forefront of the consciousness of the unemployed community, and many others besides. God, isn’t the internet a wonderful thing?! Now if you ask most people, it’s fairly undisputed, and widely acknowledged as self-evident, that there is a certain structure inherent in the way power is distributed on this planet. This pyramidal structure of low-level company employees, supervisors, managers, CEOs, stockholders, financiers etc is visible from the smallest SMEs to the largest corporations. That’s fine and well. That’s the way the world works and that’s all there is to it. You join the ‘rat race’, work hard, climb the ladder and do well for yourself. But this seems to be the terminal for the common train of thought. Most people in employment are usually far too busy to concern themselves with the workings of this vast, seemingly complex and deliberately obscured and arcane system. Jobs and other commitments get in the way. It’s understandable that they have no time to dive into the nuts and bolts of what’s really going on. Unemployment affords the listless and curious, like me, ample time to do this. Since I had nowhere to be on any given morning, and I’m a night-owl at heart, I stayed up all night; watching, reading, and taking notes. After countless cups of coffee, and several full ashtrays later, a clear picture slowly but surely started to emerge from the mass and wealth of information available for my consumption on the ‘ever-reliable’ internet. Did you know – a core group of 147 companies, all sharing directors and shareholders, form a “super entity” that directly controls 40% of the world’s wealth. This little gem is from a 2011 study done by Swiss scientists called : “The network of global corporate control” by Stefania Vitali, James B. Glattfelder, and Stefano Battison.

following the Yellow Brick Road… (2) By: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0025995 Using mathematical models normally applied to natural systems, the researchers analyzed the world’s economy. Their data was taken from Orbis 2007, a database that lists 37 million corporations and investors. Their evidence shows that the world’s largest corporations are interconnected to all other companies and that their professional decisions affect markets across the globe. James Glattfelder, complex systems theorist at The Swiss Federal Institute in Zurich, explains that: “In effect, less than 1 per cent of the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the entire network.” And who’s top dog on the control-holders list? Barclays PLC. As a matter of fact, 45 out the 50 most control-wielding (40%)corporations are financial institutions. Incidentally the other five are The Vanguard Group, Allianz, Dodge and Cox Investment management services, and Capital Group International (investment groups), and Wal-Mart. So….147 companies control a lot of the wealth on this planet, most of them are banks that are getting richer, and there is an economic crisis… How does that work? I reasoned that further research was required. I do, after all have all the time in the world, and have an insatiable thirst for information. Now, as we were told; the economic crisis happened due to a massive amount of sub-prime lending (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subprime_mortgage_crisis).Lots of people who could not afford it were highly encouraged by the banks to take out huge loans and mortgages, massive investment in housing where there was no need for it (an interesting fact: there are more empty homes in America than homeless people), coupled with a few relatively small-fish dodgy-dealers dealing dodgily. Grand job. Simplez. Not necessarily. As I’m sure a lot of people suspect, myself included; with everything high-profit, the dirty work goes on behind the curtains, in the shadows. And when you’re unemployed, and becoming increasingly disgruntled, you have lots of time, and plenty of motivation to see if you can take a little peek behind. Shades of Oz beckoned, and I set off on the Yellow Brick Road… …to be continued in the next L.I.N.K.

: Fiachra

1 year - 18 periodicals. Let your eyes roll and memory recover the passed year with LiNKs - the periodicals for Youth Centre of K.A.NE. Several interviews with local and international volunteers of the Youth Centre, articles about various subjects and areas, lot of photo material etc - all captured as a LiNK to link surroundings smoothly together. For this year we have wonderful girls Amaia (editing) & Lina (graphic design) taking care of the periodical! We wish you all the best on behalf of previous volunteers!! :) -Taaniel

Filaretos Vourkos, Greece

Fotini Arapi, Greece

Georgia Giann

Who We Are

Office & Long Term EVS volunteers

Leonard Pris

Fiachra Mckeever, Ireland

Erika Funa, Slovenia

Lina Ĺ uminait

Panagiota Arapi, Greece

Giwrgos Housenbelli, Greece

stl, Germany

Melina Savvidis, Germany

Taaniel Stoitsev, Estonia

tÄ&#x2014; , Lithuania

Amaia Vilas Sarasua , Spain

Jelena Scepanovic, Montenegro

Who We Are

nakea, Greece

Thank You for Your time! Be ready for registrations from 16th of September in Youth Centre of Kalamata, Plateia Othonos 10

ByeBye Για σασ...

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, anvd the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European Youth in Action programme, Action 2- European Voluntary Service.