Link 76 by NGO K.A.NE.

LINK st

April 1 2016

Table of

Contents

About us K.A.NE. Staff Interview with Filaretos The benefits of volunteerism K.A.NE TV Street-opera Project Interview Patras Baby My favourite place on Earth

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Editor: Maciej Janiszewski Cover fotos: Maciej Janiszewski Design: Maciej Janiszewski

Staff Members Of Kane: Filaretos Vourkos Fotini Arapi Jelena Scepanovic Nantiana Koutiva Bojana Lakovic

Tel: +302721110740

EVS: Magda Gucman Marjolaine Bencharel Lucia Dos Santos Elisabet Romer Iversen Anna Jolivet Maciej Janiszewski Ieva Bērziņa(Erasmus+ internship)

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

e-mail:

info@ngokane.org url:

facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/ kentroneon

About us I’m Lucia, I am 22 years old and I’m from Spain. I am a volunteer in the Youth Center. I consider myself a person enthusiastic, active and responsible, and I think that is very important to be open-minded and to have a positive attitude, that’s why I´m ready to live the experience and learn all I can. My name is Elisabet Romer Iversen and at the moment I am 19 years old. Together with my older brother and sister, I grew up on a biological farm in Norway with vegetable production, and some animals.

Hi, my name is Maciek. I’m 25 and I come from Poland. I like music, movies and spend time with people who have a dark sense of humor. If you like the same things, you can find me around. Hi everyone ! My name is Anna, I’m 21 and I come from France. I’m an engineering student in Marseille and I took a break from school to come here in Kalamata. I’m working in the KEFIAP Center and in the therapeutic horse-riding project, so I like horse-riding of course but also football and cinema. 4

Sveiki! I’m 27 years young Cultural Management student from Latvia/ Riga. Came to this amazing and pic turesque city to do my internship. I’m keen on volunteer work, history, art and getting to know other cultures which is why I chose to practise in Greece/Kalamata. And I’m sure you will not regret coming here! Hello, my name is Marie-Noëlle, I’m 24 years old and I’m from Lille in France. After my studies and after to created an artistic association, I wanted discover new places, another cultures and meet people. That’s why I decided to do an EVS in Kalamata, Greece where I’m Volunteer in the Youth Center. Also, my project is to make videos and I hope create an exhibition with local artist Geiá sou ! I am Marjolaine, 27y/o from France (Marseille). I am a globetrotter and really curious about Greece so I will be ready fo any trips around ! I am also an art and culture lover and I will work for the street festival.By the way, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite quotes « Great things are done by a series of small things brought together » - Vincent Van Gogh

See you around :) Hi! My name is Magda, I’m 25yo, and I come from Warsaw, Poland. I’m a freshly graduated psychologist, experienced in leading workshops for children, youth, and adults. I love mountain hiking, cycling, and canoeing. Here in Greece I work at the Youth Centre, where I also teach Polish. I’m looking forward to meeting you! 5

K.A.NE’s staff Hello, I am Filaretos Vourkos. For the last 10 years I am working in the field of Non-formal education as a volunteer, youth worker and youth trainer. 6 years ago, I decided to create the Youth Centre of Kalamata, in order to initiate youth work in Kalamata and promote active citizenship as factor for change. Hi my name is Fotini Arapi and I am project manager in K.A.NE. organization and responsible, among other things, for all sending motilities (sending EVS volunteers, participants in training courses, interns, etc). Apart from my work in K.A.NE., I also volunteer in the Youth Centre of Kalamata, a volunteer initiative managed by a team of local volunteers. I am very proud of and I love the Youth Centre, its dynamic atmosphere, and most of all, its natural inclusiveness that allows everybody to feel “at home” there. See you around :-D

Hi, I’m Jelena Scepanovic, an EVS coordinator in KANE and the volunteer of the Youth center. I came from Montenegro 2012 as an EVS volunteer. I really liked the idea of the Youth center and the work that KANE does, so I decided to stay and be part of it. 6

My name is nantiana! Im 23 yo. I live in kalamata! I were living for 5 years in patras! I were studying there greek philology and now im teaching greek to youth center in kalamata Hi I’m Bojana, I’m from Montenegro and I`m 30 years old. By profession I’m political scientiststudied International relations and diplomacy at the University of Montengro. I am executive director of the NGO Training Center “TARABA” in Montenegro which is the sister organisation of K.A.NE.

The 7th ANIVERSARY of KENTRO NEON KALAMATAS In 01/04/2016 our Youth Center is celebrating 7 years of active work in Kalamata which is the reason for a great festivity. We wanted to know a bit more about what has happened during those years so the founder of this center Filaretos Vourkos was kindly asked to answer some questions about life in the center.

Interview Ieva VS. Filaretos

How would you describe yourself? An active citizen and youth activist who likes culture, action and happy people. Where these qualities necessary to create K.A.NE and Kentro Neon? 8

The whole Greek community should have these qualities, to take initiative in youth sector. And as in Greece there is very little support provided for youth in both â&#x20AC;&#x201C; national and local level â&#x20AC;&#x201C; citizens themselves have to create suitable con-

ditions in order to develop conditions for youth work. What were the main goals in creating these organizations? K.A.NE. was initiated as a Youth Organization to provide opportunities for youth’s social development. The meaning of word “kane” in English is “do” and it explains our main goal – to activate people to do things for themselves and community. Kentro Neon was created as a voluntary opened youth space for learning, creating as well as sharing knowledge

and skills. Its structure is completely voluntary and it’s run by assembly of volunteers. Through Kentro Neon young people attend workshops, lessons, participate in social and cultural activities, get information about existing opportunities and develop various aspects for personal lives. And the main goal for Kentro Neon is step by step to become autonomous and independent from K.A.NE and being run only by local and foreign volunteers. Have these goals changed during 7 years? 9

We still follow the vision of the first years but the way of functioning is being improved constantly. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also important not to lose the horizontal work structure, in which everyone can feel equal. Which were/are the biggest challenges? In the beginning the biggest challenge was to convince the local community that what we are trying to do is something useful and it offers many opportunities for youth and that anyone can be a part of it. Another struggle is to ashore 100% dem10

ocratic work style in which volunteers of the Kentro Neon are equally participating in decision making process. And permanent challenge is to make the center financially sustainable, as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not receiving any funds from local, national or European funding. And what is the best thing about working in K.A.NE and Kentro Neon? The most I appreciate the involvement of people and the openness of local community to give a helping hand in making all this possible. And of course

the fact that people can interact and learn from each other, especially in voluntary basis. The Youth Center proves that knowledge can be opened for everyone despite the differences in social, economical backgrounds and origin of people. What about new plans for future? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really essential to find a new, suitable building that could host all the activities of Kentro Neon. We have asked to municipality for a new building which would allow us to

become fully sustainable and to develop activities for local community even better. I know that during these years a lot of people have been involved in the work of Kentro Neon but maybe you can give approximate numbers? During these 7 years we have had more than 200 voluntarily teachers and lecturers who gave thousands of lessons, arranged hundreds of workshops and seminars to around 4,5 thousand local and foreign people. All 11

together we have had around 200 local volunteers and volunteers from all over the world. What would you like to say to our volunteers? Congratulations for contribution – it has become a factor of change for local community. And thank you for keeping initiative of Kentro Neon alive! I’m also happy that I have had a chance to meet so many interesting people and that all together we managed to make something big out of nothing. 12

And what would be the message for potential volunteers? Youth Center is opened space so everyone is welcome to contribute with his/her own time and skills and become a member of the team. Ευχαριστώ for the interview and what is your wish to Kentro Neon on its anniversary? My wish is to become even bigger and offer even more to the community! Χρόνια πολλά, Kentro Neon and χρόνια πολλά to all of us!

The benefits of volunteerism For some people volunteerism might seem to be a total waste of time. The time that volunteers spend on helping others, some would rather use to either earn money or for their own pleasures. However, it is not true that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get any profits from acting altruistically. It is now a well-established, research-based knowledge, that volunteerism brings good effects not only to our minds, but also to our bodies. Firstly, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk about the obvious benefits of volunteering, namely â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mental health and emotion-related profits. Studies have shown, that volunteerism is responsible for the feeling of social connectedness, helps fight a feeling of loneliness and even depression. It increases self-confidence and gives a sense of purpose in life. It can protect a person from isolation and be a source of a great life satisfaction. Volunteers themselves report higher levels of happiness, life-satisfaction, self-esteem, a sense of control over their life, and improved physical health. Some people might find it surprising that volunteerism was also found to be connected with physical health. Those who volunteer when they are younger are less like likely to come down with 14

illnesses when they are older, which makes volunteering a good way to prevent poor health in the future. Studies show also that people suffering from chronic illnesses receive higher benefits from their medical treatment when at the same time they are volunteering. One of the most recent longitudinal studies showed that people over 50 years of age who were also volunteers, were less likely to develop high blood pressure than people who weren’t volunteering (Sneed & Cohen, 2013). However, in this case it can’t be proven that there wasn’t another factor responsible for these results (volunteers were controlled for age, sex, race, education, baseline blood pressure and major chronic illnesses, but they also might have been doing other things lowering blood pressure, like eating healthier than non-volunteers). The authors’ guess is that this connection is caused by increased physical activity and stress reduction, which result from volunteering (ibid.). There is some evidence, that older volunteers can benefit more from volunteering, probably because it increases their physical and social activity and serves as a purpose in life in a hard time of changes of social roles. Another thing is that most studies show that positive health outcomes occur only when a considerable amount of time is devoted to volunteering (at least 100 hours per year). However, too much volunteering might become a burden that could lead to worse health outcomes. It has also been shown, that health profits can be derived from volunteering 15

only as long as it is being done for altruistic reasons, and not for personal gain (Konrath, FuhrelForbis, Lou, Brown, 2012). There are also other dimensions in which volunteering serves us. It can have a great impact on our skills, making us more desirable on the labour market. Depending on the type of activity we take up, we can gain many new abilities or improve old ones. Particular job skills as well as wholesome career experience can make us stand out during our next job search â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it might be that one thing that will distinguish us from other candidates and therefore win us a job. On top of that, volunteering can widen our social circles and improve our social skills. It is also an easy, entertaining way to explore our passions and interests. A thorough review of 40 research papers conducted in 2013 gave solid evidence for connection of volunteerism with longer lifespan (by 22%), lower levels of depression, higher life satisfaction and enhanced well-being among volunteers in comparison to non-volunteers (Jenkinson et al., 2013). The conclusion is very simple and worth remembering: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good to be good.

Sources: Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Research and Policy Development (2007). The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research, Washington, DC. Jenkinson, C.E., Dickens, A.P., Jones, K., Thompson-Coon, J., Taylor, R.S., Rogers, M., Bambra, C.L., Lang, I., Richards, S.H (2013). Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers, BMC Public Health. Konrath, S., Fuhrel-Forbis, A., Lou, A., Brown, S. (2012). Motives for volunteering are associated with mortality risk in older adults, Health Psychology, 31(1), 87-96. Sneed, R. S., Cohen, S. (2013). A prospective study of volunteerism and hypertension risk in older adults, Psychology and Aging, 28(2), 578-586. http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/volunteering-may-begood-for-body-and-mind-201306266428 http://www.helpguide.org/articles/work-career/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits.htm Poriatur, od quisqui am, officiat el ma porehenis acest hicium sam fugiat is maximusandae doluptatur, tem

by Magda

K.A.NE TV

Hello Everyone, Good news the K.A.N.E T.v Chanel started. It’s the a chanel youtube where you can find all the actuality of the Youth center, K.A.N.E and the street festival and also the life of the E.V.S volonteer in Kalamata. You will find from this moment « TV show » about Kalamata with divers subject : Christmas in Kalamata, EVS in Kalamata, Art in Kalamata, Dance in kalamata, Mountain and Kalamata, Sea and Kalamata, as well as the important event of the youth center, projects of K.A.N.E… and also some surprise. The old video are also available. The Chanel will be supplied every month. Stay connected, watch and enjoy If you are some suggestions don’t hesitate to tell me All the videos can be found using this link : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMW5PjwwpEBSd5pAA_4eMg.

by Marie

STREET-OPERA PROJECT 16th April 2016, 21h30, Agioi Apostoloi Place, Kalamata

As the first pre-event of KALAMATA STREET FESTIVAL 2016, we will start this spring with the Street Opera Project! The idea: We are all witnesses on those days of horrible crime; significant moments will mark our time for the upcoming future in Europe. Terror, assassination attempt, cross-border streams of refugees and states that are swamped, destabilizing impact on neighboring countries, mistrust and an alarmingly rising right-wing populism everywhere in Europe. The bubble threat to burst â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or even did. 20

But there is still a light on a horizon. We only have this earth, this life, and this chance to make the world around us a little better. The world is ours. What kind of a world do we want to live in, and how do we want to design it? Music brings people together. That is our personal advantage as artists, insignificant if we are only a small artists or already a popular artist â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we are able to create an artistically pacific power and spread it out in the world. And this becomes even stronger in projects like ours. Music is the bridge; people can forget everyday life - breathe deeply and finally enjoy only the music, the dance and the theatre and Kalamata - their homeland in all its beauty. As a sign, as a hope, as a motivation, that there is more. The project: As an echo and in an absolutely unique way the Street Opera Project will bring together different artistic groups of Kalamata and as well, separate points of view 21

to look on art. All the people are passionate in music, theatre, dance and paintings. From the folkloric singer to the rock band, from the dancing class to the women choir to the theatre or climbing club or the soup cooks... everybody! All this persons will become part of the huge show, performed in the public space of Kalamata, at the Agioi Apostoloi Place, 16th of April. How? Street Opera Project will present in an artistic way the subjects of freedom, liberty and the history of Kalamata by the local network of artists, community organisations, and inhabitantsâ&#x20AC;Ś This project gives the possibility to the audience to live intense and memorable artistic experiences in the public place of Kalamata. The Agioi Apostoloi Place is already rich in history. But in this project we will go a step further in the present: with all the artists we search a contemporary vision of our future. Reconstructed after the earthquake in 1986, Kalamata was reborn. It was 30 years ago. But since these days Kalamata has shown a big development in building houses and awakens to life again â&#x20AC;&#x201C; also in a cultural way. 22

The Street Opera Project tried to collect races of the cultural richness of Kalamata and now we want to reap the benefits of these efforts. Today, it is the time for awakening of the consciousness around the art that remains and prospers within Kalamata. Street Opera Project, an artistic earthquake! Let’s rock’n roll now for Street Opera in Kalamata! We are proud that we try this experiment to connect all those artists in the city of Kalamata. Our project makes us to look ahead with confidence in those days. We are glad to be in the boat with you guys from Kalamata! LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN AND SEE YOU AROUND! Marjolaine & Dorothea

Marjolaine & Dorothea

Interview Eli VS. Lulu

Tell me the most important things you have learned during your time here.

it can get difficult. To do teamwork is also an important thing I learned here

I have learned to be independent, because I have never lived alone before. It is a very good experience. I learned how to live with myself and I. I also learned to share a livingspace with other people, how to deal with issues, and dont have problems with stupid things. We spend a lot of time together and

What about your livingspace, the apartment. What do you think about it?

I didnt like it at first, it was a big change for me. I didnt feel at hom. It is impossible to keep it organized and clean all the time, when there are so many people. But I started liking it, and now I am good.

How is your relationship with the other Cleaning? flatmates? No. We have a cleanWe are very lucky, ing schedule and we cause we all have a are making rotations. very good relationship with eachoth- Philosofical converer.. We dont have big sations? problems, and if we do, we solve them, On sundays when we we talk. We dont are hungover, on the keep it to ourselves. beach We have very different personalitys, and Did you ever miss we are learning from home? eachother. Yes sometimes ofcourse I miss home. Things you do togeth- What I miss the most er: is my city, the people, the good wine of Galicia, and the seafood. Cooking? So u are saying that Yes, in the weekends. the seafood is better We like to make piz- there than here? za. 25

I dont know, havent If you could change tried. one thing about the Youth Center, what What do you hope to would it be? learn, or get more of, before you leave? The organizing, I want the people to be In the beginning I more involved. The was very shy talking local volunteers for in english in front of example. people, now I am improving that, and The most memorable I want to improve experience here? more. And to gain some professional I liked it a lot when we skills, like organizing went to Bains Mixtes a project. with the bike, some of the volunteers. My bike was shitty...but it Pita or kebab? was sunny and warm and good anyway. Pita ofcourse. Our trip to patras for Kotopoulo or xirino? the Carnivalweekend was also very good. Kotopoulo. I like xiri- All the nights, every no more, but I eat weekend, and when kotopoulo because my friend Bojana I dont want to eat came to work here!! meat. 26

What is your happiest place in your daily life in Kalamata?

When I am on the beach, in the sun.

Patras Baby For the week-end of the carnival, the group of EVS volunteers had planned long in advance to go to Patras, as we were told it was the biggest carnival of all Greece. We booked a hostel, with the help of local volunteers, we rented a van and left Kalamata on Friday evening to see for ourselves if it really was the biggest party we had ever seen or not. Well it was. There were so many people in the city centre that the party was everywhere, and on Friday night we only had to get in the crowd to enjoy ourselves. On Saturday we watched the parade that was so huge it took a couple of hours to see everyone, and at some point we decided to get inside and run and dance with everybody. During this week-end we had a glimpse of this great city that Patras seems to be and we met Greek, Dutch or Bulgarian people that were all gathering with the same goal as us: be a part of this awesome carnival. Some of us were sick, some fell, some were cold during the night but one sure thing is that we all had an amazing time together.

by Ana

My favourite place on Earth Tatra mountains Situated in southern Poland and northern Slovakia, Tatra range is the highest mountain range within Carpathian chain. Entirely protected within Tatra National Park structures for its uniqueness and beauty, this place is a paradise for nature lovers, that also like to break some sweat from time to time. Total length of the range is 57 km, whereas its surface – 785 km². The highest peak – Gerlach – is lying entirely on Slovakian side, 2655 m above the sea level, and the highest peak within Polish borders is Rysy (2499 m.a.s.l). Here you can enjoy the view of majestic mountains separated by picturesque valleys with lovely, garrulous streams, have a rest by beautiful lakes or explore intriguing caves. You can also meet a bear (well, that might not be the best experience ever, but it happens!), a marmot, a chamois, a roe, a deer, and many more animals, or admire the beauty of cyclamens, edelweisses, and other species, many of which are specific only to this region, and protected by law for their uniqueness. How to plan your journey there? You can visit anytime you want but if you’re new to hiking, it’s best to go between June and August, to avoid snow lying in higher parts of the mountains (the rest of this article concerns visiting Tatra in summertime). The ‘capital’ of this region is Zakopane, which is a touristic town situated very close to where some trails start and very well communicated with other trails. A visit in Zako30

pane is not necessarily expensive – if you don’t need luxury, you can easily find a room to sleep for 10 euro per night per person. When packing your suitcase, remember to get good, comfortable hiking shoes accompanied by proper socks, a waterproof jacket, comfortable, ‘breathing’ clothes for any kind of weather (up there it can be really cold), something to protect you from the sun, and so on (if you’re not sure you have everything you need, check out tips on the internet – there are many on-line guides). Have a solid backpack with you, so you can always bring water and something to eat, a wallet with money in case you need to buy something in a shelter (there are a lot of them up there – you can eat a proper meal, buy tea, coffee, cakes and other sweets and so on), pay an entrance ticket to the national park, pay a bus back home and so on, toilet paper and tissues, a change of clothes, cell phone with an emergency number (+48601100300), sunglasses, sunblock, a cap or a hat, a waterproof jacket, and other things you might find useful. What to do when you arrive? (in a few simple points): Buy a map and plan your trips carefully. You can also use an online application, which will count the time and distance for you (http://www.traillon.pl/). However be careful, because these might not show you the actual difficulty of the trail, presence of chains, ladders, very narrow paths and so on. To know that, buy a guidebook. Also, seek for extra information on Tatra National Park internet site (http://tpn.pl/) and Tatra’s Volunteer Resque-squad internet site (http://topr.pl/) – some trails might be closed due to felling of trees or for some other reasons (eg. bears), some might be difficult because of the amount of mud 31

after rain and so on. Unfortunately, all of the mentioned sites are only in Polish, so if you don’t know it, you’re going to have to ask a local person for help. Watch the weather! You can plan ahead, and the forecast may be great, but weather in the mountains is very dynamic and you never know how it’s really going to be the next day, or even in a few hours. Never go in the high mountains if there are t-storms predicted. If you’re already there and you can see the storm is coming, try to go down as quickly as possible – at least to hide among some trees. If you’re too far to reach tree level quickly and the t-storm has already started, lay flat on the ground to avoid being struck by a thunder. To see the actual weather you can also check out the live view from some spots in Tatra here: http://kamery.topr.pl. Watch the time! Remember, it’s going to be really hard to get down from the mountain without light, so don’t let the night catch you there. Plan for unexpected things, consider food breaks and some time to have a rest now and then. Know yourself and don’t show off! First trip shouldn’t be too hard, so you can assess the shape you’re in and your capabilities. Remember that if you miscount in this area, you can find yourself exhausted in the middle of the trail and there might not be a way to turn back or choose easier path just then. Be reasonable, stay focused, don’t drink alcohol on hard trails (it’s possible to go to shelters and have a beer there but if you’re not careful enough, you can also end up with a broken limb or even worse). Learn and follow the rules of Tatra National Park! For example, you can’t be noisy, you can’t litter, you can’t damage the plants, you can’t leave the trail and so on. 32

Respect other people on the trail! Finally: enjoy yourself but don’t forget that you’re in a potentially dangerous place, so don’t lose your focus and be respectful towards the mountains. This set of steps and rules is very basic and most probably incomplete. For other tips and informations – search the web. I hope I got your attention and when the next holidays come, you’ll think about visiting this amazing place – it would be great to meet you there!

by Magda

Panorom

Stoupa

mic view

View for Kalamata

View for bay from Kalamata beach

Methoni

the Crew

Wishes for KENTRO NEO There are only some of all the wishes that our center has received. These wishes come from our students, teachers and volunteers – some serious and some not so serious : )

I WISH … Spiros, teacher of sign language. ”To have more success, more ideas and everything that would be better for Kentro Neon, volunteers, happenings and workshops!” Lucia, teacher of Spanish language, EVS Spain. “lot of new pople – visitors, teachers and volunteers – who would like to involve in work of Kentro Neon!” Magda, teacher of Polish language, EVS Poland “Many active volunteers who would help to organize work of Kentro Neon!” Kostas, ex EVS volunteer from Cyprus “To be more lively and to have more coffee in order to attract more people!” Nikos, teacher of Muay Thai “To change the system of how things are organized!” Michael, teaching to play guitar for kids “To become more popular!” Maciek, EVS volunteer from Poland “Happy birthday and merry next year!”

ON in 7th ANNIVERSARY Marie-Noel, EVS from France “To continue in a good way with lot of workshops and volunteers! And to involve more local open minded people!” Stauros, local volunteer “To fix the coffee machine!” Lukas, student of Spanish language “To be opened for 100 more years and to get new building!” Sofia, local volunteer “To be always colorful and to be always full of smiles!” Ieva, trainee from Latvia “To be united, to have great ideas, to get financial support and to attract more people!” Rula, student of Conversational English “To continue to help in a creative way to our community, especially young people!” Afroditi, local volunteer “All the best for the best place in town! I hope Kentro Neon keeps to offer all these things to the society!” Athina, student of Contemporary Dance “To always have happy and helpful people around!” Marjou, EVS volunteer from France “To have a good vibes!”

The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European Erasmus+ programme, KA1/youth - European Voluntary Service. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.