Balkan Beats 24 by Balkan Hotspot

Balkan Beats

#24

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A BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE BY THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS

Editorial

The 24rd Edition The main topic of this 24th edition of Balkan Beats is “beginnings” because since last magazine several things have changed. The summer season is just concluded, and our volunteers are ready to begin the new one after the holiday time.

These two months have been a transition for all of us, not

just because people around are continually coming and going back - we had five short-term volunteers (Laura Espadas, Elena Lobova, Axel Furberg, Irakli Tevzadze and Kateryna Voronova) who have been working for us just for the current edition. But also because the Balkan Hotspot team moved to a new office and, from now on, volunteers are going to co-operate every day directly with the organization and people who work in the main office. The new office is, for all intents and purposes, a cultural centre where workshops, labs, languages classes will take place. This is not only a new office but also a new project, whose name is “Balkan Hearts” - a heart that will give space and time to every creative person and group, every per-

by Giada Russo

son who feels the need to help, to work and to chase their dreams. You can read more about this in the following two pages.

While waiting for the new projects designed by United Society of Balkans, you can discover the program sponsored by Erasmus+ about Romani’s people stereotypes, and hosted last month by USB (more at page 6). You can also find here other articles that go into the important topic of “new beginnings”, like the recycling issue (pages 33 and 53) and the story of a book that, actually, tells about the story of a life that restarted again (page 24). My adored EVS project is about to end and I would like to introduce you our new volunteers - Arianna Salan, Umberto Zeverini, Irene Cortés, Marleen Müts, Martin Naništa, Carlos Afonso - who already joined our big family and who will collaborate in Balkan Hotspot for the following 10 months. We wish you will enjoy this new edition and the beginning of the new season!

Balkan Beats, a part of Balkan Hotspot

Balkan Hotspot is the EVS (European Voluntary changes in the Balkan and Eastern European Service) project of “United Societies of Balkans”, region and under the need for the creation of a a NGO founded in Thessaloniki in 2008 by a team better social environment. of active young people. Key areas of the organization’s activities concern The Balkans and Eastern Europe are geograph- the defense of human rights, the organization of ical regions with many cultural features which youth exchanges and training courses, which will offer a broad spectrum of actions and youth in- bring young people from Balkans and Europe tovolvement initiatives. The organization was cre- gether, the organization of local educational semated as a response to the pressure of constant inars and multimedia production. United Societies of Balkans is a Non Governmental Organization, founded in Thessaloniki in 2008, by a team of active young people. The organization was created as a response to the pressure of constant changes in the Balkan and Eastern European region and under the need for the creation of a better social environment. Key areas of the organization’s activities concern the defense of human rights, the organization of youth exchanges and training courses, which will bring young people from Balkans and Europe together, the organization of local educational seminars and multimedia production(webradio, videos, documentaries).

Main goals of the organization • To promote the values of non formal le- aring,volunteering, active citizenship and democracy for the creation of a better future for European youth. • To promote human rights, solidarity and respect for diversity. • To build healthy cooperation bridges between countries of the Balkan area and that of Eastern Europe with the rest of Europe. • To locate and multiply the special cultural attributes of our societies. • The break down of prejudices and stereotypes between Balkan countries.

UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS, NGO

Property of Balkan Beats The United Societies of Balkans, NGO, does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in Balkan Beats. It is illegal to reproduce any part of this publication without referring to the source.

www.balkanhotspot.org

This magazine is distributed free of charge.

9, Alamanas str., Agios Pavlos, Thessaloniki Tel./Fax: +30 2310 215 629 | www.usbngo.gr Cover © Claudia Cornea

Contents

Contents Volunteer Life USB NEWS

Letter from the president

Roma Storytelling Adventure VOICE TO VOLUNTEERS

Lorenzo Sciuca

Mafalda Tenazinha

NGO ACTIVITY

How to ADD ART into city life of THESSALONIKI

BOOKS

“The dream” CULTURE

Assumption Day in Greece and Ukraine

Healthy & delicious SUSTAINABILITY

Music festivals and environmental initiatives

STORY OF LUCK

Eleni Karafillidou, 29 years old

Holidays in Greece, life-changing experience

Local Life

FESTIVALS

The 10th annual Street mode festival

New Beginning for Georgia SPORT

Potters journey to European top football SUSTAINABILITY

Earth Overshoot Day

Mix Fix

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

Beginnings

Out Of The Borders

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES

TRAVEL

The island where people forget to die

The art of Ebru

FOOD

ART

COMICS

Raintasters & Mother Storm

MUSIC

French world music festival

Thessaloniki International LGBTQ Film Festival

Volunteer Life USB NEWS

Γράμμα από τον πρόεδρο

Letter from the president

Στη

ζωή πρέπει να ονειρευόμαστε για να μπορούμε να υπάρχουμε. Μπορεί η πραγματικότητα να είναι πολλές φορές ένας μικρός εφιάλτης και να πρέπει να αλλάξουμε τα σχέδια μας, αλλά δεν πρέπει να μας κάνει να χάσουμε το όνειρο, την ελπίδα. Και πραγματική ελπίδα στη ζωή είναι η αγάπη.

Αυτή η αγάπη για την νεολαία, αυτό το κομμάτι

της κοινωνίας που ενώ έπρεπε να ζει μέσα από τα όνειρα του, έχει χάσει κάθε πίστη στην ζωή. Πριν 10 χρόνια μέσα σε ένα μικρό ημιυπόγειο ξεκίνησαν όλα από ένα άτομο που ήθελε να αλλάξει κάτι. Με το πέρασμα του χρόνου και μέσα από κωμωδίες και τραγωδίες, από επιτυχίες και αποτυχίες, από καλοκαίρια και χειμώνες, το μικρό αυτό ημιυπόγειο γέμιζε χαμόγελα και χαρά, σκέψεις ιδέες και πλάνα για το μέλλον. Το “εγώ” έγινε “εμείς” και το “λίγο” έγινε “πολύ”. Ένα “πολύ” που άρχισε να φαίνεται γύρω στην κοινωνία, να γεννάει προσδοκίες και ελπίδες και να ξεχειλίζει εκτός των στενών ορίων.

Δέκα χρόνια μετά, ήρθε η στιγμή να γίνει το

μεγάλο βήμα. Ήρθε η στιγμή οι “Ενωμένες Κοινωνίες των Βαλκανίων” να ανοίξουν την καρδία τους και να τους χωρέσει όλες και όλους! Μια καρδία που θα δώσει χώρο και χρόνο σε κάθε διψασμένο δημιουργικό άτομο και ομάδα, κάθε άτομο που έχει την ανάγκη να συνδράσει, να λειτουργήσει, να κυνηγήσει τα όνειρα του. Η ”BalkanHeart” είναι το νέο πρόγραμμα του φορέα μας. Σε έναν πολύχρωμο, πολυμορφικό και φιλικό χώρο στο κέντρο της πόλης έχουν σχεδιαστεί και υλοποιούνται

εκπαιδευτικά και ψυχαγωγικά εργαστήρια, δράσεις και δραστηριότητες για τα μέλη και τις φίλες και φίλους μας. Δίνει την δυνατότητα σε άτομα και ομάδες να χρησιμοποιήσουν τον χώρο για τις δικές τους δραστηριότητες και συναντήσεις. Μπορεί το κάθε άτομο να έρθει για να ενημερωθεί για τις δράσεις μας, για τα προγράμματα και τις ευκαιρίες της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης και άλλων Ιδρυμάτων. Μπορεί κάποια/ος να συμμετέχει στην ομάδα των εθελοντών και να προσπαθήσουν να αλλάξουν πράγματα που θεωρούν λάθος στην ζωή τους και φυσικά μπορεί κάποια/ος να έρθει να πιεί ένα καφεδάκι και να μας γνωρίσει!

Στον

χώρο της Balkan Heart, πλέον θα βρίσκονται τα γραφεία του φορέα μας, το πρόγραμμα Balkan HotSpot που σχετίζεται με το ηλεκτρονικό ραδιόφωνο και τηλεόραση και το περιοδικό μας του Balkan Beats και στα οποία εργάζονται πολλά νέα άτομα, ως εθελοντές από ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη. Ένας χώρος πολυπολιτισμικότητας, γεμάτος ενέργεια και παλμό, έτοιμος να σε παρασύρει σε έναν κόσμο γεμάτο χρώματα και φαντασία, όπως τα όνειρα μας! Και όλα αυτά στο κέντρο της πόλης!

Πολλά ευφάνταστα πράγματα και εκπλήξεις

σε περιμένουν, αρκεί να ακούσεις τους χτύπους της καρδίας μας, που χτυπάει στην καρδία της Θεσσαλονίκης, στην πόλη-καρδία των Βαλκανίων! Έλα να χορέψεις στον ρυθμό του χτύπου της και ποιος ξέρει... μπορεί να αλλάξει και η δική σου ζωή! © Claudia Cornea

USB NEWS

In life, we must dream in order to be able to exist. Reality can often be a small nightmare and we need to change our plans, but this should not make us lose our hope. And the real hope in life is love.

Volunteer Life

ticipate in the volunteer team and try to change things that they think are wrong in their life and of course anyone can come drink a coffee with us and get to know us!

This is our love for the youth, the part of society “Balkan Heart” will be the home of the project “Bal-

that should be living their dreams but have lost all faith in life. Ten years ago, in a small basement, everything started by a person who wanted to change something. Over time and through comedies and tragedies, successes and failures, summers and winters, this small basement filled with smiles and joy, thoughts and ideas for the future. The word “I” became “we” and the “little” became “much”. A “much” that began to appear in society, generate expectations and hopes and to overflow beyond the narrow limits.

kan HotSpot”, which is associated with Balkan Beats e-radio, television and “Balkan Beats” magazine, in which many young people from all around Europe are working as volunteers. A multicultural space full of energy and pulse, ready to take you to a world full of colours and imagination, like our dreams! And, above all, it is in the city center!

Many

imaginative things and surprises are waiting for you, as long as you hear the rhythm of our heart beating at the heart of Thessaloniki, in the very heart of the Balkans! Come and dance to the beat of that heart and who knows ... it can change your life!

Ten years later, it is time to take the big step. It is time for the “United Societies of Balkans” to open its heart up to everyone! A heart that will give space and time to every creative, thirsty person and group, every person who feels the need to help, to work, to chase their dreams. “Balkan Heart” is the new program of our organization. In a colourful, polymorphic and friendly space in the city center, educational and entertainment workshops and activities have been planned and realized for our members and friends. It enables individuals and groups to use the space for their own activities and meetings. Everyone can come to learn about our actions, programs and opportunities of the European Union, the Council of Europe and other Foundations. Anyone can parAristodimos Paraschou

Volunteer Life USB NEWS

Roma Storytelling Adventure Youth Exchange _ Thessaloniki

by Irakli Tevzadze

42 youngsters from 6 different countries gathered in Greece, Thessaloniki in youth exchange program for two weeks. The main aim of the program was to get participants in touch with the concept of identity, human rights, minority rights, and at the same time get to know the Roma community. In particular, to be aware of the problems they face and break the stereotypes associated with the Romani people, their culture and lifestyle. “The project gave me the opportunity to get in touch with the concept of identity and understand the difficulties and stereotypes that Romani people are faced with. Moreover, improved my skills in the field of intercultural dialogue, teamwork, tolerance, human rights, etc. I met people from various countries, created life-lasting friendships, and had lots of fun!” — Bogomila Veleva, participant

Bogomila Veleva, participant Group Picture © Irakli Tevzadze

USB NEWS

The program sponsored by Erasmus+ which

was hosted by USB – NGO gave an opportunity to youngsters from Greece, Bulgaria, FYROM, Romania, Spain and Hungary to meet each other, to attend on three types of workshops and to work on one of the main topics - Romani people’s stereotypes.

Volunteer Life

are equal. This way they changed their perspective on the differential. They are all youngsters, and they respect the Romani people and culture, they become respective of all people, cultures and societies. Through projects like this, they gained the friend, so they can start working on how to break the stereotypes because both groups here feel the stereotypes throughout time. So even meeting one another help them to realise that their similarities are much more and more important than their differences and they can work together”.

During the exchange, participants had the opportunity to attend special parallel workshops on areas related to digital storytelling - theatre, script writing/direction, video production/editing - and acquire the relevant skills while expressing themselves. The aim of these workshops was, among The participants mainly focused on three stereoother things, to provide tools for the promotion of types: human rights and the rights of minorities. The first day was loaded with different games to

learn more about each other, to get closer and to form as a team.

On the next day, the participants had a session

about stereotypes, which was the most interesting for them. During the course, held by facilitators and full of natural education elements, participants spoke about all the stereotypes that regard the Roma people. The second day’s facilitator, Urania, said:

“They came here, and they understand that the most important thing is that all human beings

Urania

Volunteer Life USB NEWS

1 Romani people have no education. 2 Gypsy people do not work. 3 Romani people are thieves. The participants also discussed social and eco-

nomic conditions, traditions and behaviours of the Romani families.

tion of human rights and the rights of minorities. Participants had to write, film and edit their own short videos. On the last days of the exchange, the results of these workshops were presented in a meeting. The aim was to have a maximum and multiplier effect on the local community.

This event also included local stakeholders and

young people who had the opportunity to be informed about the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s themes, to interact tage and creative writing workshops for the rest with the participants and to be informed about of the days. Among other things, the aim of these the Erasmus+ program and about the opportuworkshops was to provide tools for the promo- nities they offer.

Participants attended the drama, video mon-

Cultural Night

ÂŠ Irakli Tevzadze

VOICE TO VOLUNTEERS

Lorenzo Sciuca

Volunteer Life

by Elena Lobova

How is it to be a volunteer? We have asked this question our previous volunteer from Italy - Lorenzo Sciuca. Now he is 29 years old, and he collaborated with us for ten months, from May 2017 to March 2018.

Why did you decide to go to EVS?

When I was 17, some people came into my

school and gave us some ideas about what to do after completing high school. They presented us EVS, and I was quickly in love with the intention to go somewhere for being a volunteer. I was never able to realise my plan for 11 years but, finally, when I was 28 years old, I applied for this project.

2 What was your first impression of country, project and people?

From the very first moment, I was impressed by the smells and nature of the country. My first impression of the project was that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the office, it was too dark and in a kind of underground environment (although in summer was very fresh). Differently happened with people; I immediately noticed their warmness and kindness in welcoming me.

3 How long was your period for adaptation? Was it difficult?

Lorenzo working in the Balkan Hotspot office

I think my real adaptation and integration hap- 4 What was your favourite place/ pened in September when I started to understand Greek in a faster way (at first it took me ages to read just one single word). It was difficult because basically, I could not understand anything; then with the time, with the help of my beloved girlfriend (formerly my Greek teacher), of my colleagues and of greek people I have been able to find a way.

places in Thessaloniki? And in Greece?

In Thessaloniki, my favourite places were Ano Poli and Kastra, but I also loved the Kapani market. While my ideal Greek location is Crete; I could go there for a week alone, and I completely fell in love with it - it was great.

Volunteer Life VOICE TO VOLUNTEERS

5 You have lived and worked with

a lot of volunteers. How did you During the first part, the ‘Sharing is caring’ was a feel when there are always a lot of positive side of living together; then this become people around you? Which are the little by little ‘Sharing is scaring’. Too many volpositive and negative sides of this? unteers, too little spaces and too different needs.

It depends: I can divide my experience as a volunteer in 2 blocks. During my first part of EVS, I was living in a shared apartment 10 minutes far from the office. In that period I was feeling other volunteers as a part of my family, they were ‘flatmates’, and I was happy to share and to work with them and with other people living in different apartments.

6 Can you say that it was a pleasant experience for you? What did you learn for that period?

In the end, it was a lovely experience, I learnt and understood the importance of the little things and the importance of being in syntony with the environment in order to be in syntony with all the team, with your goals and finally your dreams.

During the second part of my EVS, I was living in 7 a block with some other 15 to 20 volunteers, and

Can you give some advice to current volunteers?

the office was just on the first floor of the building. During this period, sometimes, my only goal Give to yourself the time to adapt the first month was to find some privacy. Also, it happened that (this includes parties, good life, tavernas). I felt that potentially I could live only between my room and the office. The remaining months try to travel as much as you can.

Thessaloniki is full of volunteerism options; try

to find the one that best fits you and focus on that.

Make an effort and try to learn the language,

Greek is a powerful language, and it can open your mind.

Cook by yourself, eat together with other volunteers, try to find a way to economise resources and storage. Discover yourself and learn new things! In conclusion, be aware that sometimes - “the

solution is not a solution!”

A portrait took in the UK, where he is currently living with his girlfriend

Sometimes you could have the feeling that nothing is going to change or to be fixed. But, on the contrary, is happening... continuously!

VOICE TO VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer Life

Mafalda Tenazinha by Kateryna Voronova

Mafalda Tenazinha is an ex-long term volunteer at Balkan Hotspot from Portugal. Now

she works in an aviation company and lives in Belgium. When I asked Mafalda to describe her time in Greece in one sentence, she said: “Keep calm, there is a new place to go”. In this interview, you will find thoughts, emotions and feelings which Mafalda has after her ten months living in Thessaloniki.

Which are the things do you like the most in Greek culture?

The greek salad, Dakos, Fried feta with honey, the fava, fried zucchini, rakomelo, tsipouro, ouzo, mousaka, gyros.

2 Can you tell us about your favorite place in Thessaloniki, where you would like to come back a lot of of times?

Kastra, or Kastra-after-Kastra for our group. It’s the most magical place in town with the most beautiful sunset, and we used to spend there so © Balkan Hotspot Archives many afternoons, so many hours, for so many different reasons and celebrations or even to do nothing, just enjoying the place and the company. I should spend hours talking about the old and the new me).

3 Can you say that Mafalda before EVS and Mafalda after it are different people?

Well, I could write a book about that. Definitively was an experience that changed me a lot.

4 How did the experience of

working in Balkan Hotspot influence your life?

It was in my last days in Thessaloniki that I did

the assessment day to join the aviation company where I am working at the moment. This is the most straightforward answer for me (otherwise

5 Which moments that happened to

you during the project you would like to save forever in your memory?

I would say so many, and unconsciously they are

all here when I look in the mirror every morning. A considerable part of my best friends now are people that I met during EVS, and that’s the fantastic thing about this experience! People. Since I left Thessaloniki, I met practically all my good friends, at least once. I went to Italy, to the UK, to Greece again and even in Portugal (the Portuguese empire is always there - in Lisbon, Braga, Porto)... Still, it’s not finished: by the end of this month, for

Volunteer Life VOICE TO VOLUNTEERS

example, I’m going to meet one of my best friends from Spain who was doing EVS in Lefkada.

6 Could you please give advice to

new and future volunteers – how to manage their time during the project and use all opportunities which are opened to them?

8 Did you try to do something that

you had never tried before, some crazy and exciting things?

Well, yes. Our group used to say that “we were living the dangerous life of EVS in Greece” at these moments.

Well, time is yours. And it will end, it will not last 9 What do you feel now, when I

forever. The choice to go on EVS was yours too, asked you to return with your and it’s yours the opportunity to enjoy it as much thoughts to Greece, to refresh as you can. Think about your goals, how to reach your memories of your time there? them, make connections, talk with people, discover places. Find your motivation and work hard, It’s kind of course, so many good adventures but work. Your EVS in Balkan Hotspot is what you with some of my favourite people. It’s indefinwant to make of it. There is a world of possibilities able, but it’s an exercise that I do almost every and ways that you can go through. You can write, day. I’m grateful to have them by my side now. make photoshoots, video shoots, edit footage, manage social networks, the blog, do interviews, study the fascinating Balkan culture, travel... The important thing is: do the things you like but do it better and with motivation! My suggestion is to put your best in everything you do.

7 Do you have some regrets? Did

something disappoint you during your “Greek life”?

No, I don’t, neither one.

NGO ACTIVITY

Volunteer Life

How to ADD ART into city life of THESSALONIKI Mapping out the activities of the most art-loving NGO in town.

by Filip Grác

ADD ART came to be in February 2014, when Thessaloniki was the European Youth Capi-

tal. On this occasion, three art-loving spirits, Dimitris Savvaidis, Stavros Savvaidis and Yannis Rubulias, decided to contribute to the art life of Thessaloniki by establishing their NGO. In the following article, we are going to talk about our visit to the ADD ART´s headquarters and find out what exactly are these guys recently doing.

“The first ideas to do some general artistic activ-

ities around the city came to be approximately six months before to establishing of our NGO. We were brainstorming about the possibilities of doing as many types of artistic collaborations within the city of Thessaloniki as we possibly can, and that is how ADD ART was born. For this reason, we were also open to all sorts of artistic collaborations since the beginning.”

Stavros has nicely exemplified this artistically

ADDing ART to the city

The original idea behind establishing ADD ART

was to include in their activities as many types of art as possible. Starting in 2014, the initial focus was directed on comic books and animation making; later on, theatrical plays and board games came into play as well. When asked about the motivation that led to the establishment of ADD ART, Stavros Savvaidis – on of the three founding fathers, told us the following:

whole spirit of ADD ART on the OPEN HOUSE event: “In 2016, we were asked to do illustrations for books and flyers that would present this architectonical event to the general public. Once we were done with that, we have found a theatre director that would help us to find also a human connection with each of the historical buildings presented by the event. With the help of Chrysa Gouma, our volunteers rehearsed short theatrical monologues about the presented buildings, so that visitors of the OPEN HOUSE would have a chance to find out a little bit more about these architectonic structures also from the perspective of locals. So even for this architectonically oriented event, we managed to add some lively artistic level to it.”

Volunteer Life NGO ACTIVITY

Comic books published by ADD ART

COMICS

Since the early days of ADD ART, comic book mak-

ing remains one of its primary artistic activities. For a large part of comic books made by ADD ART we would find Dimitris Savvaidis on the position of the scriptwriter and Yannis as an illustrator:

“For example one of our first comic books series is called STORIES FROM A TRAIN, and it is a collection of strips that have a lot of wild references to pop-culture. We have published five of the comic books from this series so far.”

five different stories, and their main aim was to raise awareness in connection with topics such as bullying, human rights, rights of children, special needs or racism. SAY IT WITH COMICS was indeed a very enriching project in which twenty-five different illustrators drawn stories based on scripts made by children from local schools. Once the project was finished, we also printed one thousand copies of each issue, and we distributed them around the schools in Thessaloniki.”

Apart from that, there could also be found numerous other comic book projects in which the positions of scriptwriters and illustrators were offered to other creative individuals.

“In 2016, we have done the series of comic book short stories called URBAN MYSTERIES that presented urban legends about Thessaloniki. In this series, each story has been done by a different illustrator, so as a result, we have gathered twelve stories that differ in style, artworks and methods in which they were done.” “As for our other comic book-making activities

with larger public input, we have also organised the project called SAY IT WITH COMICS, which contained five different issues of short comic books stories in cooperation with children from Thessaloniki. Each of these five issues included

Kid reading a comic book

NGO ACTIVITY

Kids of Thessaloniki with comic books from ADD ART

ANIMATION

When it comes to other prominent artistic ac-

tivity of ADD ART, it should be mentioned that Dimitris and Yannis were making animation long time before the NGO came to be. Turn point in this area occurred in 2016 when ADD ART also started to organise Thessaloniki Animation Festival (TAF), which grew up to be one of their priorities ever since.

“We organise (TAF) every year around the 20th

of October because it is the international day of animation. This festival usually lasts four days (from Thursday to Saturday), and since last year it takes place in Makedonikon cinema and partially also in the interiors of the nearby library, where we organise the masterclasses. The main goal of TAF is to make an international competition for animators from all around the world. For example for this year´s competition,

Volunteer Life

people sent us around 1500 movies. Naturally, we cannot screen all of them, and that is why we had to figure out a very delicate selection process. So out of these 1500 movies, we will choose by the time of the festival around 400 movies which are going to be screened within the official competition, where people can vote for them all together with the judges and thus determine the best film. Once the best films are selected, we award the prices in three different categories: best-animated film in the main category, best scenario and best student movie. Each year we also have a specific topic for the festival. The last year we have been screening animations about human rights and this year we are planning to present the animations dealing with environmental themes. For the festival, we are trying to invite various international guests that also help us with a selection of the winning movies in the jury.”

Volunteer Life NGO ACTIVITY

FILMS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

Apart from the animated movies, ADD ART man-

aged to make one documentary in 2014. It was TRAINING COURSES called THESSALONIKI FROM MY EYES, and its primary goal was to present the city from the In order to share the artistic joy and creativity eyes of children. with the general public, ADD ART also organises various training courses: “We filmed this documentary with the camera being approximately one meter high from the “Our most recent one was REFUGEE INTEGRA- ground so that adults would have an opporTION LAB hosted in Thessaloniki this July. The tunity to see the city from the children’s permain theme of this training course was helping spective again.” refugees, and it consisted of three different workshops - Dimitris was doing animation, Yan- The list of the creative activities of ADD ART nis focused on storytelling and Spiros, our oth- goes on and on, among the other activities that er colleague, was lecturing about board game this NGO made in the past few years we can also making. In this case, the board game workshop find a book that was published as a result of was a special enriching experience, because competition in the genres of horror and fantasy. our participants managed to design a unique Another initiative that Stavros told me about was and functional outcome with the theme of ref- an integrative project connected to the artistic ugees. The title of the board game that partici- expression of refugee children, where they can pants designed during the workshop was HOPE find out more about animation, storytelling, com(ελπίδα in Greek).” ic books and other types of artistic expression. Latest training course in progress © ADD ART archives

STORY OF LUCK

Volunteer Life

The woman who dared by Claudia Maria Cornea

Eleni Karafillidou, 29 years old woman who dared to live the life she wanted, to make mis-

takes, to be moral and independent at the same time. We interviewed her for you to understand better the lucky story of a simple Roma woman in the community of Dendropotamos.

Dendropotamos neighborhood

What is your strongest memory when childhood comes into your mind?

The most reliable memory is when I was fighting

with my parents to go to school, I couldn’t wake up, and my mother was always shouting to go to school. I remember I was afraid.

2 How would you describe yourself as a student?

I was not such a good student; I didn’t like to go to school. At about 16 years old I decided to go

to technical school, so I interrupted my studies at Dendropotamos. When I left high school, I had to go out of the neighbourhood, I needed to take buses to arrive there. I was afraid, I didn’t know anyone, I felt very uncomfortable, so I decided to come back to Dendropotamos. I was about 17 years old. In that period, ten years ago, it was extraordinary for someone from Dendropotamos to go to a school out of this neighbourhood. After high-school, when I was about 20-21 years old, I started nursery school.

Volunteer Life STORY OF LUCK

Volunteers from Balkan Hotspot going in the Dendropotamos community

3 Why did you interrupt your

through different activities. I didn’t manage to go studies? to the university, but I went after high school at a practical school to become a nurse. I love my My friends influenced me, so I decided to go to job, but now I am unemployed. I liked everything a technical school to learn something more prac- I’ve learned; I became independent, I can think tical and I interrupted my studies again. I also for myself, and i can have my personal opinion. stayed at home for about one year to understand how Roma girls spend their time after school, The fact that you are unemployed doing nothing. I wanted to be a free girl but I was has anything to do with the fact inside the house, so I was not free. that you are a Roma girl?

4 What did you do when you stayed No, it doesn’t. Unfortunately, it’s something reone year at home?

lated to the Greek system in general.

I had no obligation; I was drinking my coffee, I 6 Did your parents support you? was cleaning everything all day. In the beginning, I was ok with relaxing and doing nothing, but in My parents were very supportive, especially my the long run, I was bored. I understood that my mother, who is a very active Roma woman. I say decision was wrong and that I made a mistake. this because when I wanted to give up on high One person helped me a lot to join the society school, she was pushing me not to do it.

STORY OF LUCK

Volunteer Life

7 Did your family ever try to

influence your choices regarding school or marriage?

Right now my family is trying to convince me to get married; they encourage me very much.

8 Did you ever felt limited by traditions?

Yes, as a Roma girl you cannot always do what

you want. You still have to think about what people are going to say, how they will see you, try to make them not to say anything wrong about your family and all these prejudices.

9 What are you most proud of your choices in life?

realised that, even I am a Roma woman, I can still make my dreams come true. Though I am a woman who lives in a ghetto, I managed to be independent and moral, Moreover, I am trying to be a role model for all the girls in Dendropotamos.

10 If you would change something about what it would be?

I wouldn’t change anything about my actions,

because it was my own decision. The only thing I really would like to turn is the place where I leave because it’s full of limits and prejudices.

First of all, I am proud of myself because I un-

Thank you for sharing your story of derstood my mistakes and, through the years, I luck with us!

Coffee shop in Dendropotamos

Local Life FESTIVALS

The 10th annual Street mode festival

by Axel Furberg

Starting Thursday the 30th, Thessaloniki had its biggest yearly festival. The four-day fes-

tival, “Street Mode” of Thessaloniki, invited a range of different artists, involving music, art or sports like skateboarding.

The Festival was held at FIX, an old brewing factory now home for music, festivals and volunteering. The Festival has seen exponential growth with this year, marking the most prominent artists, and the biggest crowds in the festival’s ten-years-old history. The four-day festival had over 100 different acts and

er and happier, the real Mckenzies was perfect. six different stages. This year over 10.000 people With a proper Irish folk-rock band like this, it was attended the event, which also had a focus on recy- impossible not to move the body with the music. cling that is considered a big problem in Greece. Of course, many more artists attended, and the full artist list can be found on the Street mode festivals Alongside all the music acts there was street art, skateboarding, food and other events like homepage here. On the website, you can also see the “Erasmus plus” tent. Local Volunteers in and videos and pictures from both, this year and earlier around Thessaloniki created props for this Eras- years festivals. Even the artist programs of previmus + tent, as well as a recycling station. Recycling is always a big problem during a festival. To cope with all the plastic a recycling station was set up, and for every 25 plastic bottles or glasses, you could get a free beer. This makes recycling rewarding in both a direct sense and of course in a long-term sense to help save the world.

The recycle station resembles the seafloor, giving us an idea of what it probably already look like, and what it will look like if we don’t start recovering. As mentioned earlier there were many different

events alongside the music, for example, skateboard and longboarding, street dance as well as an MC and beat making battles. The Festival could brag with bringing in famous worldwide artists like 1000 mods, a very renowned greek rock band, “Locomondo”. Another major artist was the Dutch rap collective Dope D.O.D, mixing heavy electrical instrumentals with hard hitting rap. Or, for those who wanted something soft-

The artist program for Street mode festival 2018 © www.streetmode.gr

FESTIVALS

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10.000 people attended this years festival, marking it as the festivals biggest year yet © www.streetmode.gr

ous years are available. The Festival also exists on Instagram, Youtube and Facebook.

Even though most of the festival attendees nat-

urally were Greek, there were people from all over the world coming to enjoy: Israelites, French, Bulgarian and many many more. Also, many of the working volunteers came from other countries, adding a feeling of internationality to the festival.

During the festival, the guests were treated with the great warm weather, lovely food and great music. Be sure to keep your eyes open for next year’s festival. The 11th annual Street Mode Festival will be in Thessaloniki around the same date next year, while artists and acts will be published as we get closer. The recycle station mimicking the sea floor © Ines Mendes, volunteer at FIX

Let’s make next year an even greater experience!

Local Life FESTIVALS

Thessaloniki International LGBTQ Film Festival by Elena Lobova

The 20th edition of Thessaloniki International LGBTQ Film Festival will take place at the Cine-

ma Museum of Thessaloniki from 28th to 30th of September. The festival will focus attention on the LGBTQ community and human rights. Nowadays it is a big event with participants from all over the world, with the main idea of facilitating the discussion in the society about homosexuality, intersexuality and transgender issues, calling attention to thinking and the feelings.

Thessaloniki International LGBTQ Film Festival

become more and more open-minded. This is a presents full-meter and short films made by huge achievement that we can spread informainternational filmmakers, and many directors tion about the LGBTQ community and getting are a part of the LGBTQ community. This is a more aware. great opportunity to face with the everyday life and social issues. Five discussions will be held “We try to provide knowledge and feelings after the screenings during sessions in which about the life of LGBTIs from countries where visitors are welcome to give questions and dive more freedom and visibility exists than in Greece - Nikos Hatzitrifon, General Coordinator into discussions. and Supervisor of Festival, said - so that the The topic of the festival is major nowadays be- audience gets ideas and can imagine a better cause the world is changing and has started to future for his/her self”. During the Festival there

Cover festival

FESTIVALS

A discussion during the last festival

Local Life

In addition to the main screening program, everyone can participate in discussions about the situation of LGBTIQ refugees in Europe, about the problems people with disabilities have to face, about bullism and about HIV. Visitors can also have the opportunity to meet with delegations from five European countries, participating in the Erasmus+ programme «Perform@Reform». During the whole Festival, everyone is welcome to contemplate in a painting exhibition which is In Greece people have started to have more focused on humans’ existence and uniqueness. open discussions about LGBTI rights and to This year, the Film Festival will be extended more consider the community more positively. “The than usual: films screened in a much bigger hall LGBTI issues are discussed in the society more in higher quality. The program provides a diverse often and positively than in the past - said Nikos variety of films so that everyone can find someHatzitrifion - a lot of laws provide rights and prothing according to its personal needs! tection, but this do not mean, that the situation develops itself without dangers for retreat”. That is why the initiatives like this Festival, that has Find the schedule of the festival run for almost 20 years, are still very important here: https://lgbtq-iff.gr/ to improve the situation. will be also the opportunity to learn about the Greek situation and analise it. “We show also the life in countries with bigger problems than in Greece - Dr. Hatzitrifion said - so that the audience get aware about the problems of other LGBTI’s community and is moved to support LGBTIs in other countries ot he ones coming to Greece and European Community, as immigrants and refugees”.

Local Life BOOKS

“The dream” Antonis Tsapatakis

by Giada Russo

An illustrated fairy tale which contains the story of a life and the love for it in all the

aspects. This book, entitled “The dream” (in greek: Το Όνειρο), through shadow and magic, tells the life story of a guy who, despite what happened to him in the past, still believes in the strength of the “I can” and in the willpower.

Antonis Tsapatakis learnt to swim at the age of

five, and since the beginning, he realised that the water was his world. The swimming pool of Chania, city where he was born, started to become the second house for him, and day by day he was finding there a kind of freedom that he couldn’t feel anywhere else.

was 2006 when a motorcycle accident changed his life and left him paralysed, forcing him to live forever in a wheelchair. He knew that from now on, life wouldn’t be the same: everything was inexorably changing, and he wouldn’t be able to walk on his feet again. Despite this awareness, he never gave up, and he never accepted to be closed in the four-walls house. This is why one day, passing by the swimming pool, he clearly understood that, somehow, he had to come back there again to chase his dreams; he wanted to be active, to become independent, to start a new life.

reer hasn’t stopped, with one success after the other and a lot of medals. But while becoming a champion, he was stolen from his biggest dream: becoming a Police officer. At that time, he was attending the Police academy, and just after the accident, he was kicked out from it because of the disability. He suffered a kind of racism not only from the academy itself but first of all from the State that imposed by law that, if you have a disability which in some way affects the functionality of your body,, you are not eligible for the police. This was the second saddest thing happened to him, and that influenced his life entirely because, in such a way, he was feeling alone and abandoned. After 11 years of struggle against the bureaucracy, he finally decided to send a letter to the Greek Prime Minister explaining his story and, one year and a half ago, he could have back his job.

Just

some days ago, on his Facebook and Finally, in 2008, he started swimming again, he Instagram account, he posted this picture folbegan training and competing at the Paralym- lowed by a small text, to recall this event that pic Games: from that moment his athletic ca- signed his life:

BOOKS

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“Today marks the one year anniversary of the accomplishment of a dream that I have had for 11 years. This dream, which sparked the creation and fulfillment of 13 more dreams, has now come to life. This dream, to wear that uniform once again! It is as if I have travelled back through time... I did not throw it away..neither did I pack it in some box that I would place on a dusty shelf in the basement. Instead... I washed it, ironed it and hung it in the same closet where I kept my daily outfits. Every day as I was staring at it, it reminded me of the promise I had given to myself..to wear it again as a policeman..no matter how many years would pass. To wear it and prove to those who had faith in me; even to those who pretended to believe in me; but even more to those who fight daily for the rights they have as citizens of a favored society; that the strokes of fate must be tragically welcomed. You must fight with your whole being in order to find justice for the wounds that made you bleed and kneel. For as I am now wearing my uniform and will also soon be an officer of the axiomatic of ΕΛ.ΑΣ., due to my Worldwide and Paralympic distinctions, I have proved not only to myself but everyone else, I want to believe, that the fight for the implementation of our dreams can only be won with the power of our SOUL. You may bleed, but you must never give up.”

“The dream.”

It’s a fairytale apparently addressed only to chil-

dren, but of course, it’s for both kids and grownups, and it tells the story of his life but with some changes, because it’s more natural and less hard to explain such an intense topic like this by using magical elements.

The

Cover of the book

But the sport is not his only project. After the injury, he started talking about his personal story to motivate not just himself but even the others, and being the real evidence that if you want, you can. This is why came the idea of writing a book, “The dream”, to give everyone something concrete, and that can go beyond the talks he has almost every day in schools and universities.

story is about a young boy, Tonis, who while playing has an accident and, after this, he is forced to live in the wheelchair, paralysed forever. But Tonis doesn’t give up: he wants to walk again, he wants back his life, and for this reason, he is ready to struggle and to do everything is needed to be done. Moreover, he wants to work to help his family financially, even their parents are not asking him for money but just from her sister. For this, he starts thinking he is useless, until he finds out about the presence of a magician who lives on the top of a hill and who could help him to walk again. Tonis starts his trip which will be full of tricky and surprising episodes, but at the end, he will manage to reach the magician. After this meeting, the protagonist starts finding explanations for what happened to him, and he feels better again. But now, he has another mission to accomplish: give to the others, kids and “old kids”, the lesson he has learnt and experienced by himself.

Local Life BOOKS

Antonis Tsapatakis

This is basically what Antonis Tsapatakis wants

courage and firm determination. Of course, he to achieve by spreading his message of hope passed through awkward moments, but he never and courage, starting with children who, as he lost his hope for a better future, and every day he thinks, are the base of our community. is fighting for chasing his dreams. Among his plans for the future, before the idea of writing other books, he wants to translate the one already published in as many languages as “Nothing is given in life. possible – he is also thinking about animation, Everything is gained with courage and effort!” to be more active. He feels that he has done many things during these years, but he needs to do more and to reach, with his story, as many Perseverance, effort and self-infliction are evpeople as possible, but especially kids. eryday components of his life, and this is also For this reason, he is also getting in contact with the message that the athlete wants to share and the small Greek communities around the world, give to all of us. As the picture above shows us, to spread the idea of the love for life contained in he is not embarrassed, ashamed or frustrated for his wheelchair; on the contrary, he took adhis book and to motivate people. vantages from it in order to become his strong To sum up, this book is about the story of a point, the symbol of his willpower. It’s never too guy who accepted what happened to him with late to start again!

CULTURE

Local Life

Assumption Day in Greece and Ukraine

by Kateryna Voronova

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the major celebrations of the Orthodox Church,

and for Greeks, it is a special holiday celebrated on the 15th of August. It is time to think about the lifetime of Virgin Mary, miracles that she did and also to spend more time with family. It is a surprising fact that Greece and Ukraine have a lot of common traditions in Assumption Day, which created a strong connection between two countries. Let’s try to find the special importance of this holiday in contemporary times.

Icon of Assumption of the Virgin Mary © wordincarnate.wordpress.com

Religious

people believe that on Assumption Day the Virgin Mary’s body and soul were taken up to Heaven after her death. It means that she finally met with her son Jesus in the Heavens. Assumption Day is a day of great happiness; according to religion, the end moment of your being on Earth is the opportunity to reach a more fantastic life and everyone should be happy about meeting with God on Heaven because he prepared something better than our world.

The feast was initially known as the Memory of

Mary. It began to be celebrated in Jerusalem in the fourth century. The people of Rome observed the entertainment in the seventh century and referred to it as the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God. The name of the celebration was changed later on to the Assumption.

In Greece Assumption Day is considered “The summer Easter”. It is official day-off, every city’s church is holding a formal mass, during the processions an icon of Mary is carried and adorned with flowers. For Greeks, it is important to spend this day with family; usually, in the morning, everyone goes to the church for praying and after that families gather together in grandparents’ house, talking with each other and tasting traditional food. Traditional dishes are rice, cheese and sour milk on the celebration table. Kostas is 21 years old, and he is from a Greek

city called Komotini. He usually spends Assumption Day with his family, and for him this feast is significant. His parents and grandparents are religious people, so from a very young age he started going to church too and learnt to believe in God and Mary. Now he feels the support of Mary and a unique connection with her because:

“She was humble; she grew up Jesus with difficulties, we must take that example and be strong in our life, we must fight. To earn things, not just wait for happiness but make this happiness on your own” — Kostas

Local Life CULTURE

Island Tinos - the religious center of Greece

In Ukraine, Greek Catholic Church and Orthodox

Church celebrate Assumption of the Virgin Mary on 28th of August. It is because we use a different calendar, Ukrainian religious holidays are following by old Julian calendar Greek Orthodox Church lives by Gregorian calendar. But it is the only difference in dates; Ukraine and Greece have a lot of common things in celebrating Assumption Day.

The Assumption marks the end of tourist season

for Greeks. In Ukraine this day means the end of working in the field, summer is running out, so you should prepare for school, job and started wearing warm clothes. Mary, the Blessed Virgin, means a lot for Ukrainian people. During the spiritual history of our country, she always played a huge role in human’s life. Blessed Mother of God is still considered being the patron of Ukraine. For Greeks and also for Ukrainians Virgin Mary is a symbol of innocence, purity and maternity; especially for Ukrainian women, Mary is an important person and an idea of being Mother. Pregnant women are praying for the safe birth of their child; they are going to the church, light a candle, and asking Mary for protection and help. In Greece, women do the same. For example, fe-

male members of the Roma community like to bring some valuable things to Mary as a gift for her support and help. Also, they have an excellent tradition to share their meal with poor people on Assumption Day.

“We should follow Mary in respect for other people. Don’t look for the money only. If you have something, you should share it, and not only keep it for you. The lesson from a lifestyle of Mary is mildness. You should care about the others and show love. She was the representation of love; she loved everyone, that is why we love her also so much” — Vasilis from Thessaloniki

This 22 years old guy strongly believes in the miracles of the Virgin Mary. When he was sixteen, he had an accident with the motorcycle and was in the coma for two months. At this time mother of Vasilis stayed on the island of Tinos - a holy

CULTURE

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place with The Miraculous Icon of Virgin Mary. She had been there for one week and was going up and down on her knees, praying to Mary, lightening candles. Now Vasilis is healthy and this moment of his life was a miracle for him.

By the way, Tinos is a traditional place for pil-

grimage during Assumption Day. People usually go up the hill to the church on their knees or travel 25 kilometres on foot between the towns of Mytilene and Agiassos. Vasilis has a purpose of visiting holy island the next year.

Ukrainian holy place Zarvanytsya, where The Blessed Mother of God made her appearance to a monk. © www.uapc.org.ua

“There are a lot of stairs... To go there on your knees it means to share the pain with Mary. She did the same during the road to Golgotha when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. Mary climbed to Golgotha on Her knees. And we have to do the same, because she was suffering for us, and we should do the same as a gift for her” — Vasilis

Every year one million people visit Tinos at As-

sumption Day. For Greeks this place is valuable and extraordinary, they believe that the picture of Virgin Mary makes miracles and recommend to see this holy island in your own eyes.

The Miraculous Icon of Virgin Mary in Ukrainian holy © zakharii.deviantart.com place Zarvanytsya

Ukrainians have the same tradition to visit holy Everyone who comes to such holy places as

places at Assumption Day. The most popular corner is Zarvanytsya, where The Blessed Mother of God made her appearance to a monk. At Assumption Day a lot of people from different cities and countries are coming to the village Zarvanytsya to pray and ask Virgin Mary for support. It is a sort of Ukrainian Mecca. Usually, people are going by foot from their native city to this holy place.

Tinos (in Greece) and Zarvanytsya (in Ukraine) believes in miracles of Blessed Mother of God. Father Athenagoras from Thessaloniki says that marvels are the result of our strong hope.

Jesus Christ made a lot of people healthy and happy, and he stresses in the Bible:

“I am not the one who is making miracles; it is

the power of your belief’’.

Local Life CULTURE

The human mind cannot explain everything, but the heart can understand more. We have an opportunity to make marvels too, following the lifestyle of the Virgin Mary. For example, Father Athenagoras is a massive miracle for abandoned children. He is the founder of institution “Faros of the world”, which helps kids from poor families, and he created a new home to them. Also, the priest is giving an opportunity to have education and to discover unique talents for this children. In general, there are kids from the Roma community. They live together and learn how to take care of each other and to be a responsible person. These simple and useful things are showed by Holy family, representers of which there are Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and Child Jesus.

It was a situation when they threw out away all things that she bought for them. But she was not angry, because we do good deeds in your life, not for a word thank you. We do it for just for the happiness of other people. God sees everything that we are doing on Earth, and He will remind us for in some day.

“I am old women, and I had too many hard times in my life. Whenever I was not feeling good, even now, one hand grabs me from down to up. This is a power of Mary’ — Angela

Life of the Virgin Mary wasn’t so joyful, she was

suffering a lot, especially when Jesus Christ was She also told about unique traditions of celesentenced to death. But, She always found new bration Assumption Day. In every Greek village hope, and she put her life in God’s hands and ac- there are different traditions - put fire, eat, drink, dance. When Angela was young, she celebrated cepted all challenges without complaining. Assumption of Virgin Mary in her native place. Sometimes life is not grateful to us. Angela from With her friends, they used to go to a site on naAthens provided a lot of help for the first refu- ture, put fire and jumped over the fire. There is a gees, buying them clothes - shoes and T-shirts. special meaning of this custom - when you are skipping over the fire, there is a danger, but with a power of Mary you get rid of fears; you feel her support, and you are not alone.

In Ukraine, we have also the tradition to dance

and to be in the countryside during the Assumption Day; this is the last opportunity to enjoy the summertime and reason to have fun after 40 days long fast.

Every day a lots of Ukrainians and Greeks feel

the power of the Blessed Mother of God and Christ. Even not Christians in the worst times of their lives are starting to pray to the Virgin Mary. She is the Mother of the whole world, and everyone can learn something special from her.

Assumption Day is a sign of the big love beFather Athenagoras, the founder of institution “Faros of the world” © Balkan Hotspot team

tween Mother and Son, and also a lesson on how to share this love with everyone.

FOOD

Local Life

Healthy & delicious

by Marta Martinovic

A common topic that appeared a couple of years ago is healthy food. Although we are hear-

ing about it all the time, most of us will still prefer to take a burger instead of salad. But what if there was something that could combine both healthy and delicious?

‘‘Starting from tomorrow, I’m going on a diet.

No more cakes, sweets, fast food or anything!’’ Many of us have said these words at least once in our life, but even when we tried doing it, we would give up after some time. And why is that happening?

We all know that it’s important to eat healthily,

and we hear about it all the time, but the truth is healthy food doesn’t keep us satisfied. The feeling you have while eating your favourite cake or pizza and a sense you have while eating vegetables you’re mainly forced to eat is not the same. That is the reason why the food industry has Falafel pita sandwich Source: https://thejewishkitchen.com/falafel/ brought us the combination of both - healthy fast food. In this case, healthy stands for food that is low in calories, sodium and sugar, rich in pro- Falafel teins, without trans fat, etc. Also, a strange fact about this food is that you can find it in places Falafels are deep-fried balls made from ground like McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King and other. chickpeas and fava beans seasoned with onion, parsley, cumin and coriander. The falafel balls The main idea of healthy fast food is to motivate are stuffed in the pita or wrapped in a flatbread people to eat healthier and to decrease the prev- and topped with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, alence of obesity. One meal usually contains 500 pickled vegetables, hot sauce and tahini sauce. calories or less and at least 10 grams of protein, If fried in a healthy oil (such as olive, canola or which is enough to keep you full. One more good grapeseed oil) and you limit your intake of fat thing is a variety of meals that it offers and ev- and salt for the rest of the day, falafels can be a erybody can find something they like. part of a healthy diet.

Local Life FOOD

Wendy’s — Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/healthy-meals-at-chipotle-panerashake-shack-2016-4#chick-fil-a-grilled-chicken-cool-wrap-340-calories-4

Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad

vinaigrette. The full-size salad has 450 calories 40 grams of protein. This salad, besides its A magical combination of freshly chopped let- and colourful and attractive look, is very healthy and tuce, feta cheese, grape tomatoes, red onions, delicious and very popular in the category of freshly grilled chicken, creamy hummus, sunhealthy fast food. dried tomato grain blend and light balsamic

Chicken burrito supreme, ‘’Fresco style’’

A 340 calories lunch that goes perfectly with yoghurt, a small salad or some fruit. It contains 19 grams of protein, which is a nice amount to strengthen muscles and make you feel full. However, the only downside of this meal is that it contains almost half of your recommended daily allowance of sodium. So, if you are careful with your sodium intake that day, this meal can be a nice combination of healthy and delicious. In the end, we can conclude that eating healthy

Taco Bell - Chicken burrito supreme, ‘’Fresco style’’ Source: https://www.tacobell.com/how-to-eat-fewer-calories

doesn’t have to be so hard or expensive and, with a little effort, we can do something good to our body and be happy at the same time.

SUSTAINABILITY

Local Life

Music festivals and environmental initiatives by Laura Espadas

The natural environment is worth of people’s attention, and many festivals understand it. But

is it possible to combine party and minimisation of environmental effects towards the planet?

Because of the thousands of people, the over-

teers cleaned the area, by doing recycling with use of energies, the waste of food and rubbish, 15 different garbage. In 2016, 74% of waste was the festival’s organisation tries to address is- recycled and reused to make new stuff for the sues. To be in harmony with music and nature at next edition. Finally, these initiatives continue the same time, some festivals in Europe finally became imaginative to combine both.

If you do researches, you can quickly notice that

nowadays more and more European festivals try to be responsible as much as possible. It’s not so easy to find a solution, but with time, support and willpower of organisations, everything is possible! For each of the festivals, the environmental responsibility of everybody is necessary.

This year, the Oya festival celebrates its 19th

edition of fantastic music experience, but not only this. The event, located in the city centre of Oslo (Norway), gambles that partying in front of a concert can work with being responsible for what is around you, without destroying the planet.

First of all, the festival decided to collaborate with Norway’s most prominent environment youth organisation, called Nature of Ungdom. They took part in the environmental activities at the celebration. Not less than 200 volun-

View of the main stage

Local Life SUSTAINABILITY

Poster card of the 14th edition

by turning the food waste into biogas. By doing so, the organisations used it for the operation of For this, one charter, three commitments: to regarbage but also for the buses of the city. It was duce the food’s impact on the environment, take part in the development of fair and sustainable such an excellent way to preserve our planet! economic models. A second good example is Cabaret Vert Festival. Based in Charleville-Mezieres in the north of Furthermore, they concentrated on the transFrance, this festival follows a green way of life. port, the local economy, and cooperation. These initiatives aim to fight against pollution. The Organizers decided to concentrate on six fields: Cabaret Vert is a living example of making the an environmental process, in which there’s re- balance between enjoying a music festival and cycling, dry toilets, reforestation of the site by being eco-friendly. planting trees.

Then, to escort this approach, there’s a part with

Thessaloniki

congresses, exhibitions, and workshops. But Here in Greece, the festival organisations bethinking about the environment is a global point, came aware of these environmental questions. and it’s also related to the food. The Street Mode Festival, which is taking place

SUSTAINABILITY

Art installation to make people aware of our consumption © Fix in Art project

Bins of the recycling station

Local Life

a volunteer opened a chest giving him one coin since 2009, is famous for its various lineup and for a free drink. This example represents an exactivities (dance, street art, sports). It also aims cellent way to help each other and to keep the at changing people’s way of acting and percep- festival clean. tion of the natural environment. With the concept of the aquarium, people could This year, a recycling station was installed to realise how the real ocean looks like when we promote this initiative and make people aware don’t recycle. of the importance of recycling. The volunteers of Fix in Art project, who are in charge of this, The goal of the festival, for the next year, will be wanted to create something original in order to to use reused cups. It can be a very long process to replace standard plastic cups with reused attract people. ones, because of all the sponsors who are not The volunteers decided to create a performance willing to make an effort. But, with the willpower installation to guide this decision. They built a of the organisation to create a “zero waste projvast empty aquarium with animal decorations ect” for the next edition, everything is possible. with bins, to control the amount of trash, like plastic bottles and cups in the area. The goal The Street Mode and all other festivals conwas to reduce the area’s pollution with this in- tribute to the development of the new way of stallation. The public was also welcome to help thinking. Thanks to their awareness, people have them, playing an easy game. Every time some- an opportunity to learn how to reduce our conone went with 25 cups to the recycling station, sumption and be more respectful of nature.

Local Life TRAVEL

The island where people forget to die Discovering Ikaria and its secrets

by Dimitris Ballotta

What is the secret hidden behind people who are living in Ikaria, the God of wine’s birth-

place, and that permits them to have a long life? Maybe the paradisiacal beaches or the excellent local food? Let’s discover it together.

Ikaria is one of the most beautiful Greek islands

located in the Aegean Sea. According to the legend, it was named after Icarus, the son of Daedalus, flew too close to the sun and plunged into the sea next to the island. Ikaria is mainly mountainous, but it can also offer a fantastic landscape and beautiful beaches. The capital is Agios Kirikos that also works as a port; near there is another village called Therma where you can find many spa, natural hot water, like the thermal of Lefkadas. Armenistis is the village full of beaches, like Livadi and Mesakti or Nas (more hide but still exciting and where you can even see the most beautiful sunset of the island); here you can also surf - thanks to the Surfing School lessons.

For sure, one of the most attractive and beautiful

beaches is the Seychelles Beach. There are unusual rock formations all around, while the color of the crystal clear water is unmatched. A small “private” cove beach adjacent to the main beach features a large cave. Seychelles Beach is locatPlenty of people dancing.

ed approximately 25 kilometres west of Agios Kirikos, just after the tunnel that leads further on into the village of Manganitis. The access to the beach is via a path which starts on the main road and descends along a river bed; the way is of medium difficulty and steep towards the end. The view from a local taverna in Armenistis. © Claudia Cornea

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Ikaria, in the past, was isolated and underdeveloped. This fact has created a heritage whereby the population learned to sustain itself on its own and with limited food resources. The most famous Ikarian product are: Kathoura or Kathouritsa, is the island’s most famous cheese. This white, goat’s cheese has been produced since the 17th century. It’s made of the milk from locally-raised, free-range goats and is typically mild, though saltier and spicier versions do exist;

The honey locally referred

On the island, you can also visit plenty of historical places like the Byzantine Odeon, the castle of Koskina or different museums where you can admire Greek monuments. Ikaria as the birthplace of Dionysos, the god of wine, can offer delicious local wine and, if you are interested, you can also make a tour and see how they realize wine in the Ikarian Winery located in a hill 8 kilometres to the west of the port of Evdilos. Ikaria is also famous for her “Panagiria”, traditional feast days that celebrate the Saints’ name days and other religious holidays. If you’re planning a trip to Ikaria during the summer season be sure to see the chart below that details the Panagiria dates and locations. People come to Ikaria from far places to take part in the celebrations and thousands of them can attend the most popular Ikarian Panagiria. So, you shouldn’t miss the unique opportunity to participate in and taste traditional food, live music, non-stop dancing, and plenty of delicious Ikarian wine. Panagiria typically start in the early afternoon and go on until the next morning.

to as “anama”, Ikaria produces some of the most excellent honey in Greece. The bees which make it, collect pollen from a bush known as Reiki. This gives it a thick texture in comparison with other types of honey and, for this reason, it became world-famous for its beneficial qualities which are believed to attribute to the longevity enjoyed by the Islanders. Another unique product is the Ikarian olive oil: it’s used in almost all the dishes of local cuisine, and its high purity makes it extremely healthy. The amount produced is sufficient to meet the needs of the entire island.

Probably

the secret of Ikaria it’s just the sum of all these things: good and healthy local food, beautiful and breathtaking landscape and many nights passed in some Panigiri dancing, drinking and enjoying the small of life without Maybe the key to the long life in Ikaria is the local things stress, thoughtless. food? The traditional Ikarian diet is identified by his purity, variation, seasonality and the use of meat. The food has always been made directly there, because Beautiful view from one of the rock in Seychelles Beach. © Dimitris Ballotta

Local Life TRAVEL

Holidays in Greece, life-changing experience by Laura Samuilytė

Greece is one of the most popular places to visit during the holidays. Awe-inspiring islands, friendly and relaxed people, tasty food and beautiful views all around, doesn’t even matter where you are! Let’s take a look at what we can do while staying in Thessaloniki, in the second largest city in Greece. During the summer many friends from different

countries were coming to visit Greece and volunteers. My friend from Estonia came, and he discovered a perfect way to spend our time: his idea was to try an activity called “Canyoning”. The company Baseline.gr organises this activity at Mount Olympus. They pick you up from Thessaloniki and drive you straight to the mountain. On the way to there we had breakfast together and enjoyable company made me less worried about the activities. I can promise that this is one of the things everyone

Interview with Nathan, canyoning instructor and photographer.

should try at least once. The views in this area, the home of the Greek gods, are breathtaking, and with every step, you get more and more excited about the beauty of nature and about the things you are going to do in the waterfalls around you.

After the experience, I decided to contact the base-

line.gr team, and I asked them to share more in an interview. I interviewed Nathan, who currently works in Greece (Thessaloniki) as a canyoning instructor and photographer, depending on what the team needs.

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Route to the waterfalls. Mount Olympus

When has the baseline canyoning outdoor activity been founded?

It was seven years ago. Who is the owner of this idea?

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we started building quality up and up. What we are trying to improve during all these years is the quality of the equipment and not only from us (you may be surprised) but also from companies, such as canyoning ropes. For example, before seven years canyoning, wetsuits didn’t even exist. So companies improved together with the equipment which we are ordering. When we look at the picture made seven years ago, we think “what is this?”, but then we remember that we didn’t have anything else.

I’m the owner, but we don’t work like that. Everything is in my name, but we all are in charge of something: we work together, and we have our responsibilities so everyone has something to do. As we discovered it is much better to work as a team - everyone respects and likes each other, Is it true that you always have space instead of one person doing everything alone. and time for people even if they are And yes, we are like a family: on free days we taking it as a last minute decision? hang out together, for example, tomorrow we go At least they need to book a night before for into windsurfing. structors and photographer to know the number How many things have been improved of people. It’s essential to create a plan, know about age and their experience, to make a persince it started? fect plan and fulfil their expectations. In case if Many things. At the very beginning, we focused it’s too late, we will make apologies and propose on basics and safety. Since we found safety, then to visit us the day after.

Local Life TRAVEL

Waterfalls jumping. Mount Olympus

ÂŠ baseline.gr (personal photo gallery from first canyoning experience)

From where you are picking up them with a car?

certification you need to develop your skills. So, after Italy and France we never really stopped, and we are still improving every day more.

Thessaloniki or broader area; Litochoro; General Mt. Olympus area; Kassandra (Chalkidiki). For During all those experiences the knowledge those who are a bit more far away, the most natu- comes, and there is no craziness: we all know ral suggestion is to take a bus, train or car to come the limits, how things need to be done safely beclose to these areas, and we will pick you up. cause becoming professional means also growing more serious. Where have you been doing this type of activities before and where you got the certification?

We use to do it around here in Greece as a hob-

by. The first certification I received was in Italy: very high level, friendly atmosphere and good food - we loved training there. After Italy we went to France were we certificated with International canyoning certification. This was a completely different style: it cost a lot and was harder. Sometimes it could take about 8-10 years and costs about 20 000 euros because after each

At one point, you care about doing everything in

a way that is safe for everyone.

Why did you decide to work in Greece finally?

The nice thing is that with the European Union

you can choose where you want to work. We have chosen Greece because the season here is about 6-7 months; this means lovely weather and beautiful landscapes between mountain and sea.

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Is it enjoyable to work in extreme conditions?

The only thing that is not very enjoyable is the driving part. All the rest is great: people are coming from all How many options for trips in a Mount over the world, they are ready for adventures, Olympus are you offering? and this also brings a lot of positive vibes. Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, “Insane”. What are the most unforgettable moments so far?

Well, for sure when we found a big dog in a vast

canyon. First of all, we needed to rescue it. We usually carry people with a rope, but this time we had to move the dog, and it took 3 hours for us to save it, even it was cool.

The difference between them refers to how big the canyon is and how technical. Let’s say that the insane route starts with 30+ meters waterfalls. In the intermediate, you are inside caves, and at one point you need to be hanging on the edge. So for the first time, it can be a bit scary.

Do participants usually have any Are your clients coming primarily from previous experience? Greece or from abroad?

No, not every country has the location for this sports. It needs a specific environment, and it’s kind of things elsewhere with the purpose to see quite complicated, so mostly we are teaching everything from the beginning. something new; so 98% people from abroad.

I think it’s normal that people are trying this

Canyoning team

Local Life TRAVEL

Did someone without experience booked a most advanced way?

For example, one couple without any expertise

did reserve, and on the road, the girl said that it was her first time, so finally we did the basic one. If it depends on us, we will not go to the advanced one in your first time. It’s not even about the safety - we will take care of you anyway - but you will not enjoy a lot without being ready for that; it can be more stressful and exhausting.

Even for them who have experienced, constructors are sometimes suggesting to try “Intermediate”, and not insane, to have some fun instead of being in the full route.

Doesn’t matter which way they will choose, all of them will come down and finish safe; the thing is how much fun you will have out of it!

That’s why the card we release and give after the

How do you calm down the guests who are scared before the experience?

first experience, to prove that you have already This comes with knowledge and years of expedone it in the past, is essential. In this way, if you rience - as I mentioned - sometimes you need to are planning to canyoning again, for example in be there to support them and that’s it! Italy, when they will ask you about past experiDid you ever see someone injured ences, you will show it.

Do participants get scared, refuse to jump, something else?

during this activity?

Since we are talking about sports, there could

be some small injuries, but it’s sporadic, and it’s Even the most scared ones finally do a hike or not more than an ankle or elbows somewhere, something that they didn’t want from the begin- nothing severe happened. Never. ning - some of them just need more time. Being professional helps to understand when you can To conclude, personally, I suggest you try this try to make a person believe in himself/herself, sport at least once; I promise that it will be a and when the person actually has a real fear of fresh memory for all your life, together with heights or something else. In this case, if the sit- amazing views and positive emotions. uation is dangerous, we will take care to bring Links: him/her back from there. Baseline.gr: https://www.baseline.gr/first-time-canyoning

Music

Out Of The Borders

French world music festival

Rencontres et Racines waits on you!

by Laura Espadas

In the northeast of France, a local festival which is called “Rencontres et Racines” attracts

thousands of people. When summer comes, take your tickets and enjoy three days of world music under the sun.

HEADLINE: This year for the 29th edition of

based in a little city called Audincourt, the fes“Rencontres et Racines”, twenty bands on two tival became more and more popular. Last year, different stages came to play for the festival . more than 40 000 people were there to enjoy the Artists appeared from the whole world on the incredible lineup. I’m sure that you want to know 29th, 30th of June and on the 1st of July. why, so let me explain to you.

I have been in this festival for six years, and the First of all, the festival location is a natural park spirit is still the same. Even if it’s a small festival in the middle of the city. You can quickly come by car, bus and also train.

Poster of the 29 edition of the festival © http://etudiant.aujourdhui.fr/etudiant/ sortie/festival-rencontres-racines-pass-1-jourvendredi-parc-japy-audincourt-audincourt.html

Out Of The Borders Music

An example of association in Rencontres et Racines

Then, the second thing is the price: many festivals, because of their lineup and the famed image are so expensive. That’s not the case. If you want to go to “Rencontres et Racines”, it will be unnecessary to save money for six months. Three days cost you about 27 euros, - exciting, isn’t it? Now, let’s talk about the lineup. If you like the diversity, you’re welcome! Between the reggae vibes of Vanupié, the rap style of Napalm, the electro trance sound system made by Juno Reactor, it’s impossible to get bored. If it’s not enough for you, don’t worry, there are ten more music styles like Rock, Hip Hop, Slam to fill you.

But on another hand, Rencontres et Racines never forgot the local bands. This year, the festival decided to put some of them on the stage. The leading example is “Mystically”. A duo of

French girls who come from Besancon, a bigger city in the region of France-Comté. It was created in 2006 and found his inspiration in the Afro-Caribbean roots. A little bit of reggae and afro, a little more of soul and funk, welcome in Mystically’s world. The festival wishes to share with people the whole music’s culture, but not only.

Rencontres et Racines festival is also a place

where people can meet many charity and aid One of the main point of the festival it’s to pay organisations, which come from all around the attention to the promotion of world music. As world. At least, the area next to the main stage we can see on the lineup, La Dame Blanche received this year around 20 associations. comes from Cuba and the singer of Tshegue from Congo: it’s an excellent opportunity to In the beginning, it was created especially for share with people the Hip Hop Cumbrian and the associations. Thanks to the festival, each Afro-Punk vibes, which aren’t the most com- of us can share culture, the way of life, and also sell handmade accessories, like bags. In the mon style in France. end, all the profits can finance donate humaniFor sure you can find your joy! There’s a com- tarian’s project. bo of styles, headlines, and bands who begin Furthermore, another significant thing is the to be famous. food. When you talk about the culture, it isn’t just Among them, there is Grand Corps Malade, a about art or the monuments’ architecture of a very famous French singer; Keny Arkana, a mon- city: it includes all the things that make a counument in the French rap’s world and Ibeyi, the try unique in its way of life. In this place, food is fantastic voice of twins with electro-pop vibes. in the spotlight too. Many food trucks and vol-

Music

Example of the festival

The place where people can eat everything from all around the world. © http://www.audincourt.fr/?actualite=rencontreset-racines-76-associations

unteers of associations cooked special dishes from each country. With the aid organisations, the festival counted almost 55 associations in 2018. I remember that a few years ago I ate an incredible Senegalese dish which is called “Yassa Chicken”: it was such a pleasure! All of this for the same goal: to share and discover heritage and traditions.

Out Of The Borders

In this part of France, we’re lucky to say that

we can spend our holidays at a music festival without going so far. More precisely in FrancheComté, there are about fifteen music festivals just during the summer. After all of this information, the only thing you have to do is to think about your plans for the next summer!

Out Of The Borders Art

The art of Ebru

by Eglė Puodžiūnaitė

When someone mentions Turkey in our memory appears vivid images with impressive historical architecture, spices, flavours, friendly people and lazy cats sleeping on window sills. But what do we know about the visual art culture that has survived many hundred years until contemporary days? I invite you to dive deeper into my little adventure taken place in Turkey and get acquainted with Hüseyin Garan, the master of Ebru art.

One month ago I had been visiting my friend

student cells my eyes were unexpectedly tempted Esra in her hometown Kayseri, central Turkey. by colourful painting style never seen before. Surrounded by extinct volcanic mountain Erciyes, Byzantine and Ottoman empire heritage Hüseyin Garan the artist, teacher, successor, welcomes travellers and visitors to dive into the owner of Ebru Atölyesi (eng. atelier) offered to come inside and promised to introduce us with exclusive historical atmosphere. Ebru art (pers. ‫ ىربا‬- abrî) also known as paper The most memorable experience in Kayseri was a marbling (cloud art) – old style drawing techtour in Mahperi Hunat Hatun Complex. This large nique that have survived through ages, wars and building was established in 13th century by a wife flames. Historians and scientists still can not of the Seljuk sultan Allattin Keykubad. The complex identify when exactly Ebru had been originated includes a mausoleum, Islamic school, mosque nevertheless it formed approximately in 13th and of course hammam (Turkish sauna). In the century in Turkey. Later the art of paper marbling courtyard nowadays used as a cafe surrounded by has spread around China, India and Japan.

Art

Out Of The Borders

then, in the 90’s, Ebru was not something accessible for us, there was only one person, Mustafa Düzgünbağ and he died in 1990. There were some of his students, Fuat Başar and Alparslan Babaoğlu. After Düzgünbağ’s death, Fuat Başar opened an atelier since it needs to be continued, like a duty and he opened his atelier’s doors for everyone who wants to learn this art. That’s how it stopped to vanish. © Eglė Puodžiūnaitė

How did you get in interested in this unique technique? Who inspired you?

I always have been interested in painting since

my childhood, and later on, I discovered that there is such an art form which is called Ebru. Formerly, we had no chance to see it in our schools; it was an art which was destined to die for Turkish people. There was only one living expert left, Mustafa Düzgünbağ, and there was a documentary about him on TRT (Turkish state TV) when I was a kid, that’s how it attracted my attention. There was nobody to teach back

was curious about Ebru, but there was no chance for me to learn it where I was living in. Even though I went to Balıkesir to study university, there was no chance to learn it; I first got to know Ebru after I moved here (Istanbul). After a long period of curiosity, I loved this art immediately, and I searched its history, techniques, everything about it. The course was not a long one and lacking details, it was only about the preparation of paints and some of the things for applying them, but I started to try on my own until 2007. In 2007, I met with another expert, Mahmut Peşteli, after long searches and I became his student. I worked with him, and I adopted his

Out Of The Borders Art

style of Ebru, and I continued my work of Ebru. I opened three personal galleries in Kayseri and one gallery with my teacher in Istanbul in 2015. I am also interested in many fields of art like painting and music, but ebru has a special place among those arts.

I have noticed that flowers and blossoming plants are the main dominating symbols in your paintings. İs it part of the tradition of Ebru or new fashion formed lately?

Ebru experts had used many different styles

to make book covers. According to me, Ebru’s road to becoming an art started after the 18th century because of Hatip Mehmet Efendi. Before Hatip Mehmet Efendi, Ebru was only dropping the colours into the water and shaking it, but dipping the colours into other colours and give them a shape started with him. After him, first flower patterns started to be seen. Why

flower patterns, not the animal? In our tradition, with also the effect of Islam, floral patterns are more common than animal ones. In our cultural sphere flower has a much dominant place. Maybe you have seen the geometrical patterns, in tezhip, they copied the flower patterns into it. Thereby, we have such a tradition, and Ebru adjusted the tradition into itself after the 18th century. Until 20 years ago, we couldn’t see different flower patterns like orchids, chrysanthemum, only tulip, rose, daisy were seen in ebru. In our day, many different flower patterns like lilac, orchid, lily, hyacinth etc., we see in Ebru. It shouldn’t be seen only as a flower; we don’t paint flowers, we do Ebru. The thing you might see is just a carnation but in essence, we do Ebru here. You can do anything like a portrait, an animal, what we do in nature is giving colours a shape, but the tradition is - floral patterns. You can paint anything but the teachings of the traditional line is this, and that’s how Ebru keeps itself as a traditional Turkish art.

Art

Dipping paint into the water doesn’t look like complicated task even for those who held a paintbrush in their hands a long time ago at primary school. In my personal experience, every art technique is difficult, though. Tell me can everyone be able to learn this art?

Out Of The Borders

where. Some of my students came just for satisfying their interest; some of them came because they really love it; some of them came for learning it with details; some of them came for earning their living with ebru. I had students of many different types, but I want students who want to carry it into the future.

The process as itself looks like a I always give this example, it is also valid for oth- meditative form of relaxation and er types of arts, even though you are literate, but contemplation. What do you feel you are not a writer or a poet. It’s also like this, during the drawing session? you may learn the basic things like preparing the colours, creating patterns etc., but for those Ebru paintings to be considered as an art, they must create some kind of admiration in people, it needs the artistic touch. But everyone can learn it as long as they dedicate time and they are enough patient.

Do you have students or Ebru art followers? Does youth be interested in old crafts and traditions nowadays?

I have some students even though I can’t say that

While doing Ebru, I’m feeling like with every drop

of the colours dropping into the water; I’m also dropping into the water with them. My existence is in the colour drops which are floating on the water, and I have a great pleasure and excitement at the same time. It’s not easy to describe those feelings. Sometimes I’m feeling locked; I can’t do anything but seeing the colour drop spreading on the water. You’re working with water; the water is the most sensitive material in the world, we also are constituted by water, and that’s how there’s a strong connection. The feelings which gives playing a musical instrument are more or less same feelings that you’re having while doing Ebru, and people who are watching this process are like the ones who are listening to a song.

I have a lot of students. I have taught many people, and among my students, some of them continued their interest in Ebru, and it is very pleasing. Because we’re passing it to the next generations and most of my students are young people. Another thing was when I wanted to learn Ebru: there Thanks to Hüseyin Garan and his student Kubra were not so many people neither in Kayseri nor Yilmaz for sharing their experience. Special anywhere else. Until the 90’s there was only one thanks to my dear friend and personal interpretexpert, but right now experts can be found any- er Esra Bayram.

Out Of The Borders SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES

New Beginning for Georgia New Definition of Personal Freedom in Georgia

by Irakli Tevzadze

Some months ago, in Georgia, everyone was involved in the discussion about the legaliza-

tion of marijuana. The decision of the Constitutional Court may have made a new definition of personal freedom in Georgian history.

The

court takes into account certain exceptions for this decision in cases where the use of marijuana can cause adverse effects for others. Previous punishment for using marijuana was a cash fine or detainment.

After several protest rallies, the court decision

is one of the most important things for Georgian people this year. The basic requirement of the Personal freedom © Tsitsi Dzadzua protest rallies was to change some laws about The Constitutional Court of Georgia has released using drugs. a statement on the decision made regarding the use of marijuana, effectively abolishing admin- “Person’s right to free development”, these five istrative punishment for the usage of the drug. words from the decision of the Constitution Court is a new beginning for Georgian democracy. According to the applicants (Zurab Japaridze and Vakhtang Megrelishvili), the consumption of marijuana is not an act of social threat. In partic- “Nowadays some Georgian laws ular, it can only harm the users’ health, making are not proportionate and do not the user him/her responsible for the outcome. concentrate on personal freedom The responsibility for such actions does not and this decision can be a push for cause dangerous consequences for the public.

The Constitutional Court of Georgia noted that

change”

— Zurab Jafaridze

permission to consume marijuana is an act of protection of the person’s right to free development. According to the Court, “the role of an in- Can we say, that the next step for Georgian dedividual user in support of marijuana circulation mocracy will be more significant? is minimal, and consequently, the threats from individual consumption are likewise small. Due Only time will tell. But today we can say that to the above, the punishment for consumption Georgia already has a definition of the free develof marijuana is not proportionate.” opment and personal freedom.

SPORT

Out Of The Borders

Potters journey to European top football The success story of a small swedish football team

by Axel Furberg

Graham Potter might not be a household name in England, but in Sweden he has been raised to the skies, thanks to his work with Östersund Football Club (ÖFK in short). In 2012 Graham Potter, ex-Premier league player traveled to Östersund. The City, located in northern Sweden has about 50.000 inhabitants. The local Team is “ÖFK” is in bad shape having dropped down to the 4th division in 2011. After five years as manager Potter did not only help the team to the Swedish top division, he got them to the international stage in the Europa league, beating teams like Atletico Bilbao, Paok, Galatasaray and even Arsenal. During this time ÖFK became the first LGBT Certified team in the world and revolutionised Swedish football with new cultural programs off the pitch. Note under picture:

down to the 4th tier of football in Sweden. The coming season a big project started as Daniel Kindberg, a real estate owner began pumping money into ÖFK. Scouts were sent out to find promising players and manager, something that During the season 2010/11, this small football is hard for a club located in such a remote place. club had its worst year in a long time and dropped In the end, they discovered a quite young, inexIn the duration of 5 years, English football manager Graham Potter took a small team in Northern Sweden from the bottom of professional football to the Europa league.

In the duration of 5 years, English football manager Graham Potter took a small team in Northern Sweden from the bottom of professional football to the Europa league. © Michael Reagan

Out Of The Borders SPORT

perienced manager, Graham Potter. Potter easily took the club up to the first division in his first year. The style of playing looked nothing like the original Swedish way of playing, holding the ball and controlling the play. More like Barcelona than any other Swedish team. The scouting also continued, as it does today.

Some of the old players of ÖFK have gone on to make significant careers. For example, Modou Barrow from the Gambia went on to play for Swansea (England) and Atalanta (Italy). The most recent example is Saman Ghoddos, from Sweden he is joined French Amiens this summer, becoming the 3 rd most expensive player in the Swedish league ever. Potters success is not just about football: to

make the players and staff feel comfortable in uncomfortable situations, he arranges a yearly educational project, for example last year the entire team did the Swan Lake ballet dance in front of 3500 fans. Also by the end of 2016, the football team was first in the world to be LGBT confirmed. The team is also a big supporter of the pride movement, sporting the iconic rainbow colours on flags and the captain’s armband.

letico Bilbao. In the end, ÖFK ends in a second place, which guarantees continued play.

By this time all eyes are on ÖFK in Sweden, their next match will be against the English giants Arsenal FC. The first game is a home game for ÖFK, even though the game looks tight Arsenal appear as clear winners with a score of 3 goals to 0. Many believe that now, after this defeat the dream is over. For sure the Arsenal players thought the same as they awaited the start of the second game. Away at the Emirates ÖFK has nothing to lose, and the football that they play is probably the best we have ever seen them. In the end, ÖFK wins with a fantastic 2-1 score. Arsenal goes still goes through on more goals scored, but the Amazing victory over at the Emirates stadium made eyes all over the world look and admire the work of the Nordic team. asts forever they say, in ÖFK this summer many

players are leaving to different European top clubs. Potter is also trying on a new job as the manager for Swansea FC in the English second league.

The new manager Ian Burchnall though, using

similar football strategies is still unbeaten in the league after five games. New promising players The 13th of April 2017 ÖFK qualified for a possi- are arriving as the older ones go away, the future ble Europa League spot after winning the Swedish for ÖFK looks bright indeed. Cup. The team went ahead and started their European journey by beating Galatasaray, one of Turkey’s biggest and most famous team. After this Fola Esch, a Luxembourgian team awaited. After winning both the home and away game the team was matched against the Thessaloniki located team PAOK. ÖFK suffers a defeat of 1-3 apart but manages to turn it around at home; with a score of 2-0, the team went through on away goals.

Now ÖFK is in the actual Europa league; the competition will start with a group stage, in ÖFK’s case, they will meet Ukrainian Zorya Luhansk, German Hertha Berlin and Spanish AtCaptain Brwa Nouri

SUSTAINABILITY

Out Of The Borders

Earth Overshoot Day On the first of August 2018, humans used up the Earth’s renewable resources for the year by Sacha Bogaers

Every year, the Global Footprint Network declares Earth Overshoot Day. On this day, human-

ity’s use of the Earth’s resources exceeds what the planet can regenerate in that year. This year, Earth Overshoot Day was on the first day of August. This was the earliest since environmentalists started calculating the day in 1970. What are the implications of this, and what can we do to change this date?

From the first of August onwards, we, the peo-

ple on this planet, are no longer living off earth’s yearly renewable resources. This means that right now, we are using resources that the planet will not be able to replace within this year. It is dangerous in the long term to keep living the way we are living right now: we would need 1.7 planets instead of just the one we have.

mentioned, this year’s Earth Overshoot Day was the earliest since we first went into ‘overshoot’ in 1970. In that year, the day was on the 29th of December. This means that human demand on nature is growing, and the date moves forward every year. The day shows how urgent it is that humans start limiting their consumption and their impact on the environment and climate.

sea areas, such as forests, cropland, fishing grounds, and grazing lands. The biocapacity of the Earth is supplied: what the Earth has to offer. On the other side, humanity puts a high demand on the Earth in the form of, amongst others, food production, wood production and deforestation and the emission of carbon dioxide. These demands are together called the Ecological Footprint. The planet’s biocapacity and humanity’s ecological footprint are used to calculate Earth Overshoot Day.

Similarly, you can also calculate Overshoot Day

for each country. This can show significant differences between countries. For example, in 2018, the state with the earliest Overshoot Day is Qatar on the 9th of February. The state with the latest Overshoot Day is Vietnam, on the 21st of December. The European countries all have The day is calculated by first looking at Earth’s dated before Earth Overshoot Day, which means biocapacity. This is all productive land and that they are consuming more than average. The

Out Of The Borders SUSTAINABILITY

individual country calculations highlight the disparities between wealth and the consumption of the earth’s resources.

Large industries produce a large part of the ecological footprint. Because of this, it may feel like you as an individual cannot change anything. However, there are still ways to improve your Ecological Footprint: you can start by calculating your ecological footprint and personal Overshoot Day and see what you can change about your life at http://www.footprintcalculator.org. You can lower your environmental footprint by, for example, eating less meat, recycling, and limiting travelling, especially by plane. However, what really must take place a global change. By contributing to global movements and activism, we can hopefully accomplish this.

Embroidery with the hashtag #MoveTheDate

The Global Footprint Network has launched a

call to move the date of Earth Overshoot Day under the hashtag #MoveTheDate. By following the suggestions in this article, and by following that hashtag, we can work together to create a sustainable future.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

Mix Fix

Beginnings My personal experience

by Cristi Lupu

There is a saying that I grew up with – when a door closes, another one opens. But this also

works the other way around: once with a new start, with a new change - in life let’s say – new things will come and we intend to focus more on the originality, on the beginning and less on the things that we’ll lose.

would like to share here with you a part of my

story, or better said, little stories inside a huge life story. I will speak about four of them – each of them is a story of a new city, a new life, in which I left everything behind and I have started from nothing, again and again. Each story has been a new beginning.

Eight years ago I left my hometown to go to the

University: it was a new fresh start, new friends, different environment, I left behind colleagues, friends, the NGO in which I was volunteering, my mother’s food, the comfort of having the clothes washed by someone else, the convenience of not being concerned about the bills, electricity and so on. Instead, I found more things that I needed to take care of, but I realised that this is the price for a new and more exciting life – paying all those stuff that came up, also brought many satisfactions and more freedom.

The second story is about my Erasmus semes-

ter in Slovakia. After five years in Brasov, the university city, after visiting more than 15 countries, it was for the first time when I left my country without looking back. It was another beginning in which I found a different lifestyle, a different way of expressing myself - not in my mother tongue anymore - living together with the other Erasmus students from Latvia, Turkey, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Greece. Seeing different styles of cooking, of drinking the coffee, of being on time, Mediterranean habits, people with different sexualities and aims in life. It was, also, the first time in my life in which I realised that I could be exactly whoever I want to be! What I lost by leaving my country? The taste of a Romanian pretzel, traditional food, the comfort of going to the pharmacy for example and being able to speak my mother tongue to have the best way of explaining the problem, being advised and buy the right medicine. Those are little things that I

Mix Fix PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

were on sale. The final point after all this? I did it not even realised when I left my home country, from 24 to 25 years old, I feel like I lost one year but they all were challenges. of my life and not only of my life but one of my The third story it was born during my Erasmus youth.

semester, and it is a significant one because it was my earnest attempt to launch in life. I had ahead of a new city: London, the most cosmopolite metropolis in Europe. A job, self-employed, but still a job. A home, a daily routine, responsibilities, plans and everything. I found again a new life there, new responsibilities, I’ve been fully independent. Of course I lost from the previous life a lot of free time, the comfort of having around people of my age, how it is to be an immigrant in a country where there are another half a million Romanians, where the British people or the other immigrants have already an idea about my nation; I was hit by strong stereotypical and racial attacks. But I found the comfort of money: instead of looking for the nearest place to go to the beach I preferred to go to Thailand. I was choosing the luxury of going to the supermarket and buy 240 bottles of beer, just because they

The fourth story is the current one! I run away from London, and I moved to Thessaloniki to volunteer for a non-governmental organisation. I met new people of my same age and this time, gyros, tzatziki, festivals, “halara” (eng. relax), Halkidiki, youth work, a city with a unique vibe and many more! I miss although the financial comfort now; I miss going every Sunday to a specific restaurant (Chinese, Portuguese, Brazilian, etc.); I miss the pleasure of making my daily schedule and many more things! The bottom line is: what beginnings are for me? They are opportunities, everything has a price,

and the things that you can learn by living in different places are amazing! If something is not right about where you are, don’t be afraid of beginnings, GO FOR IT!

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

Charcoal on paper. The big water

Mix Fix

Mix Fix Comics

Raintasters & Mother Storm

Comics

Mix Fix

Drawings by Filip Grรกc

Eglė Puodžiūnaitė | 28 years old

Cristi Lupu | 25 years old

Staying in Greece for 1 year, until February 2019.

Favorite topics are travel, culture and eco life.

Favorite topics are travel, technology and miscellaneous.

Giada Russo | 21 years old

Irakli Tevzadze | 19 years old

Staying in Greece for 6 months, until October.

Staying in Greece for 2 months, until September.

Favorite topics are languages, culture and travel.

Favorite topics are biology, psychology, video editing and technology.

Axel Furberg | 22 years old

Laura Samuilytė | 21 years old

Staying in Greece for 2 months, until September.

Staying in Greece for 1 year, until February 2019.

Favorite topics are football, fashion and music.

Favorite topics are music, travel and sports.

Claudia Maria Cornea | 25 years old

Dimitris Ballotta | 20 years old

Staying in Greece for 1 year, until February 2019.

Staying in Greece for 6 months, until October.

Favorite topics are filmmaking, travel and photography.

Favorite topics are filmmaking, photography and travel.

Elena Lobova | 21 years old

Kateryna Voronova | 24 years old

Staying in Greece for 2 months, until September.

Favorite topics are art, fashion and horses.

Favorite topics are books, culture, ecology and travel.

Filip Grác | 30 years old Staying in Greece for 1 year, until January. Favorite topics are culture, History and art. Guest

Marta

Martinovic General Directors: Editors: Aristodimos Paraschou Eglė Puodžiūnaitė Christian Cibba Giada Russo Graphic Designer: Alexandros Tagaridis Find us: www.balkanhotspot.org Usb_ngo.gr

Laura Espadas | 23 years old Staying in Greece for 2 months, until September. Favorite topics are travel, music and environmental initiatives.

Sacha Bogaers | 23 years old Staying in Greece for for 10 months, until June. Favorite topics are human rights, activism and art. The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European ERASMUS+ Programme, European Voluntary Service. This project has been funded with support from the European Commision. This publication [communication] reflects the views of only of the author, and the Commision can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.