UNA JUNE 2023

Veraldarvinir / Worldwide Friends (WF) was founded in 2001 as an non-profit organization promoting nature protection, peaceoriented activities, friendship, and international understanding among people.

The main activities offered by WF in Iceland are Short and LongTerm volunteering programs, summer camps for teenagers, exchange programs & educational tours.

This interaction between unspoiled nature and people from different backgrounds provides the participants with invaluable opportunities to learn more about themselves as individuals, their international fellows, other cultures, and the natural richness of Mother Earth. These are all unique opportunities for building bonds of unity and understanding between societies around the world.

This year “Global Warming” is our main theme throughout our different work camps. The goal of this project is to improve the environmental education and consciousness of the projects participants.

A B O U T W O R L D W I D E F R I E N D S

CONTENTS

PAGE 3

MEET THE TEAM

PAGE 5

KRYSUVIK RENOVATION

PAGE 8

SIGITAS INTERVIEW

PAGE 11

EXPOSITION REYKJAVIK

PAGE 13

PROJECT AT THE FARM IN HUSAVIK

PAGE 15

INTERVIEW OCEAN MISSION ORGANISATION

PAGE 18

RECIPE BAGUETTE

MEET THE TEAM

Lilian Ledreux

Hello my name is Lilian, I am 22 years old and I come from "Vendée" in France. I'm an apprentice in a mechanical design office and an engineering school.

I came to Iceland for 3 months to be part of the renovation team for the Krýsuvík camp.

Elise Tiedemann-Reyelt

Hello everyone, my name is Elise and i’m 25 years old. I finished my studies in 2020, worked for the last three years in my hometown in northern germany and now belong to a group of volunteers in the camp in Brù.

I came to iceland to increase my knowledge about nature protection, see the beautiful landscape and meet a lot of new people from different countries.

Albane Guerif

Hello! My name is Albane, I'm 18 years old and I'm a student. I come from France and I choose Iceland to do my volunteering because of the beautiful landscapes and also discover another culture! I am here during 2 weeks and I'm really happy to be part of this great social adventure!

Felix Shaw

I am a 24 year old Franco-British engineering student in an apprenticeship in France. I have had the chance to study in both England and France so I speak both languages. I came here for 3 months to join the renovation team as my first voluntary and environmentally focused work. I am very glad to be able to visit bits and pieces of Iceland, hope to meet you soon.

WORLDWIDE FRIENDS

Jonathan & Jesper

We are Jesper and Jonathan but people also call us "the videoguys". We are here for three months and are producing videos for the organisation. Our journey is documented via a vlog. The thing we enjoy the most is the community and the wonderful people here. We are from Germany and knew eachother for a long time but we would also love to get to know you!

Amélie Möss

Hi! My name is Amelie, I’m 19 years old and live in Germany. I finished my A-levels in 2022 and wanted to take a gap year, to gain experience and have positive influence. I choose Iceland for volunteering, because of the unique fauna and nature, the climate and to broaden my horizon about nature conservation. This is my first volunteering project, but it makes me excited for more!

Malou Baumberger

Hello! My Name is Malou, I am 19 years old and I am from Germany. I take part in the environmental project in Iceland for one month. I decided to do this on the one hand to do something against climate change and learn more about the problem behind it and on the other hand to meet new people from all around the world but with the same mindset about this topic. On top of that Iceland has such a beautiful landscape and is defenitly worth a visit. I'm sure I will come back after this month.

Nicolas Manceau

I am a French engineering student in an apprenticeship. I learn about energy and environnement at school and I work in the research and development department of a windows manufacturer as a thermal engineer. I'm here for a 3 months experience in the renovation team in the Krýsuvík camp.

I am happy to be in Iceland to discover both the culture and the landscapes.

KRÝSUVÍK CAMP

Renovation team

Let me present you the team in Krysuvik : Valentin, Guillaume, Maël & Arnaud.

We are 4 french guys studying at the same engineering school (CESI Bordeaux), specialising in civil engineering. We are 21 and 22 years old and in our 4th year of university.

We've been in the association since 1 month and we will stay 3 months in total in Iceland. We found Worldwide Friends through a Belgian association, SVI, which put us in touch with Victoria.

When we arrived at the farm, we were able to experience the magnificent Icelandic weather during our first afternoon walk in the pouring rain!

Then, we discovered Krysuvik and started working on it straight away. So our current camp now is Krysuvik, after spending 2 weeks at the farm.

Our main task is to renovate the house. This involves clearing the rooms of old floors, sanding the walls, then painting and laying new floors. We also take care of other jobs around the house.

A typical day consists of first planning the tasks, then sanding, plastering, painting and laying the floor. At the end of the day, everyone clean up the site and stay overnight in the renovated area.

The project at Krysuvik is to accommodate the people from the association in this big house. Vegetables will be grown in the greenhouses, as well as trees, so that they can later be planted in the natural park around the house.

A hen house is currently ready to house the animals. The last greenhouse will be used to bring in companies to talk about ...

Although we have construction skills from our school and work experience, we learnt to lay floors and paint rooms.

Generally speaking, we had increased the renovation skills. What's more, we met a lot of people and practise our English, which is helping us to improve our level.

New sustainable camp next to Reykjavik

By Arnaud, Guillaume, Valentin and Maël

The geothermal area Krysuvik is in the south of Reykjanes. The landscape around the hot springs are colored green, yellow and red. Columns of steam rise skywards, and the bubbling mud pools.

Hikers can find a winding path leading to the top of the massive steaming vent; the view from the top of the ocean and geothermal fields with colorful landscape is spectacular.

Nearby are a few lakes : Lake Graenavatn, Lake Gestsstadavatn and Augun are actually explosion craters formed by volcanic eruptions.

Visitors to Krysuvik can find an experience geothermal power in a natural setting with boiling mud springs surrounding the world’s largest blowing steam vent.

Nearby are the Krysuvikur sea cliffs with an abundance of sea birds, making it the perfect stop for any birder.

LET'S HAVE A TALK WITH SIGITAS

WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE?

I'm 35 years old. My life was full of different experiences. I finished school, studied finance and decided to travel abroad to widen my horizons. Worked in different jobs, was traveling to different countries.

I met different people from different cultures.

To make the story short - I am a human being who is still growing and the growing comes from my own experience.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I'm from Lithuania. Klaipeda city.

HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT WORLDWIDE FRIENDS?

I met the owner of the organisation Toti. He offered me to renovate an old house with help of international volunteers and I accept it.

WHAT DO YOU DO HERE?

As I mentioned I renovate old houses with the help of volunteers. In those renovated houses volunteers will be living while working on different projects.

WHAT'S YOUR BEST MEMORY OF WORKING HERE?

While I was working here, I met a very unique and special person. So the best memories are connected with her.

APART FROM RENOVATION, WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?

I have one hobby - painting. I love to paint.

WHAT HAVE YOU GAINED FROM WORKING IN WF?

I have the opportunity to meet and work with talented people from different countries.

I saw how much plastic the volunteers find in the beach cleaning. It makes me wonder and gives the desire to change, rust, recycle. I got a lot of experience, creativity and the opportunity to create a new life for old things.

EXPOSITION REYKJAVIK

Recycled and painted in memory of Hrafn Jökulssons

“Endurunnið handverk í minningu Hrafns Jökulssonar”

Opening on The Seaman's Day Festival with an exposition "Let's keep our ocean clean"

We aspire to convert what we collect during beach cleanups into artistic creations. Our objective is to offer a complete experience centered around nature conservation, recycling, and the impact of global warming. Through our initiative, we aim to raise awareness about these pressing global concerns that affect people worldwide.

In this case, in cooperation with Smart Galleri, we are proud to present this art exhibition where we have recycled waste to show the importance of taking care of our environment through greater recycling.

The aim is to raise awareness about these global problems that are experience everywhere in the world, also we wanted to contribute and create a space to show and reflect important data, facts about our environment, as well solutions, art pieces and souvenirs made out of recycled.

BJÖRG FARM

Volunteers experience

We stayed at a farm in Húsavik for three weeks and got to know a lot about the Icelandic farm-life. The farm is located not far from the ocean, in the middle of the meadows.

THE PROJECT IN HÚSAVIK

They welcomed us with some coffee and traditionally made skyr and we immediatly felt home.

In this farm, we were use to live with the Icelandic farmers. But during this time we also take care of the sheeps and lambs, the cows and the beautiful Icelandic horses.

Ours main tasks there where planting trees up in the mountains, collecting driftwood and cleaning the beaches around the farm.

We also had to take down a few fences and rebuilt them.

After finishing our tasks for the day we got to spent our freetime however we liked f.e. exploring the nearby waterfalls, drive into the city or go horse riding. The people at the farm were very helpful and taught us a lot about Icelandic traditions and the food culture.

We are very happy to have got the opportunity to went there and experience all these amazing things. We not only leave the farm with more knowledge but also with new friends.

We are truly thankful for our stay there!

By Lara Maxi and Clara

Meet Carlota

Let's talk about the Ocean Mission Iceland Organisation

INTRODUCE YOURSELF... WHAT IS YOUR JOB ?

My name is Carlota, I am a marine biologist and I am from Spain. I work in Ocean Missions since May 2022 and I am coordinating the beach cleanup network in the Northeast of Iceland. Ocean Missions is an Icelandic NGO based in Húsavík. It was created in 2019

WHICH MESSAGE DO YOU WANT TO SPREAD ON @OCEANMISSIONSICELAND?

We want to make a change towards sustainabilty and marine conservation, inspiring people through science, education and sailing expeditions. We believe that everyone can contribute to the oceans protection with our daily actions.

WHAT ARE THE HOPE SPOTS ABOUT ?

Hope Spots are ecologically unique areas of the ocean that need protection because of their critical biodiversity values. Hope Spots are recognised by the NGO Mission Blue led by the legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle.

The ultimate goal of Mission Blue is to help communities to emphasize important marine areas from a biodiversity point of view in order to achieve at least the protection of 30% of the oceans by 2023.

Our commitment with the ocean and in particular with the area we are based in, has led us to achieve the first Hope Spot area in the country.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THESE SPOTS AROUND ICELAND ?

We chose Eyjafjordur, Skjalfandi Bay and Grimsey because of their strategic location at the edge of the Arctic and its stunning beauty and wide biodiversity. The Hope Spot includes four islands (Hrisey, Flatey, Lundey and Grimsey) surrounded by highly productive waters. This area is a whale and dolphin feeding ground where 20 species have been recorded, such as blue whales or white-beaked dolphins. We can also find some of the largest and strongest bird colonies in Europe, from the Atlantic puffin to the Arctic tern.

HOW MANY ARE YOU TO MANAGE THIS MISSION ?

At the moment we are a team of 4 scientist and one volunteer conducting the education program together with our microplastic and macroplastic research in the area.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF HOPE EXPEDITION ?

We have two citizen science sailing expeditions every year onboard the sailboat Opal where people can join our team to explore the coastline of Iceland. In this special Hope Expedition the program is slightly different as we were four days sailing the waters of the Hope Spot area, and three days onshore in Húsavík doing several activities such as beach cleanups, workshops or scientific talks.

DOES EVERYONE CAN JOIN THE HOPE EXPEDITION ?

Yes, everyone is welcome to join the expeditions. We ask for a money contribution of 1900 euro to help running the NGO.

SHARE A TYPICAL DAY IN YOUR ORGANISATION...

We have an exhibition room opened in Húsavík just by the harbour where we carry out the microplastic analysis and where we also welcome anyone to come and have a look at the room to learn about our mission and the research we have been doing since 2019.

Two-three times per week we have beach cleanups in the afternoon where volunteers join us to clean the coast. Once in the beach we follow the OSPAR protocol for marine litter collection and take a sample of 100m. The litter collected is then weighted and categorised following OSPAR guidelines.

Once a week we carry out a "Whales, Sails and Science" tour thanks to our collaboration with the whale watching company North Sailing. In that tour we use the manta trawl to investigate how much microplastic pollution exists on the sea surface.

By joining this tour, tourist are contributing to key data collection while they can have a look at the sample using the microscope we take onboard.

BAGUETTE RECIPE

By Chloé in Brù

Preparation time : 20 mn

Cook time : 15 mn

Ingredients :

Dough:

750g white flour

500g water

1 tablespoon of yeast

1 tablespoon of salt

In Worldwide Friends, you learn how to cook bread everyday. And sometimes is nice to show some recipe from where you live and eat it with everyone during lunch or dinner. Here, Chloé wanted to show the classic french baguettes to everyone. You can try with her recipe!

Recipe :

Mix up the ingredients to make your dough (the dough is more watery than a bread, it's normal)

Leave to rest for 20 mins

Fold 3 times

Leave to rest for 20min

Fold 3 times

Leave to rest for another 20 min

Fold 3 times

Rest for 2 hours

Make 4 pieces, taking care not to let any air escape

Roll into chopstick shapes

Leave to rest for 20 mins

Bake in the oven for 15min over 200°!

Just need to taste them during the dinner! You’ll love the result, and everyone will be so impressed!

SEE YOU IN JULY EDITION