21th of NovemberNo. 23

Favourite Kalamata HOTSPOTS

K.A.N.E. PARTIES!!!

NEW workshopsRead about:

ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΝΕΩΝ ΚΑΛΑΜΑΤΑΣLink

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This is the first newsletter of the Youth Centre for the new year (as you know, our year is starting every September), written by our new team of EVS volunteers, I invite you to meet through these pages…

This year, K.A.NE. hosts 12 volunteers from 10 dierent countries from all around Europe! You will allow me to use this editorial to introduce you to our beautiful volunteers! to introduce you to our beautiful volunteers!

In the youth centre you will meet Rasa from Lithuania, Gaby from Venezuela/Spain, Farhana from Holland and Katarzyna from Poland… we owe the e-support of the youth centre to Thomas from Denmark and Hien from France. The KEKYKAmeA centre is being supported by Gulce from Turkey and Sabray from France, the Day Care Centre by Sami from Spain, the Therapeuic Horse Riding by Michal from Chech Republic and Katia from UkraineRiding by Michal from Chech Republic and Katia from UkraineAt the natural farming project you will meet Lina from Germany.

I am sure that everybody will oer their best to our town, especially in this dicult period… this is the bright side of the European Union, volunteerism, solidarity, mutual understanding, nice smiles and a beautiful multicultural environment!

INTRO

Of course, we should not forget our local volunteers who are oering more than 18 workshops to the people of the youth centre. I will dedicate more space for them at the next newsletter… Also, this year I would like to welcome a valuable partner, who is oering her best for K.A.NE. Fotini, I could easily say, that for the first time aer starting the youth centre, I feel that I can depend on someone for the hard work behind the curtains!!! on someone for the hard work behind the curtains!!! Together we hope to oer you as many activities as we can aord!!!

Finally, I would like to dedicate this newsletter to Vanessa. She is probably back home when you are are reading these lines… Vanessa is a special volunteer, who had her EVS working at the youth centre, in one of the most dicult periods we had to go through the last years. She is the one who, with her positive attitude, her smile and her constructive feedback, helped us to attitude, her smile and her constructive feedback, helped us to make things much better than the previous year! Her work is very visible, seen as we now have 500+ members and the amazing daily schedule with tons of workshops!!!!!! Thank you Vanessa!!!!

Filaretos Vourkos

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INTRO

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We love you Arvi ;)

Female Labrador2 years oldNoise Maker

Arvi(Filaretos' dog)

ARVI

Unfortunately most of the workshops are now closed for being too popu-lar... Don't hesitate to ask at the info point about which are the ones that still have space. Always check the program or our Facebook page to be the first to register for the new upcoming activities!

Dutch - Sign language - Polish - DanishFrench - Turkish - Spanish - English - Germ an

Finally, the language exchanges are still very successful.

Latin dance - Tango - Guitar - Theater Advanced (preparing a play)Percussion - Theater Beginners (Role playing and exercises)

In addition to all this, most of the former workshops are still present.

Yoga - Modern dance - Flamenco - Bouzouki - Traditional dance

Since its opening, the center has evolved and proposed a great variety of activities. This year again, we oer you to take part in new workshops animated by foreign and local volunteers:

NEW WORKSHOPS!

6 Who are we?8 Favourite places in Kalamata10 Ex-volunteer Mari in Greece11 Info point12 New theater play with Emily13 Platea Othonos & composting1414 Parties in the Youth Centre15 Party story16 Children project17 Ecological project18 Fotini in the Youth Centre20 Sofie in the Youth Centre

CONTENT

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VOLUME 23

I’m Sabray, I was born in France, Lille. I’m 24 years old. My project is in KEKYKAmeA. The project is very interesting, because it’s very enriching. Everybody is welcoming and I feel very useful. I’m here only for three months. It’s very short, so I think I’ll come back again. I hope this project will bring me a good experience that I can cherish for the rest of my life. I’m very glad for the people I’m

working with. Γεια σου!!

Γεια! Με λενε Λίνα, I’m 20 years old and from the north of Ger-many, close to Hamburg. I also live(d) closer to the sea, we have the North and the Baltic Sea, but the water at home is not that close… so Kalamata wins! My project is ‘Environmental Farming’. I work at the farm and in the projects of Mirto, Fifa and her friends - which is the best thing that could happen!

Hola! My name is Gabriela, I'm 19 years old and I'm from Canary Island in Spain. Before coming to Kalamata I finished my high school and began to study psychology. Four years ago I finished my studies and I startedstarted dancing ballet and Latin rhythms. I also worked in dierent amateur dance companies. In my EVS I am a Spanish teacher and I do dance and theater for chil-dren. I hope I can have fun learning the Greek culture and that of my fellow volunteers and meet people!

Geia, I'm Hien from Toulouse, in the south of France. I like photography, discovering and watching beautiful landscapes for hours, doing movies or series marathons, reading a ton of books (mostly fantasy), playing games (geek powa!) and loafing aroundaround with my friends. I will work here for one year (still 10 months now) on a new website, blog and technologies, stu like that. I will continue the French lessons of Va-nessa and start a photography group and maybe I will make some Photoshop lessons later in the year, so if there are people who are interested,

be prepared!

Γεια σας! My name is Thomas Andersen, I am 23 years old and I come from Denmark. As an EVS vol-unteer I work with Hien on the KANE website, the evs-greece.com website while also being in charge of our Facebook. Currently I am usually at the Youth Center from 10-16, but in the future I am hoping

to be involved in some of the workshops and other projects as well.

Hi :) I’m Farhana, I’m 21 years old and I’m from The Netherlands. I miss my country (and no... not because of the drugs ;), but I began to miss it less and less when I really started living here. Greece is very nice :) And I like working here too! I work at the Youth Center with Kasia, Gaby and Rasa, wherewhere we make sure that the Center keeps rolling. Besides this, I teach ‘Dutch’ every Tuesday and right aer this, I also perform lessons ‘Practise English Conversation’ with a small group of people. Besides this I try to join some workshops from other people, which is super nice! Maybe see you there :)

WHO ARE WE?6

Kalimera! My name is Kateryna. I am 21 years old and I am from Ukraine. I work with children with autism in Therapeutical Horse Riding Center. I really enjoy my work. I truly feel honored to do my EVS in this place. It gives you an opportunity to learn Greek culture, language, to help community, to communicate with local people and, of course, toto enjoy unforgettable moments with other volun-teers. Filakia :)

I’m Gulce, I was born in Turkey and I spent 25 years in Turkey. Maybe that’s why I’m Turkish. I work at KEKYKAmeA for 5 months and I’m going to work there 7 more months. In KEKYKAmeA I’m taking part in theatre, singing, chess, cooking, dancing and ceramic courses. I’m also helping with the transporation of the παιδιά. όλα καλά!

Hi, my name is Rasa. I came from Lithuania and now I'm doing my EVS in Kalamata. I have three workshops and all these activities are related to arts. I have theatre, flamenco and creative occupation lessons atat the Youth Centre. I really like my work and also I'm very happy that I have the opportu-nity to start a new workshop (flamenco) with a local volun-teer Chrisa. I think art is very important for each persons development and thats why I chose these activities to work in the Youth Centre. Take care and

see you at the lessons! :)

My name is Samuel and Im from Spain, Im 25 years old and I decided to come to Kalamata to do this project because it is great idea to share new experi-ences. The situation in Spain is also very complicated now, for me this is a great new start and a way to enrich myself.myself.

I’m Michal Šipek and I’m from Czech Republic. I’m 31 years old and I work at the Horse Riding therapy Center with Kateryna. I lead the horses, prepare them for therapy and clean their body and hooves. I enjoy it a lot. I’ll be

here in Kalamata for one year.

I’m Kasia and I’m from Poland. I am 25 years old and I have finished my studies in French literature. I’m here in Greece for 9 months to work as a volunteer in the youth center in Ka-lamata. I would like to meet the local people and work with them in some workshops and create events together. I think that with this workwork I can broaden my horizons and be more open-minded. I’m sure that I’ll really enjoy my stay here!

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WHO ARE WE?

BarFly5

This place has probably the best decoration of all! It’s like you’re walking in a castle. The view over the city at night is beautiful. In summer it’s ‘the’ place to go every Wednesday night for exciting Latin parties.

Kastraki4

Platanos3

Tapas2

Athanasiou1FAVOURITE PLACES

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Spanomihos10

Luna Lounge9

L’artigiano8

Gourmet7

Me tin Ochia6

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FAVOURITE PLACES

Two years ago you were an EVS volunteer from Estonia. Now you’re still living in Kalamata. How come?Aer my EVS was finished, I found job in Kalamata. So I decided to stay here for a summer. At some point I went back to Estonia, but this year I decided to come back and spend my summer in Kalamata again. I have friends here and I was lucky, be-cause I got my old job back. So, now I am still here, but I don’t know what the future brings yet.

Sometimes you pass by the centre, what dierences have you noticed since you le?A lot of things have changed - new youth center, new people, new projects, new ideas. I was volunteer in the old youth center, which was much smaller. But I am very happy to see that things are getting better and better every day. Volunteers are doing a really good job at the youth center.

Are you still in contact with the old volunteers?YYes I am. We don’t talk very oen, but I know how they are doing. Andrii, Leire, Sanna, Astrid, Nina, Marcus and Teemu - they always will be in my mind and I hope to see them again.

With the time that has passed, can you tell me what EVS gave you?EVS gave me a lot. It changed my attitude towards life and most of all, I met a lot of wonderful people from many places.

MARI IN GREECE10

When you come into the Youth Centre, you are first welcomed by a volunteer sit-ting in the info point. The info point is an information desk created for the locals who want to know more about the centre. There, you can ask the program with the workshops and register, simply by giving your contact details. Depending on the date and the hour, you will find Farhana, Rasa, Gaby or Katarzyna, the four foreign volunteers working in the evening schedule. Those girls are at your dis-posal to answer all your questions and update you about the events, parties and new activities organised by the centre.new activities organised by the centre.

The info point is also the place where you will get more information about the European Voluntary Service (EVS) and other programs that allow young people to go abroad (Leonardo, Erasmus...). The Youth Centre, except the cultural dimen-sion, also aims at being a reference spot for the youth development through the promotion of mobility and multiculturalism. The volunteers are ready to help the youngsters interested in working or studying abroad by giving some hints, run-ning a list of free positions for EVS and eventually coaching the more motivated throughout the procedure. Finally the info point is a very good way for you to practice English that you need to communicate with the foreign volunteers and for them it is a nice way to get closer to the Greek community. So feel free to ask anything you might need and start a conversation!

As you know, the Youth centre (project of the organization KANE) does not re-ceive any financial support from the government or any state subvention. It is only working with the EVS program allowances and the generosity of few people. Right from the creation of the centre, we always refused to make people pay for the proposed activities. It is very important for us that no money is demanded, a principle that makes the Youth centre the only cultural structure actually open to everybody in Kalamata.

But you may have noticed on the info point desk, a 'Koubara', decorated by the volunteers. In there, you can donate for the centre at any time and according to your preference. The money collected will help us to improve the centre by buying new material, fixing the building and supporting big events.

Thank you for your generosity!

INFO POINT11

You were in the theatre workshop last year. And now you’ve entered the Advanced theatre lessons. How is it to work with

your old teammates?I'm really happy to be involved in the “theater world” for another year. This year's advanced team has got some of the last year students, but some new ones have joined in as we needed extra people for the roles of the play we're preparing for.

Can you tell us more about the play you’re preparing?YYes we are practicing for the play "Ξυπνα Βασίλη" in English "Wake up Bill". It is a very interesting play written in the 60s. It talks about the political situation at the time, in Greece of course. Particularly, there is Bill, a right wing who is very con-servative and there is a colleague of his who sees himself as a communist. Well the

story gets complicated and the are a lot of other people involved in the story.

How is the practise going?The practice fortunately is going very well. Well at least that is what our dear direc-tor is telling us and I think she knows better. What I can say is that practicing is very

tiring, but luckily very interesting at the same time. We haven't yet started the actual playing but we have made a lot of work on the character each one of us is playing. This is a basic and very hard job which gets you in the personality of your

character.

How many rehearsals do you have?Well until now, all of us are having two rehearsals of 3 hours each. Aer Christmas I think we’ll have 2 hours each day. But that’s going to be for the people whose char-

acters are playing the scene we are practicing each time.

When are you going to perform?Hopefully we are going to perform in the middle of April but it is not sure yet. As

time goes by we will be more sure about what exactly is going to happen.

EMILY IN THEATER12

In September the municipality decided to give the Πλατεια Ότηωνος to the center as a space to use freely, have events, festivals, parties, workshops, music happenings, parades, whatever action you can think of. In exchange we have to clean and take care of it. Every Monday we (a changing group of volunteers) are cleaning and collecting trash. We try to separate the organic and residual waste (things that you can’t recycle) in order to be a good example in trash separation. It’s mostly very interesting to get in contact with the neighbors, especially for us, very interesting to get in contact with the neighbors, especially for us, because we are new in town. Even when people get a bit confused about why we are cleaning a public space (especially because we do it voluntarily!). But there are also people who support us, help cleaning or want to get in touch with us.

In collaboration with Rethink-project we now will get a composting tank for the all residents of the Πλατεια Ότηωνος. It will be put on the green patch, the one next to the street. This a chance for us - the Youth center with all its sta and you - to recycle our organic waste.

Since the other tank got stolen last time, we now want to give as much Since the other tank got stolen last time, we now want to give as much information as possible to avoid misunderstandings and problems. Keep an eye out for informational leaflets in the Youthcenter. But of course we also use your help, so please spread the idea and information!

I am always available for questions, comments or ideas! =)

Λίνα

OTHONOS13

To celebrate the beginning of a new page in the history of the Youth Center, the brand new team organised a series of parties in October. At the occasion of the Latin-Oriental party, the first floor was redecorated with curtains, candles and cushions. In a magic atmosphere, people could dance on dierent styles and practise salsa, tango, belly dance...

One week lateOne week later, singing was honoured in the Karaoke party and with a mike in the hand, anybody could be a star.

Then the Intercultural party gave the opportunity for the vol-unteers to introduce their countries to the Greek community. The dance initiations, the music and of course the food were greatly appreciated by everyone.

The last party was the Decade party which went through the history of music with dierent music genres, such as jazz, rock&roll, disco, pop or electro.

If you have any ideas, please tell one of us! We would like to keep on organising parties, be it dance, culture exchange, music, games, whatever! Let us know ;)

PARTIES14

Friday the 7th of October two of our volunteers at the center, Farhana and Vanessa, organised a latin-oriental party.

I arrived at the party a little late with three of my housemates; Michal, Gabriela I arrived at the party a little late with three of my housemates; Michal, Gabriela and Rasa. We arrived completely soaked, as it had been raining all day. As soon as we entered the center we were overwhelmed with a thick and intriguing smell of burning incense and the sound of people chatting. The room was decorated with colored pillows, blankets and flowers; they had gone all out on this! The evening started o with a small show with three dierent dances from the night’s themes; Salsa, Tango and Belly dancing. I was told that it was supposed to be a show-o by some of the participants from various workshops at the centeshow-o by some of the participants from various workshops at the center, but since hardly anyone showed up from said workshops, we had to fill in with EVS volunteers. It was really fun, but I am not sure everyone followed the steps com-pletely, especially not me. And I might have skipped out on the belly dancing part…!

The evening progressed with great varying music; mostly Latino and you were able to buy cheap beers, wine or soda from the ‘bar’ they had set up in a part of the room. Aer an evening of dancing, drinking and socializing with some of the locals we ended with a French dance that (I must admit) I did not really get the steps to, but it was a blast. All in all, a great first party here in Kalamata, many thanks for the coordinators Farhana and Vanessa. My only ‘complaint’ was that it did not last long enough!

ThomasThomas

PARTY STORY15

Im working in tge Day care center with disabilities children, concretely with au-tisms child. My project is very interesting because is the first time working with this kind of disability and Im learning a lot. Mainly we are trying to make the childrens become more independent, be-cause is quite dicult for them to do some things like eating, learning the colors, or using the toilet for example. We also stimulate the child with toys, singing songs, etc.. Im working without other international volunteers. My co-workers are helping with all I need, because this is something new for me. For-tunately, Im learning Greeks words every day. The unique form of communi-cation that I have with the children is very funny to me.

Kalamata is a quiet town, at the moment I could not see much but I don’t dislike, I come from a city similar in population and I like the environment and life here. Also the people here are interested in the

Spanish language, so for now I have been well received where I have been.

DAY CARE CENTER16

Environmental work in Kalamata

When I applied for my project at KANE in March this year, I just knew that Ι wanted to do something with ‘the Environment’. And the description of Environ-mental Farming fit perfectly to that blurry image I had in mind: “Combining theoretical work about helping our planet with working outside in the nature and talking with people about it”. Now I am happy to be part of the following projects.

Firstly I work at the farm of Mirto Fifa, Αγροκτηµα Φοιφα, which includes the Τράπεζα σπόρων, the Seeds Collection; more than hundred traditional seeds to preserve the variety of plants. Mirto founded most of the projects and she has a nice vision about things. I like the image of us working together during the next year, also with her friends and ‘colleagues’ who are nice people. Garden and field work are my job as well, with sowing, planting seedlings, maintaining the ground or harvesting. And I take care of the websites, Facebook-pages and look around for new ideas (my favorite part). I especially lifor new ideas (my favorite part). I especially like doing this for Re:think, a project of the farm, which includes composting actions for Kalamata and recycling ideas for the everyday life.

My own project is the Πλατεια Ότηωνος: The municipality decided to let the Κεντρο Νεον use it at any time for anything we want, as a payback we have to clean it once a week. For that I mainly plan and carry out the cleaning, events, promotion and compost. The last part is the link to Re:think. We will put one of the Re:think composting tanks in the square, free to be used by all the neigh-bors. It will be put there between the end of November and beginning of Decem-ber. I’m looking forward to this, it’s a new step for trash separation and it gives the people around the chance to recycle. Also a lot of neighbors like the idea and I already got some support which makes it easy to continue. Ευχαριστο!

If you want information about composting or one of the other projects feel free to ask me, I always like to include (greek) ideas!

Λίνα

ECO - PROJECT17

What’s your role in the centre?I started working for the NGO Social I started working for the NGO Social Youth Development (K.A.NE.) this September. In the Youth Centre of Kalamata, one of the main activities of K.A.NE., I act as coordinator of the activities. In other words, I arrange the timetable for the activities, make sure every-thing runs smoothly, provide support to the volunteers of the centre (local and EVS), resolve problems when they appear, etc. What did you do before you came to the centre?I was always interested in NGO work. That’s why, aer obtaining my Master’s degree in Violence, Conflict and Development from the University of London, I went for an internship in the Centre for the Study of Democracy in Sofia, Bulgaria, before returning to Ka-lamata in 2005. Aer that, in November 2006, I went to work at the Cultural Aer that, in November 2006, I went to work at the Cultural Trian-gle of Prespa (CTP), an NGO on the borders with Albania and fYROM, active in the fields of Children and Youth, NGO Networking and sustainable Tourism Development. Aer three years of work-ing there as project manager and general coordinator, I decided to leave Prespa and move to Athens, where I was working as a book editor, while still collaborating with CTP as external associate.Last July, I decided to return permanently to Kalamata. So, here I Last July, I decided to return permanently to Kalamata. So, here I am!!!

You can speak eight languages and you can sing and dance well. How did you learn all these things?WWell, first of all, I love learning languages, it’s my hobby! Some of these languages I learned as a child, some of them during my studies at the department of Balkan, Slavonic and Oriental stud-ies, some from experience and some just for fun!

FOTINI18

FOTINI19

As for singing, I am singing ever since I can remember myself. I always loved music, I took piano lessons as a child and I was singing in a choir for many years. Two years ago I decided to also take singing classes at the conservatory. Dancing is also one of my greatest loves that came quite late in my life. I started danc-ing Salsa in 2005, but stopped during the years that I stayed in Prespa. Since 2009, I am practicing International Latin.

Do you have any plans for projects?I always have ideas for projects! One month ago, we applied for a I always have ideas for projects! One month ago, we applied for a project that concerns the women of Kalamata. We are also pre-paring applications for a youth exchange about street arts that will take place in Kalamata this summer as well as for a training called “Formal Education meets Non Formal Learning – the com-petence based approach”. In general, we try to keep active and we are always open to new ideas!

What do you wish for the centre?I wish for the Youth Centre of Kalamata to keep growing and I wish that someday we will have the space and capacity to do even more activities!

You worked in many countries/cities, why Kalamata?Kalamata is not a new Kalamata is not a new experience for me. I moved here with my family from Piraeus in 1994, so I finished high school here. Al-though I am not originally from Kalamata, I have come to con-sider it my home. Besides, it’s a city that combines extreme natu-ral beauty with a rich cultural life and provides a much better quality of life than big cities like Athens or even Thessaloniki. What more can I ask for?

You’re one of the most familiar faces around the centre. What does the youth centre represent for you?The youth centre is liThe youth centre is like an escape from everyday life and the problems it car-ries. When someone enters the centre, they immediately feel free to express themselves and expand their horizons. Once you come, you’ll meet a smiley warm face that will welcome you and that’s it…you are ready to start a new experience. The youth centre for me is the place to: meet new people who share the same interests, get to know the dierent European cultures of the volunteers and participate in the centre’s activities that are quite a lot and they increase week to week… they increase week to week…

Which workshops are you attending? Which one is your favourite and why?I’ve started following the youth centre’s workshops last year with the salsa, Spanish and French lessons. This year I’m participating in the Salsa lessons for beginners, the Belly dance lessons and the Theatre workshop for beginners. I can’t separate these three and consider one of them as my favourite, because each one oers something completely dierent and all the teachers do their best to pass their knowledge to the participants. The only thing I can mention is that the combination of these 3 workshops makes me a great supporter of the ancient Greek quote “healthy mind in a healthy bodythe ancient Greek quote “healthy mind in a healthy body”.

SOFIA20

SOFIA21

You’re also the mentor of one of the foreign volunteer. How do you ex-perience this new role?This role is really challenging for me. When someone asks you to support and advice a volunteer from another country, you don’t really know what to do ini-tially. Well, I am just trying to help my ‘new friend’ to get around; we discuss a lot about the problems she might face in Kalamata, regarding her work and the relationships with all the people around. We also talk about the traditions in Greece, the way Greeks are thinking and how dierent it might be from the way people live and think in her country. We also share the same interest in photography…and I’m so happy for that, because we have the chance to go on photography…and I’m so happy for that, because we have the chance to go on excursions together and she’s meeting new people that are interested in pho-tography as well and we are all discussing about photography and its beauty. It’s important to mention though that I gain from this role as well, I’ve met a really interesting person (a new friend) and her culture, I practice my English and French (a bit!) and I get to see my city from another point of view, like everything is brand new and I’ve just moved here!

We know that you’re very good at photography. Why not do an exhibi-tion in the centre?This question made me laugh initially, I can’t promise anything…I am a bit shy I guess, but I am sure that we will organize something pretty soon in the Youth Centre, so stay tuned!!!

No. 24 “X-mas edition” coming soon......

Supported and financed by

A publication of

Vanessa BérotSamuel Hernandez PerezEmily MagkourilouFilaretos VourkosGabriela Merizalde SocorroFotini ArapiLina Marie ConradLina Marie ConradMari Niglas Thomas Kragskov AndersenSofie Kostea

Articles:Farhana FaroqueText editing & artwork: