BBQ at our Hosting Organisation!!! * Μπάρμπεκιου στην Οργάνωσι Φιλοξενίας μας!!!

Today was a really funny day in our Project!!! We had a BBQ breakfast!!! The weather was great (sometimes I'm wondering if I am in Poland or in Greece :) ) and we had great time!

The menu included sausages, kaszanka (traditional Polish sausages from pork blood and cereals) and two surprises: Hellenic (Greek) salad and tzatziki (traditional Hellenic sauce with yogurt, garlic and cucumbers).

And after (or should I write during) our breakfast we played football, tennis and other sports in the garden of our Association.

The "Free 2 Choose" Project in Hellas!!! * Το Σχέδιο "Free 2 Choose" στην Ελλάδα!!!

Some days ago I wrote a post about the Anne Frank Exhibition in Heraklion (and yesterday an Updates post), where I mentioned the "Free 2 Choose" Project of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam.

Well, in the framework of this Project, the NGO "Kids in Action" created a short movie about the "Avaton of Mount Athos". Mount Athos is a religious community of male Monasteries of the Orthodox Church, where the entrance is banned for women.

The video presents both the opinions of the Monks and those who believe that the Avaton consists a violetion of Human Rights in Europe. The main aim of that video is to raise awareness about the limits of Freedom and Human Rights in real life and to act as a starting point for reflection and exchange of opinions of the topic.

A second video about "Albanian Pupils and Greek Flag" will be soon available.

Below you can watch the video on the Avaton. If you also want to participate in the relevant discussion, please click here.

Updates about the Anne Frank Exchibition at Heraklion * Νεώτερα για την Έκθεσι της Άννας Φρανκ στο Ηράκλειο

Some days ago I wrote a post about the Anne Frank Exhibition in Heraklion. Now, I'd like to share with you some information that I just got from Mr. Emmanouil Apladenakis, the Scout County Commissioner for Heraklion.

This six (6) days long Exhibition was visited by more than 800 visitors and 500 students (primary & secondary schools and Universities), that had the opportunity to read extracts from the Anne Frank's Diary, to see photos of the Holocaust period, to virtually (3D) visit her house in Amsterdam, to see the videos of the "Free 2 Choose" Project and through that to realise the importance of Human Rights and to reflect on their respect.

It worthies to mention here a comment made by Stefan, a Junior High-School Student, immigrant from Ukraine, that said: "Me also, the first time that I arrived in Greece, for almost one (1) year, I was not exiting my home..." .

It also worthies to mention the emotions of the older visitors, a lot of them victims of Nazism and Fascism and survivors from Concentration Camps.

I must also mention the comment made by the members of the Group of Recently Drug-addicted Purged Youngsters: "We suppose that we feel like Anne used to feel..." .

So, I invite you, after having also seen the following photos, to reflect on Human Rights and to think how many times in our daily life we discriminate other people (perhaps without wanted and not even realising it), just because they are different...

The Mayor of Heraklion, Mr. Ioannis Kourakis, opening officially the Exhibition.

The Scout County Commissioner for Heraklion, Mr. Emmanouil Apladenakis, opening the Exhibition. You can also see the Major of Heraklion and Members of the Hellenic (Greek) Parliament, that honored with their presence the opening day.

Scouts of all the Age Sections (Cub-Scouts, Scouts, Venture-Scouts, Rovers, Leaders) in the opening day of the Exhibition.


Students of a School that visited the Exhibition.

The Scouts of the World are proud for the Scouts of Heraklion!!! * Οι Πρόσκοποι του Κόσμου είναι περήφανοι για τους Προσκόπους του Ηρακλείου!!!

Visit the following web page of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and select Greece from the countries list...

http://www.scout.org/en/giftsforpeace/public_awareness_campaigns

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EVS MidTerm Evaluation Meeting, Toruń, 11-16/04/2007 * Συνάντησι Ενδιάμεσης Αξιολόγησης ΕΕΥ, Τόρουν, 11-16/04/2007

Like a glass of fresh water! That was for me this Meeting, organised by the Polish National Agency of the European Commission "Youth in Action" Programme.

The Meeting took place in Toruń, a beautiful medieval city of Poland, famous for its ginger-bread (in Polish: pierniki) and motherland of Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik), the astronomer who "stopped the Sun and moved the Earth".

The main aim of this event was to encourage the EVS Volunteers who participated in to reflect on their EVS Projects as well as on themselves and after that to plan better their Projects and (most important) their life.

That was fully achieved through a wide exchange of experiences, opinions, knowledge and skills about EVS Projects, EVS in general, Volunteer Work in general, Polish and other European Cultures, values and future plans.

Our Youth Trainers, Marta and Eliza, were really great and succeed to create a good climate and an open atmosphere, that really facilitated our learning process. Moreover, perhaps inspired by the beginning of the Spring, they picked-up as symbol of our Meeting the Flowers, giving that way a symbolic framework and a new dimension to our work.

So, let's leave our Flowers to grow-up!!!

Anne Frank travels to Heraklion * Η Άννα Φρανκ ταξιδεύει στο Ηράκλειο

The Anne Frank Exhibition at Heraklion (Iraklion), Crete, Hellas (Greece) opened today evening its doors to the visitors.

The Exhibition, organised by the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, the Scouts of Heraklion (the local branch of the Scouts of Greece) and the NGO "Kids in Action" constitutes Anne's Frank biographical story, placed in the historical frame of the Holocaust.

The Exhibition is included in the activities organised in the framework of the "All Equal - All Different" Campaign (for the Hellenic site click here) of the Council of Europe and was officially opened by the Mayor of Heraklion, Mr. IoannisKourakis.

The main aim of the exhibition is to encourage the citizens, especially the young ones, to reflect on the Fundamental Human Rights, the International Peace, the Human Solidarity and the anti-Semitism.

The visitors have the opportunity to see shocking photographs from the life of the Frank family and the Holocaust period in general. Moreover, through computers and 3D animations can travel to the Anne's Frank House but also to the relevant Museum in Amsterdam.

An important innovation of this Exhibition consists the incorporation of the "Free 2 Choose" Project. The visitors watch videos in the form of a reportage where the limits of freedom and Human Rights are presented. The main objective of the project is to create a space for open discussion, exchange of ideas and reflections.

The Exhibition will be held at the Saint George's Gate (Pyli Aghiou Georgiou), from the 15th to the 21st of April, 2007.

For more information, please visit this link.