There seemed to be a general mood of hesitance on the way to our meeting with Crete's branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). My group of about thirty students, led by Professors Karavas and Doxiadis and Activities Director, Nadia Meliniotis, had spent our first day in Crete exploring Heraklion's Venetian Walls, the archaeological museum, and the grave of author, Nikos Kazantakis. After an all night boat ride and an early morning start, my group appeared unsure of the next event on our itinerary: help the WWF clean up Malia's (a popular tourist destination on Crete, 23 kilometers from the major city of Heraklion) wetlands. Yet, after just a few minutes with the WWF, public opinion changed and there was not a doubt in anyone's mind that our experience would help define our trip to Crete. What was it that lead to this change? Our time with the WWF employees and locals who taught us that globalization can mean something as simple as helping another country with what appears to be a small, local problem for the betterment of the entire world.
Before we could take action, though, we needed to be debriefed. We met for a presentation with the WWF Crete staff and the Sarpidonistas (the classicists in our group loved that they are named after Sarpidon, King of Malia and Minos' brother), a group of environmentally conscious locals. During the presentation we learned about WWF Greece's Island Wetlands project, run out of Crete; the work that had been done thus far; and our main job for the day, posting signs to alert Malia beach goers of the project. We were also introduced to the concept of ecotourism, giving back to an area one is visiting by volunteering time to its environmental programs. As would be emphasized several times, the WWF staff was happy to have our help because locals would see that we had come all the way from the US to help them fix their problem. The staff hoped this would encourage more locals to take up Malia's cause for themselves.
After our meeting we set out for Malia Beach armed with garbage bags and sign posting materials. Upon arrival we were split into groups...one could say arbitrarily. One Sarpidonista in his sixties was the first to choose his volunteers, "All the young women come with me and the men can be divided into the other groups!" The younger Sarpidonistas were onto his scheme though and women and men ended up evenly divided between four main groups: cement makers, trash workers, ditch diggers, and sign posters. Everyone traded groups multiple times, though, to get the full experience.
I started out with the trash workers, donning a pair of gloves and using eagle eyes to pick out pieces of trash on the beach. My fellow workers and I filled up multiple green trash bags with all different kinds of rubbish from basic cigarette buts to furniture that had been ditched on the dunes.
Next, I became a sign poster, a job which also allowed me a good vantage point from which to observe the ditch diggers and cement makers. I watched as the Sarpidonistas coached students in using an electric drill machine, an auger, to dig holes in the sand. It was a difficult process that required lots of teamwork: one Sarpidonista and one CYA student held onto the machine while a second CYA student ran back and forth pouring water into the hole. Another Sarpidonista oversaw, shouting "more water" and "deeper". At one point, though, there was just one CYA student working, surrounded by ten others watching. Kostos, a Sarpidonista, joked that this was "the reason the Greek economy is in the toilet. One man works while ten watch and after ten minutes it's break time." Finally, though, three perfect holes had been created. The cement mixers, who had created 100% natural cement from materials found on the beach, poured their mixture into the holes. Three sign posts were quickly thrust in and a board nailed on top of them. We then painted a coat of glue on the board and another on the laminated signs. After fifteen minutes we were able to fuse the two together and voila, completed educational signs!
We were all extremely proud of our hard work and had the sunburns and dehydration to prove it. During our work many people had stopped by to watch, just as the WWF had predicted. I spoke to at least three people in mixed Greek, French, and English, explaining who we were and what we were doing. One woman was so impressed that she came back after we had finished and fed us Cretan sfakianopites, sweet cheese pies. It was around this time that we realized that we had lost track of the ditch diggers! Finally, we spotted them down by the water. They had just finished clearing out a path for some run off and joined us in munching on sfakianopites. After returning to the town of Malia we celebrated even further. One of the founding Sarpidonistas brought us to his shop where we toasted with raki and sampled many Cretan products. The food and drink flowed freely until everyone was full, right out of this man's small shop. We were all amazed at his kindness and hospitality. It was a fantastic welcome to Crete! We were all surprised to come away with so much from this brief experience. It was interesting to observe that the Greeks, who want so much to guide their own way, can accept outside help. This concept extends to the European Union bailout as well, although the Greeks are more begrudging about accepting that help. At the end of the day, with the sun setting behind us, we drove away from Malia feeling more connected to it than we ever would have had we just explored the sites.
For more information on WWF Greece and the Sarpidonistas visit: http://www.wwf.gr/en/ and http://sarpidonistas.wordpress.com/about-us/
Photo credit: Stephanie Lindeborg
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