WATER FOR KALLIKRATIS UPDATE:::

Today, more friends have contributed... and thanks to a very generous and enthusiastic person, we have reached a score of 2200 euro so far... almost halfway...
By the way, we do not reveil, how much anyone has contributed with... whatever amount is fine, whatever anyone can give is fine. For some of us, 40, 50 or 100 euro is a fortune, for others a piece of cake.. and all who do contribute, do so within their possibilities...each and every contribution is welcome..

New contributors:
Panagiotis Angelakis, Zoniana, Crete
Giorgos Vougioukalos, Argyroupoli, Crete
Joscha Luecke, Berlin, Germany
Eleni Tsalikidou, Argyroupoli, Crete

So, great news, and the feeling is great, everybody feels the excitement, everybody is part of the project...

More news tomorrow...

WATER FOR KALLIKRATIS

Hello Friends,

In the next hopefully few weeks, our blog will be dedicated to the story of 'Water for Kallikratis'. Water for our village, for us, for our visitors.. This blog forum allows us to tell the story as it goes on, without the limitations of facebook, where we initially mentioned the project. So, for now its not herbs, but water.

Welcome everyone..
THE STORY
About two and a half years ago, we started building our place here in the remote village of Kallikratis, in the Sfakian mountains of Crete, at an altitude of 750m. We managed to create a good place, as everyone who has been here, has experienced. Many of you have shared work and parties with us, stayed with us.
The only problem we have here is, that there is no water. It might sound strange that nowadays an entire village is left without water, without a water distributing system.
Kallikratis is a village, which for centuries has been abandoned in the winter, the shepherds move themselves and their animals down to the coast villages of Argoules, Patsianos and Frangokastello, and with us we are now 3 houses which are inhabited all year around. In the summer months though, from May til October about 25 houses are inhabited. And there is no water supply. Traditionally, the houses had cisterns, which the rainfalls in the winter would fill.. This allowed for a few weeks of kitchenwater, if you wouldn't take showers or water gardens. Then, water has to be carried for the animals and daily use. Nowadays, the shepherds have pickup trucks, with plastic water containers and carry water from the coast villages..
We, when we built the house, dug cisterns down to hold 20 cubic.. this year, with the little rain we had, we ran out of water in early May. Since then, we carry water with our truck either from the coast or from Argyroupoli, 14km away...
2 years ago, we went to the commune responsible for the area, to address the water problem. Now, in the mountains surrounding our village, there is water.. they call it the 'acrid water', well, the result was, that a bulldozer came and did some digging and placed a black plasticpipe. You can see this in the pictures below, which I took when we went up to see what they had been doing in July 2008...



Here you see the results of the digging efforts, the black pipe to the right, and also the plasticbottles and other rubbish in the water...

And a closeup...

Behind Babis you can see the plateau down, where the village is.. Well... this digging was all that was done, and we still do not have a single drop..

What to do...

Obviously, we cannot wait for the commune to bring water, the village has waited decades...

Two weeks ago, we were talking about this problem.. and a friend who was visiting suddenly reveiled, that he is able to find water dowsing.. He went to his car and got his Y shaped stick of olivewood and started zick-zacking our ground.. and yes, he found water.. it was amazing to see, how the stick bent down towards the ground, how his knuckles turned white with the effort to hold the stick..

He then took his copper pendulum to determine the depth.. he told us, that there are two waterveins passing at a depth of approximately 46-48 meters...
And the amount of water should be ca. 1 cubic/hour...

Now..

Should we believe this, shouldn't we believe this? What choices do we have? We cannot expect the communal offices to do anything for water.. do we have another choice but to believe, but to go for it???

This is Kallikratis now in July.. dried out, only some thistles survive.. water could turn this place into a paradise...

There could be gardens, fruittrees..

So, we inquired.. to start with.. and contacted a company who drills for water.. they said, they didn't really believe in dowsing, but then, they do not have other sure means to find water themselves... its just to try and see..

They would first do a trial drilling, and then, if there is water, set up the system to bring it up.. The cost would be ca 2500 euro for the trial (50 euro per meter)
and then another 2500 when there is water.. And we will have to have all of it on the spot, because if there is water, it has to be done straight away...

So, for some days we were thinking, dreaming, wondering... what to do? Its a lot of money. We don't have it. Its such a risk, what if theres no water?? What though, if there is? The difference it would make..

So, we put out a call for action to all our friends.. if everyone contributes some, we can share it out- the risk, the win or the loose... if everybody joins in with whatever amount they can, the loss would be to bear for each, or the winning would be shared by many..

So many friends have shared with us, have been here with us... just have a look at the post I sent here on the blog in February this year..

So, we have put out the call, and many have already promised to contribute... many with 50, few with 100 or even 200 euro.. and the score now, after a few days is ca. 1290 euro..(the ca. is, because some have promised to contribute, but not told us the amount yet, so please tell us..)

We do believe, that it will be possible to raised the money with joined force, maybe even as soon as in a few weeks.. and then we will go for the drilling, arranging a great party here in Kallikratis on that day, food, drink, music... and share the excitement of the drilling and the outcome...

Maybe you'd like to join as well??

Here come the names of people having contributed/promised so far:

Giannis and Anna Bitsakis, Chania

Lampis Xylouris, Anogia

Willy and Johnny De Zeeuw and family, Holland

Arnold, Evelyn and Jaqueline, Holland

Giannis Tsagarakis, Chania, Crete

Nikos Psilos, Chania, Crete

Thomas and Martha Brandt, Denmark

Manfred Hoffmann and Moni, Germany

Jill and Derek Pearce, Kavros, Crete

Giorgos Markoulakis, Chania, Crete

Giangkos Chairetis, Anogia, Crete

Ina Hviding, Norway

And here on the blog, we will keep everyone informed, about how the action goes on.. On saturday we will go to Chania for a week, there is an agricultural market in the old customs building near the harbor (Teloneio), where we will meet many more of our friends..

Many small streams can make a river, many of us can bring water to Kallikratis.. and when we find it, we will make a great sculpture with the names of all of us..

So, thats it for now, if you want to contribute from abroad, contact us per mail, or come and find us during the next week in Chania...lets go for it together!! Lets risk, win or loose together for a great dream that can become reality!Water in Kallikratis!!!

We have been to a wonderful exhibition/ market for ecological and handmade products in Herakleion from 28-31. of May. The market took place in a park in the middle of the town. It was a wonderful atmosphere, three days we all stayed, many of us in tents in the park.. You can see our neighbours Maria and Vangelio in the picture above, as well as some tents..

The market was self-organized, we all took turns for night watches and in the kitchen, as we all would eat together in the middle of the day. It gave a great feeling of community between the more than a hundred people participating in the market..

Everyday there were seminars on all kind of subjects related to ecological farming, sustainable lifestyle, health and much more. In this picture, Fukuokas method of natural farming is demonstrated..

Here the stand of our friend 'Bananas'.. he grows ecological bananas in the south of the island, and has lost his Christian name during the last many years..

This now is our little stand, essential oils, soaps, shampoo.. Lots of people visited the market, the stands were open from 10 in the morning till midnight...

Here its Babis at our stand..

Every night there was live music playing, free concerts.. sometimes until early morning.. So on the third day, these guys here, set up a sign on their stall... 'Kleisto logo methisis'... Closed because of hangover!

All in all though, it was a beautiful experience. We were just producers of ecological sound products, no merchants. We worked together to make this happening. There was music, performances, clowns, seminars. We got to know each other well, and there was many many visitors... There will be a similar self-organised market in the vicinity of Athens in a park from September 30 til October 3.. you can find some more info as well as some history at the following link (its in Greek, but you can translate the pages with google... www.oikogiorti.gr

Back on the island

Hello there again.. I have just arrived back on Crete, after spending almost 6 weeks abroad with my parents.. Here a picture of the lovely savory, Satureja thymbra, which is blooming so early this year..




What a strange spring here, we have never seen such a spring before.. It was so warm over the winter, and it has rained so very little. The herbs have been confused, and many of them are blooming almost a month earlier than usually.. We have just collected savory, Satureja thymbra along the south coast.. The places are dry, and the grasses already yellow and withering...


Lets see, what this year will bring, there has been preciously little rain.. the plants are struggling for survival..

Now we are going up to the mountains to see how our other plant populations are doing

We have never seen such a dry spring here in Crete, in all these years..

Yesterday we were at an exhibition of artistic stone work here in Chania..
Our good friend Giorgos Koutroubakis, is showing some of his work here in Chania at the 'Teloneio', the old customs house at the harbour until March 31.
Giorgos works stone in such a beautiful way, combining old techniques, ultra modern ideas and exquisite fine details, combinations of natural pieces and carvings...


Here some of the photos I took at his exhibition.. The one above is one of my favorite pieces, even though its hard for me to say, which one is my favorite.. they all have a beauty of their own..
This is an example of the way Giorgos can combine materials in a single sculpture.. mountain crystal, and soft stone to carve details...

Or simply, or not so simply.. natural formations of stone which inspire him to create images..

Natural formations of stone which just ask to express themselves...

Like this one as well, angelic...

However, also fine works of sculpture, chiselled to perfection...

And working with light as well.. as in this piece called orchid...

Here you see Babis to the left, Giorgos to the right.. at the exhibition yesterday, and seated on the bench they made together.. Idea and stonework by Giorgos, woodwork partly by Babis.. Have a good look at this bench..Sitting there invites for communication, the handrests are formed like hands, sitting here, you are holding hands. In the background part of Giorgos' sculpture... Africa

For much better pictures of his art see http://www.perissios.com/text/enstict1.htm this link should lead you straight to the pictures...

Some pictures from the Lavender distillation..

We essentially only distill wild plants we collect ourselves... with one exception..

Gil and Derek grow organic lavender, the french varieties L. angustifolia and L. spica here in Crete..
They do so with all their heart and soul. Just to see their plantation is a magic sight.. The plants are all cultivated in circles, Gill knows each of them, each individual and cares for them in a very personal and spiritual way.

It is therefor with great pleasure that we do the distillation of the essential oils for them. Just handling the plant material, when they bring it to the distillery, we can feel the love and care that has gone into the caring, planting and harvesting.. when Lavendula angustifolia arrives on the back of their pickup, we open the bags to find, that it only contains blossoms, every leaf and coarser stalks have been removed..



You can see the pictures of last years Lavender distillation at
http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/1769602/

Enjoy...

Just to get a feeling of Cretan music, here another video taken when Giangos Chairetis played with Lampis' brother Giorgos Xylouris just a week after our party in Kallikratis.. its a beautiful piece.. I really love it. Full of magic..

Again I have tried for a long time to post it here, again I have given up, so here's the link to the original...

Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/janinaherb#!/video/video.php?v=102349709799857&ref=mf