University of the Mountains Mission to the Municipality of Apokoronas

The University of the Mountains also found a great response in Apokoronas, Chania, with its volunteer groups on Friday, May 9, 2014. The love and gratitude, evident in the faces and behaviors of the excluded residents of Crete, fills the souls of all of us with strength, for the continuation of our volunteer work.

In collaboration with the clinics of PAGNI and VEMMO – Institute of Optics and Vision, the Ophthalmology, with Prof. I. Pallikaris, the Neurosurgery Team with Prof. A. Vakis, the Neurology Team with Mr. G. Spanakis, examined and supported about 130 resident patients, mainly elderly and children, in the village of Fre.

In the peer teaching of students that was implemented between the schools of Fre Primary School, headed by the principal N. Stavgiannoudakis, and the Private Primary School of Nafstathmos Crete, headed by the principal A. Tomazinakis, the students developed the topics “Presentation of the school & the wider social environment”, “Cavaffi’s poems, an educational perspective”, “Sheep shearing”, “Wool drying and natural dyes”.

At the meeting at the Cafe of the Mountains of Men, in Fre, scientists from different fields of knowledge, Prof. of Ophthalmology, Mr. I. Pallikaris, Mr. A. Stefanakis, Veterinarian, President of GEOTEE of Crete, Mr. G. Spanakis, Neurologist, Holistic Physician, Mr. Ar. Economopoulos, Associate Professor of the University of Crete and Mr. Emm. Voloudakis, Teacher, discussed with the local residents issues related to the local economy, wine, oil and renewable energy sources, with anxiety and willingness to help in all the ways and means at their disposal, the people of the villages, so that they can stay and create in their place. Also, to all those returning from the cities, to turn to the land and the deliverables of their parents and through them, to live happily, enjoying what they themselves produce and not to live with the anxiety of easy profit, borrowing and subsidies.

At the Women’s Cafe in Fre, Mrs. Varvara Terzakis-Pallikaris, Penelope Gandhi, weavers of the Mission from Palaia Roumata, Chania and Amari, Rethymno, discussed with the women of the area and local weavers, the value of handmade goods and the art of weaving in Crete, the Penelope Gandhi Mission, local techniques, the xomblia, the ethics and culture of the loom.