Community Partner since 1995.
Today was the end of a full week—a week of teaching and learning for all of us. The word “bittersweet” came up a few times this morning at breakfast for Meghan and me on our last day of teaching. Last walk by the blue morning glories, the black dog, and the fig trees on […]
Global Volunteers salutes Andy, Lucy, Anna and Alice Kligerman, who have served twice as a family on the island of Crete, in Greece, where they taught conversational English to summer camp students. It is obvious they made learning productive and fun for their students and each other! Andy writes: “We selected the teaching program in Crete, because […]
By the end of the school session today we were more than halfway through our week of service. By now we are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of our students. Their school teachers and earlier Global Volunteers have served them well. The students in the upper class can recognize English words that they […]
Since early 2016, Global Volunteers Crete teams have been called upon by local authorities to help meet the needs of Syrian refugees in Greece. To date, volunteers work packaging and sorting donated clothing at the port of Heraklion, and preparing filled boxes for shipping to Athens. One team’s story: More than a million refugees and migrants have traveled across […]
Today in Greece the Greeks celebrate Clean Monday ” Kathara Deftera” which marks the end of the carnival and the beginning of Great lent. It is called this because Christians begin this season with “clean hearts and good intentions”. Due to the fact that this day is also considered the first day of Spring families gather together for picnics […]
Christmas or (Xristouyenna- Christouyenna) meaning “the birth of Christ” is one of the most important celebrations within the Greek Orthodox church. Traditions vary depending on which region or Island one is from. Here are a few of the popular traditions celebrated for Christmas in Greece as reported by Greece Country Manager Sam Pinakoulaki: Kalikantzari During the […]
Today I was delighted to spend a third session with one of the High School Students. After the usual greeting, we opened the workbook to practice English, role playing, and pronunciation, which is the usual class work. After reading and working with the formal work plan for a few minutes, I realized she completely understood […]
This excerpt from one day of a team journal describes team members’ daily assignments on a Greece service program. After another beautiful sunrise and another animated discussion with my other team members at breakfast, we all made plans for the morning. When I say animated, I mean a lot of laughing and a lot of […]
Reflections from Colleen Shannon, who volunteered with her daughter, Lauren, and two grandsons, Max and Darwin in Crete, Greece: Our family volunteer experience in Crete last month was one of the highlights of my life. Not only was it personally fulfilling, but watching my daughter and grandsons interact with the children, other volunteers and our hosts was […]
Anna Goshua says the historic timing of her July Crete Service Program added significance to her volunteer contribution. As the Greek government negotiated austerity measures with the EU, Anna focused her personal efforts on daily English lessons – to encourage her adolescent students to plan for their futures. It brought into focus, she said, the importance of a steady […]