1. Every cause needs a person like Heather. She is passionate about her project, incredibly focused on her mission of clearing trails, and is determined to make sure her workawayers have a quality experience.
2. The project is so interesting. What could be better than working very hard to uncover stone trails that have been hidden away for decades. It’s like a scavenger hunt/archaeology dig where you are constantly finding treasures. (If you think that finding hidden stone trails is a treasure) Thinking about the islanders who used donkeys to transport themselves and their goods from place to place on these trails makes you realize how hard working the people were, as well as what good builders they were to create these trails. I think the project is tremendous.
3. Heather is awesome. She is the perfect host(ess). Not only did she provide dinners on the evenings when we worked, but she brought us around with her on the island, invited us to join her on her hikes, took us to the beach every day, took us sightseeing, introduced us to her friends, showed us what tsipouro was and oriented us to Greece, island life, and Skopelos. She made us feel so comfortable in Skopelos and prepared us for the rest of our time in Greece.
4. The people on the island who support the project are awesome: Heather has enlisted the help of many people who help make the volunteers’ time very comfortable and feel well taken care of. The hoteliers union has donated rooms for the volunteers to stay in and people cooked us food, bought us drinks, transported us from one part of the island to another, and generally made us feel welcome and valued.
5. The whole thing is just a lot of fun. Jay and I had a blast on Skopelos. When we left, I actually burst into tears and even Jay was a bit choked up when we waved good-bye from the ferry. I LOVED Skopelos and our workaway experience.
Debbi Perkul
Welcome to our first Autumn volunteers, Debbi and Jay from Cleveland, Ohio, USA, So far we’ve cleared the Asteriathes spring on the Old Road to Stafilos and made a start on the calderimi from Palio Clima up towards Ag Iannis. This was started last spring and is a big job. We have already removed a large fallen tree from the track, thanks to Jay’s chain saw skills and a joint log rolling effort to get it over the side.
