Hello dear ones,
Last weekend was the highlight of this week for me, or even I will dare to say a highlight in this project so far. Our team, our coordinator Mihaela, fellow volunteer Poli and I went to a village called Mezek. The village is very close to the Greek and also Turkish border, surrounded by beautiful nature, many tombs and sanctuaries from Thracian times and a medieval fortress. We stayed in a house that was built from natural and recycled materials. Our hosts were a lovely family, Ognyan, Maria and their two children.
After three hours ride from Sofia, we arrived in a totally different climate zone, from the rainy and pretty cold weather to 30 degrees summer. At the moment we got out of the car, we could hear Bulgarian folklore music. It was the holiday assembly of the village. There was a concert, a market and a drawing workshop for the young ones, that was organized by the community center of Mezek and the head of community center is Maria, our host. All the money that was gathered during the event was donated to two children in need of health service. We enjoyed the atmosphere there, bought some homemade tahini and then went to visit the famous tomb of Mezek and the medieval fortress. After that, we went to our host’s home. I was very pleasantly surprised by their house, that was made out of natural and recycled materials, and also by the warmth and kindness by our hosts. We had a “meeting” in which many subjects were discussed, from permaculture, eco building, the workshop on the next day, to the meaning of life itself.
On Sunday, we had the workshop with the children and the parents in the community center. In the morning we were finishing some of the details and making game tests, and at noon we went to prepare the space in the community center. We planned that our main task for the workshop will be to make the instant garden. Maria had organized all the materials needed. But after the super sunny summer weather the day before, we woke up to rain. Fortunately we had plan B, for what we can do if it doesn’t go as the first plan, so there was no panic.
There were around 20 people, both grown-ups and kids. Some were for the village itself and some were from the closest city, Svilengrad. We started off with making the puzzle with the poster of the broccoli guild, while we were waiting for everyone to gather. When all the participants came we had an intro into our project, the association, permaculture and companion planting, and we started the game with the mask and finding the friends from your guild. Both kids and grown-ups enjoyed this game. After that the Gods of rain were kind enough to give us a window of no rain, just enough so that we can actually make the instant garden. First we presented the participants with the method, using the poster I made, and then we started making the bed. We separated into two groups, Maria (our host and head of the community center), Poli and I together with the kids worked on the instant garden while our coordinator was talking to the grown up about permaculture, presenting them with more natural and sustainable approaches to gardening. We planted tomatoes, thyme, marigold, savory and eggplants. It was such a fun experience. The kids were super enthusiastic and enjoyed helping in the process.
The last activity of the workshop was “the companion plant domino game”, that I was working on the past period by the idea of my coordinator. It was the first test of the game, and it went pretty well. We saw what needs to be changed and upgraded, and the kids had so much fun, even though it was the last activity and I assume they were already tired.
We were all thrilled by the energy of the people, it was super vibrant. Their enthusiasm, good will and kindness really gave us so much hope, and we were all so grateful for their participation.
On Monday we dedicated the day to visit one more tomb and the mountain peak Sheynovec. Our mission was that on our way there we would clean the eco pathways, and we were happy to see that the locals take good care of nature and that there was not much trash around. I also made an interview with Ognyan, our host, who is a carpenter, eco builder, ecoactivist and the organizer of the Mezek run marathon. But for this I will write more in my next vlog, so stay tuned.
Love,
Marija
