Hello
My name is Mirto Fifa and
and basicallythe previous speakers have already said the most
but I will try to develop my own pespective of this town
facing also the fact that I am a little bit ill, but we will manage it I believe
so, this is the fact
personally I am a teacher and deal with photography and Performing Arts videos
I used to live in Athens,fortunately or unfortunately, and in other big cities
but I couldn't stand it any more, I wanted to come back, I wanted to come to Kalamata
I was driven by the life experience I gained here since I was a little girl
experience that has to do with the countryside, working close to nature, agricultural work
and the culture that stems from them, that was something that haunted me wherever I went
I couldn't feel comfortable in a big city
and this is because of everything you have experienced
the odours, the senses you use when being at the countryside, the nature make you a complex personality
maybe more than when being within the walls of a house, this is the first fact
the second thing is that this outburst of the senses that is caused by the contact with nature
this outburst of senses caused by the contact with nature and working in the countryside or anyway
working at a place that gives you the opportunity to come in contact with nature
makes you at a certain point a bit more self-sufficient and capable of facing any challenges that may arise
so being ready to organise your life based on your own needs is also crucial
and this is a very important thing to be able to evolve and it is a very important thing
for us the Greeks, to be able to understand, since we have a different perspective of things
and another thing that I couldn't help noticicing when living in the big city was except for
a lack of senses, there used to be many objects, many things everywhere
things here, things there, things a bit further
we have things everywhere on small shelves, we have no contact, we do not know what they are made of, what they are
and consequently we notice the following phenomenon
children who think that potatoes look like those which have just come out of the fryer 0:03:04, 0:03:06 and this is true, guys 0:03:04, 0:03:18 all these made me ask myself what I was doing here why I was dealing with all these artistic activities 0:03:18, 0:03:20 what kind of life I am leading 0:03:20, 0:03:29 plus the fact that there was something that intrigued me and that was my previous experience 0:03:29, 0:03:34 and especially a farm that we own as a family in Kalamata on the suburbs of this town 0:03:34, 0:03:37 a farm that exists in its position for almost a hundred years
and I am not exaggerating, it is exactly a hundred years
and it is a part of the old weather station in Kalamata, at the time when we also used to export raisins
and there used to be a general development in the town
and this farm, another characteristic that it has, is that
it has remained unchanged, there is actually a small eco-system
an eco-system that is self-sufficient
that requires a small amount of energy for me to handle it since I basically live there
and this experience is something I want to share with people
this is how it occurred to me to come back, make it open for public so that everyone can visit it
to inform the citizens of Kalamata, schools and agencies
about things that have to do mith natural farming, traditional farming
DIYs, that means how you can make things you need by yourself
and at the same time I wanted to familiarise people with the cultural aspects of this situation
just to give you an example, it is very important for us to know what we eat, where the food comes from, what it is
for instance, in our farm we cultivate a plant called "lahanida"
this plant, also called "karmpolahano", this is the name we actually found
exists in our region for many years, it actually exists since the ancient times
the so called "lahanides" or "lalaggides" used to be Ancient Greeks' basic food
and it was the food that helped us survive the hunger when occupied by the Axis powers
because Germans did not recognise it and at the same time it was very nutritious
this is part of our history
if we have not come across this plant, this seed
we are not aware of the historical facts, we do not know what we have been gone through and where we are going to
for me it is crucial to be able to familiarise people with the farming culture
local features,local products
and just like that the idea of a farm crossed my mind
a farm that would be able to support this idea and be open to public
and what exactly you can see in this farm
you will basically see workshops, available for kids and adults
workshops of traditional farming, natural farming
compost,how you can dispose your garbage
with no cost, with no energy cost
you will see orange and olive trees, gardens with herbs
you will see that our entire equipment comes from things made by us
you will see, what can I say, people coming, people from other countries offering their assistance and
energy in order to maintain this farm located at the entrance to the town, taking into consideration the fact that
someone could have turned it into a petrol station or anything else
we maintain it, we exist there, and for us it is a challenge to try to do this in Kalamata
however, it was a success and we have just started
what else you can see, you will see schools visiting having lessons
you will see schools visiting and asking for our help to set up their own gardens
we will watch the results of our actions in cooperation with
the national union of teachers who teach Environmental Science that are creating
school gardens, at the moment there are sixty schools in Kalamata that have their own gardens or
try to create their own gardens
and another important feature of our farm is
our seed bank of traditional varieties that exist in this region
and this is where memories exist
this is where the whole meaning exists
this is where the treasure can be found
this an experience, that I cannot analyse now
that is something you experience when you come and take part in the process
you act, you plant, examine the food you eat
what a tomato is, where it has come from, the tomato that you eat
anyway you get the chance to smell,sense,feel
and in this way we understand, things follow us
I think that we are running out of time
also another interesting thing that we developed at a great extent in our farm
and in relation to the people that supported us in this town
was the aspect of neighbourhood compost as a solution to the problem of disposing our waste
you know that in Greece we think that garbage should be either under the carpet or on a mountain
it is quite simple, because of the environmental issue that arose in our town two years ago
the idea of our second project 'Re:think' was developed
rethink the material that you have in front of you, rethink the possible uses of what you have in front of you
rethink your needs, rethink how you can do it on your own
make whatever you want using things that you may find around you
and see whether this thing can make you more provident
more inventive, more business-minded after all
and entrepreneurship does not always need to do with money
of course we certainly need money to live
but entrepreneurship is new ideas, trying making and doing new things
these are the features of a farming culture
a farming culture that until 50s or even 60s used to exist in Greece
we had this at a certain extent
so for me it was a new perspective
to come back, to find
aspects of this culture, meet people, cooperate, you cannot achieve anything alone
so as to be able to communicate and look for it myself
let's say that another important aspect was the fact that through our contact
with traditional varieties of this region and by finding seeds of local varieties
we managed to draw people's interest and created a network called 'seed-keepers'
more specifically 'seed-keepers anonymous'
that is a network of people, whose main concern and duty is
to take, exchange seeds of traditional varieties
without receiving money, at this moment we do not need money, not yet
what we need is to achieve conservation,biodiversity, protection
and also keep records, reproduce them so that we can protect them
we cooperate with PELITI, the main group, the main organisation
in Greece dedicated to preserving local traditional varieties
we cooperate with different agencies in this town in relation to this
and the most important is the existance of the sixty gardens that belong to the Municipality of Kalamata and are now growing
the project will be adopted by people in Nauplio, this is where I need to be tomorrow
they will start making their own seed bank
imagine the potential this may have
imagine a town, where children, people
do not regard soil or land as something distant, unfamiliar
they can use it, can be fed by it, can see the dynamic that it gives them
in a close relationship
this is what I wanted to communicate
and it was something that generally haunted me, the main reason why
I came back to this town
the idea of
a natural farm open to the public close to the town
traditional agricultural Fifa farm, 'Seed-keepers anonymous'
a small eco-system close to us
a different world is here 0:12:37,0:12:29 workshops on natural traditional farming and compost for younger and older children...
a school close to nature is being born...
reduction of the ecological footprint
useful objects made of useless materials
well, we have run out of time
and I am a little bit sick today
a part of the farm, a basic procedure in the farm
that was previously mentioned is 'Rethink' project
that includes DIYs and creative recycling which
we try to communicate to everyone
young or old people, younger child, older child
the idea of playing, the opportunity to play, combine, invent and in this way broaden their minds
'Rethink' project
is something crucial that this town is dealing with at the moment of speaking
now that we are talking, this thing takes place in the town
it is a basic network of neighbourhood compost
at this moment we have almost ten local composters
a composter, for those that are not aware, is a box in which
re-fermentation, composting of organic materials from our waste takes place
so if we all take part in this process
almost forty percent of our waste is taken to landfills
we managed to do this thing
we made our proposal and we supported our idea
of course the City Council and other Municipal agencies cooperated and we are now running it together
we started it, as a need for a need to find a solution to the problem of the waste produced in the town
based on that, I want to conclude that both idea of the farm
and the 'Rethink' project
are actions initiated by a need
the need to stay here, be creative here, communicate with people here
find people with whom you can not only exchange ideas but also
activities and abilities
become an entrepreneur here
and entrepreneurship is not necessarily only related to
big numbers and markets
entrepreneurship is your eagerness to create in your town
but you need to be original, it is crucial 0:17:40, 0:17:42 "composters in action"... 0:17:59, 0:18:04 finally I would like to present you some images some ideas 0:18:04, 0:18:08 to get to know each other since we come from the same town, the same region 0:18:08, 0:18:13 and we simply need to believe a bit more than we do now 0:18:13, 0:18:16 this is all that matters. Thank you.