As soon as I arrived in Minori I was introduced in a group of young people almost my age who participated in the very famous project of ACARBIO, the Make it Blue. Before I even know it, I was wearing a uniform like them and being part of the group as coordinator, assisting them and their camp leader when it was needed, as well as making sure that everything works well. The two weeks passed fast, being occupied with the project, while enjoying the wonderful landscape and weather of the Amalfi coast. Meanwhile, I met some very interesting people, I tasted what really Italian cuisine is and I saw the simple spending time in the beach from a totally different perspective.
After this experience, a new challenge was to be faced. My dear colleague Cornelia and I were called to be camp leaders of the last workcamp. Since I love working with people and I was already engaged to the whole project and Minori beach, I couldn’t refuse. Two more Make it Blue weeks were on with new exciting people, work in the beach and the sea, nights with games, music and stories, activities with children, great ideas for raising environmental awareness, evening walks with ice cream. My work at Make it Blue project helped me develop in matters of group management, project organization and implementation, alternative ways of raising awareness and talking about environmental issues. Plus, I had the chance to do with the kids in the beach my favourite experiment: the volcano!
When the Make it Blue project was finished, it was time for the ACARBIO staff and me to return back to Tramonti. This is when I first visited the base of ACARBIO, almost a month after my arrival. It was a joke among us that the office doesn’t really exist, since I kept on hearing about it without ever seeing it. But I can now confirm…it does exist! And it’s wonderfully located among the mountains, in a totally natural environment, following the genuine principles of sustainability, I’m really enjoying my first days here and I’m excited about the ones coming.
Tania Rempatsiou from Stockholm University, specialized in Education for Sustainable Development