These last weeks have been different: the first volunteering group left and we had a beautiful last day dinner and a party. We spent most of the night dancing around the bonfire! Then as our rhythm slowed down a bit, we were able to spend more time with the crew and enjoy Hopeland in a quieter way. It was also Easter, which is a very important holiday in Greece. We had a long weekend and a small trip to Athens. Now we are focusing more on the maintenance of the place and do

In the past two weeks, the time flew by so fast, but we were very busy with all the activities, even if the weather was not the best. We picked up a lot of seasonal veggies from our food forest, such as spinach, lettuce, fava beans and radish. Then, we did some woodwork, in order to create new bed frames. In one area of Hopeland, we learned about the dry stacking technique, to make the foundation of a pergola. And another thing we did was moving the chickens to their new ho

Originally based in Italy, volunteering project Vitality keeps exploring new venues. This year Association Vagamondo in cooperation with Hopeland - Ελπιδοχώρι launched Vitality volunteering in Greece. Meet Chiara, who arrived right after Cassandra! Ciao! I'm Chiara, from Italy. I was looking for a place where I can slow down a bit, take a break from fast life and where I could be close to nature and work more with my hands. I think that a place like Hopeland mirrors all of

Originally based in Italy, volunteering project Vitality keeps exploring new venues. This year Association Vagamondo in cooperation with Hopeland - Ελπιδοχώρι launched Vitality volunteering in Greece. We are glad to introduce the first one to arrive - meet Cassandra! "Hi! I'm Cassandra :) I come from Italy and I'm 20 years old. I will be a volunteer in Hopeland for the next six months and I'm very excited! I've always been passionate about nature and sustainability. Being o

This week in Bergolo felt like a mix of creativity, culture, and cozy December magic. We started building our Advent Calendar and decorating our envelopes. Our office turned into a multi-talented workshop: crocheting by the fireplace, uncovering our inner artists through painting, and bracelet-making that somehow brought out everyone’s hidden perfectionism. 🎨🧶 Midweek, we brought a piece of Egypt to the local middle school sharing its culture, history, and food, and teachi

I’ll spare you the emotional rollercoaster of these last weeks (you can expect that in my farewell post 😝) and dive straight into the shenanigans of last week. If I had to describe the week with one word, it would be CommunityInAction (counts as one word, right?). Our volunteers initiated and joined many activities across our little corner of Piemonte. One of the highlights was spending a lovely day with the people of the Bonafous Foundation in Cortemilia after they invited

Our week in Bergolo started in the garden, where we worked together to build up our dome. This time we painted the top structure, and screwed in a plastic cover. And while doing all this, we posed and looked cool with the drills too! 🔨 ⛄ Just a few days later, winter officially arrived in Bergolo, and our garden changed colors from being green to white! The cozy snow really brought us together. There were moments where we were all trying to heat up our hands in front of the

The week that passed was filled with sunny days and impromptu tasks carried out thanks to our volunteers’ initiative and enthusiasm. One of these tasks was the thorough cleaning of our beloved Twingo🚗 It seemed hard in the beginning but with some perseverance, the car sparkled again! We even discovered a radiophone device that we connected to the car and -to our great surprise- it was working properly! This week’s schedule also included an exciting photography workshop, prep

My name is Daniel, and I arrived from the Netherlands to Bergolo a few days ago. From the minute I arrived, I knew I’m going to have a very special time here. The town itself is pretty, cozy, and to me very quaint. I’m surrounded by beautiful landscapes while writing this, and I’m thankful to be able to call this place home for the next 8 months. The thing that left the greatest first impression for me was the welcome I got from my fellow volunteers. Everyone here is passiona