Volunteering in Action for Wildlife in Greece

My project started in May 2021. I was on a plane heading to Thessaloniki, a city I was very curious about. I did some research on its history and I knew when I have a day-off I will be visiting the city. I went together with a girl named  Cheryl. We arrived late in the evening at the centre and went to bed. The next morning, we didn’t work yet as they wanted us to have some rest. In the afternoon, I had the chance to witness the release of a wild cat. For that, we had to drive quite a distance until we reached some mountains. It was a beautiful view. This whole experience was an adventure because the roads were not in a very good condition and the car I was in broke down right at the moment we were riding up a hill… It was my first taste of releasing an animal. We managed to get back to Drasi and the next day my first day of work started.

 

Working at the wildlife centre

 

My first working experience was the “outside shift”, cleaning the food bowls of the animals in the outside cages, preparing their food, and feeding them. Sofia the vet taught me how to enter cages carefully and how to put the food in the correct way. All the animals kept their distance and I was happy about that. Only the flamingo seemed to have no fears as it was waiting impatiently at the entry to be fed. It would even grab your shirt if you were taking too long in its opinion. I thought it was very funny as you could clearly see the character of an animal.

 

The first week I did the outside and the cleanings, which are very important to keep a certain workflow at Drasi. Something I had to get used to was the way the rooms inside were organized. At the beginning I called it “organized chaos” as I could not see any way of organisation of the stuff. But apparently there was and after some days I got hold of it. I am talking about the work bench, or the shelf with all the different plates and bowls. The longer you are there the better you will understand, trust me.

 

After a couple of weeks doing the outside shift, Sofia and Froso taught me gradually some stuff about the inside rooms as the big boxes and the hedgehogs. I really enjoyed doing them as they enable more contact with the animals. Especially crows seem to understand you. As you enter their box, they are waiting for you and there was one juvenile crow which, after you had put the newspaper in the box, would step on it. I had the impression it was trying to help me. But maybe this is my way of wishful thinking…

 

One day, Froso asked if I wanted to release a small bird. Of course I said yes! Holding such a small bird is quite frightening as I was afraid of squishing it. But Froso gave me good instructions. Everything went well and I was so happy to see the bird fly away.

 

Another thing I enjoyed so much was taking care of the hedgehogs. We had some babies and I was allowed to feed them with milk, afterwards with AD and then wet croquets and chicken. For me it was quite emotional to see how they grow so quickly. When they came in, they were smaller than my hand and after my two months stay, they were so big that it was nearly impossible to open the box without them trying to get out. Yes, I would definitely consider myself as a hedgehog fan now.

 

The work was inspiring in many ways and even though I am not going to study something in the medical field, I surely discovered my love for wildlife.

 

Living together with other volunteers

 

To speak frankly, this was the biggest challenge for me. Before Anastasia cleaned up the hallway the living space was a mess. Stuff everywhere… But now it looks nice after a great clean-up. The other thing I was shocked about was how other people keep the infrastructures clean. It took a while and some discussions until we set some clear boundaries of hygiene before I was at ease in the living space, and still, there are some things which bother me today. However, these things have nothing to do with how the Greek people approach them. It is up to the foreign volunteers to keep it clean and that seemed very difficult time by time…

The room I shared with others was always clean and after some redecorations I would say Cheryl and I had the best room. We even had a sofa and a nice wall painting.

 

The Greek people

 

I can just say one thing: they are so nice. Everyone I met greeted me with such kindness. Big thanks to everyone involved at Drasi: Penelope, Anastasia, Sofia the vet, Froso, Sofia the mentor, Vangelis, and many other volunteers I met during these 2 months.

 

I also want to thank my mentor for the Greek lessons. I learned that Greek is not the easiest language, but I must admit, the characters are so beautiful. I know some words and phrases, thus, enough to order a drink at a bar.

 

Especially the young volunteers I will remember forever. Even when the time was short, I would dare to say that I created some friendships at Drasi. Much love for Elena, Artemis, Pavlina, Ariana and of course Cheryl and Thomas.

 

Conclusion

 

My experience at Drasi enabled me to grow, to gain independence and changed for sure my outlook on life. It is something I will never forget. Certainly, I felt sometimes it was getting too much for me but then just close your eyes and go for it. In the end, everything will be fine. After two months, I am kind of a different person.

 

Drasi does an amazing job. We all know perfection doesn’t exist and of course there is always something to work on, but knowing how tight money always is, these people do an amazing job at taking care for wild animals which would die if nobody makes the effort of looking after them.

Updated on Thursday, 21/07/2022