ARCHELON continues one more year the EVS programme. This time hosts a great young man from France who started his placement in September 2016. Thanks to ERASMUS+ programme we got the chance to have Antoine with us and help us all these months with the protection of sea turtles. Here is what he says about the EVS and about ARCHELON.

Antoine Giedelmann, 25 years old from France

Why did you want to participate in EVS?

For me, EVS was the best way to do volunteering and travelling in other European countries than France. I came to Greece to gain a lot of competences about the survival of turtles and their ecology, to gain knowledge about the marine ecosystem and learn a new language, to discover the Greek culture and to meet a lot of people from all over the world. These were my motives to take part in this project.

Why ARCHELON and why sea turtles?

I chose the field of the environment for my EVS mission because I studied the Management and Protection of the Nature in France and I wanted to continue in this way because I like to follow my ideas to defend different causes, and the protection of nature, and to conserve the new generations.

I knew that in France there were different associations for environmental education and I wanted for my EVS mission to participate in a rescue center for animals or in an organisation more specialized in the nature conservation.

So I found the mission of 6 months in the Rescue Center for Sea Turtles in ARCHELON and I didn’t hesitate to apply for this organisation in a beautiful country like Greece!

As I'm young, I am very interested in aquatic ecosystems like rivers and wetland environments, and to do volunteering in ARCHELON for me was the perfect way to discover more the marine ecosystem and the biology of the different species of sea turtles from the Mediterranean sea.

How is your experience up to now?

I always have fun during my 6 months, trying to do my best of my ability when working and taking time to travel and to discover more of Greece and people respectively. The EVS improved me as a person, got to know myself more, it has opened my mind and led me to discover people from different countries and to live in collective environment. I also had the chance to learn a little of the Greek due to Rosa my fabulous teacher. I don’t regret any time of my experience in Greece, only that this 6 months passed very fast but I am planning to give my energy to ARCHELON on the beach projects of the summer 2016!!!