The International School of Zug & Luzern works with ARCHELON for Personal Development Week
One of the things that we are always told in our school is that it is better to give than to receive. The value of work done for another is better than work done for yourself. And then we go to class and we think about our own work, we do homework for ourselves, we sit our exams and we get our grades. Between the 16th and the 20th of September 2013 we had the opportunity to step outside of the traditional academic timetable and learn by doing genuine work for others.
Arriving in Athens we completed some basic dive safety training. Those who already held dive qualifications headed out to the local where they collected hundreds of meters of fishing line and hooks from the sea floor.
We spent the next three days working with Pavlos, Athena & the volunteers at the Archelon turtle sanctuary. It was an unforgettable experience. Coming face to face with the terrible injuries suffered by the turtles; each ʽman-madeʼ, some deliberate; was disturbing. The chance to see the kind of work done by the dedicated professionals and volunteers at the sanctuary was a unique learning experience. We greatly appreciate the care, effort and patience which the Archelon staff showed us.
During the afternoons we collected trash and fishing line from the ocean floor around the local coast. Although the amount of physical difference our efforts made is miniscule in relation to the size of the issue, we did make a small difference. Entanglements were removed from the sea. Hundreds of plastic bottles and items of trash will now not be eaten by turtles this year. Possibly more important was the change in attitudes. Everyone on the trip was stuck by David Whiteʼs statement ʽbehind every piece of rubbish is a human faceʼ. We left Greece with admiration for the people who dedicate their lives to this work. We long to return, and we have clear realization of the responsibility of all humans as stewards of the planet, a job that we sometimes could all do better.
TESOLʼs annual Christmas event
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