The moving experience of Frederique at the Rescue Centre
Frederique, a 23-year-old from Luxembourg, wanted to try something new and immerse himself in a different culture but wasn't sure how, until he heard about volunteering abroad from a friend. Driven by his desire to work with animals, he stumbled on ARCHELON's webpage, and found it appealing. ‘I have two dogs myself, and even if sea turtles are something completely different, I always felt very close to animals.’ Frederique explained. Given his preference for capital cities, he decided to volunteer at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of ARCHELON in Glyfada, Attica. Before coming to Athens, he worked as an electrical apprentice and then as a janitor.
At the Rescue Centre volunteers are expected to help on all fronts, so he knew he would have hands-on involvement with all sorts of things, including the rescue network, public awareness, sea turtle rehabilitation, maintenance, and data collection. Still, the first couple of days proved challenging, as he tried to grasp his new reality. After a few days, he started to anticipate the tasks of cleaning the tanks and turtles and preparing food. ‘When I got there, I knew nothing about turtles and had to learn everything from scratch. I was surprised by the treatments that sea turtles go under and the tasks volunteers have. My biggest surprise was that even sea turtles have different personalities!’, said Frederique with excitement.
At ARCHELON, you'll have the opportunity to meet and work together with new people and form lasting friendships - a major benefit of volunteering. You also get to speak to a lot of visitors who are interested in our work. "Giving tours of the Rescue Centre and raising awareness to the visitors about the marine environment was one of the first things I was trained to do. I think the best way to get the message across to the public is to bring people at the Rescue Centre, so they can see for themselves the work we do and understand why we protect and care for this beautiful species", he said.
‘One particularly memorable moment for me was witnessing ‘Rebecca's’ release back into her natural habitat after rehabilitation. It was a very emotional moment because I had picked up that sea turtle with a flipper injury from a bus station, brought her to the Rescue Centre, and helped her with her daily treatments and rehabilitation. You can't describe such a feeling if you don’t experience it yourself, Frederique says
‘Volunteering is an experience which you only understand when you give your sweat and blood to support this project! That's why I always advise everyone, of all ages, to give it a try and gain new experiences. ARCHELON is the best choice for me because you live the volunteering experience to the fullest!’ he adds.
Frederique has returned to the Rescue Centre once more after his initial visit and he is already anticipating his next return!
Learn more about ARCHELON’s volunteering projects here and apply now!
The Over & Above Awards for 2023
Presentation of ARCHELON 2023 Results: Here is some good news!
RECENT NEWS
- OUR NEWS26/06/2024
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Not all beaches on Greece's extensive coastline are suitable for sea turtle nesting, but sometimes these marine reptiles surprise us! This summer, ARCHELON is asking for your help to investigate a phenomenon called "sporadic nesting".
- OUR NEWS17/06/2024
ATTENTION! Sea turtles are not pets: Do not touch them or feed them!
In areas where a sea turtle associates human presence with food, it’s behavior changes. The turtle treats humans as well as other turtles as competitors in its feeding grounds and tries to drive them away with bites.
- OUR NEWS16/06/2024
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Every year on June 16th, we celebrate World Sea Turtle Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about these magnificent creatures and the threats they face. This year is particularly important for ARCHELON, as the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre marks 30 years of operation.
- OUR NEWS13/06/2024
Poster contest for children and young adults: Welcome the 2024 turtle hatchlings on the beaches!
Watercolors, markers, collage, computer, phone? Everything is useful. Use your creativity and imagination to make an A3 or A4 size poster announcing that the 2024 sea turtle eggs are about to hatch.
- OUR NEWS17/05/2024
Amvrakikos Project 2024: Special Call for a Field Leader
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- OUR NEWS16/05/2024
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- OUR NEWS14/05/2024
Save Turtles, See Greece on a Budget
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- OUR NEWS02/05/2024
Sea Turtle Festival for Kids 2024
Save the date! On Saturday 18 May at 11:00, the ARCHELON Rescue Centre opens its doors to welcome young and old sea turtle friends who want to celebrate, explore, learn, play and travel magically in the Mediterranean Sea. We are waiting for you to strengthen our message for a better and sustainable planet!
- OUR NEWS02/05/2024
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The International Sea Turtle Symposium concluded triumphantly this March in Pattaya, Thailand, with ARCHELON actively participating.
- OUR NEWS29/04/2024
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- OUR NEWS26/04/2024
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The 9th International Conference "Our Ocean", which was held in Athens from April 15 to 17, was successfully completed. ARCHELON had the honor to actively take part in the conference and hosted a side event.
- OUR NEWS12/04/2024
Coordination for the protection of sea turtles in Rethymno: Local authorities and tourism businesses join forces
The meeting, which took place on April 5, 2024, in the building of the Regional Unit of Rethymno, touched upon key issues, such as the observance of conservation measures for the protection of the Loggerhead sea turtle. Given the tourist activity on the nesting beaches, the active participation of the tourism sector in the implementation of the measures is necessary.
- OUR NEWS10/04/2024
"Tourists and turtles?" The environmental awareness campaign of ARCHELON spreads to the nesting beaches of the Loggerhead sea turtle
After the pandemic, ARCHELON - the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece - is once again mobilizing on the path to sustainable tourism. The aim of the new campaign is to provide information on the appropriate code of conduct for visitors to all nesting beaches, in cooperation with the tourism sector.
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LIFE MareNatura - The largest marine biodiversity program in Greece
- OUR NEWS03/04/2024
Citizens inform us of sea turtle strandings
ARCHELON started the effort to record the incidents of dead turtles washing up on the Greek shores in 1992. In recent years there has been an increase in these records which may be due to more of our fellow citizens reporting such incidents. Learn more…