My name is Nicholas and I am 17 years old and last summer the month of August I spent it in Germany in a small village outside Munich called Freising.

For me it was the second Workcamp with Elix and for one more time the experience was increatable.

The workcamp was environmental and as the fields were partially located on cliffs and therefore not easily mowed by machine so all work was done with our hands.

Our team improved the fences and protected the trees from sheep bites.  Additionally we took care of neglected grasslands in order to preserve the habitat of endangered plant and animal species.

Small trees, such as willows, had to be removed as well in order to prevent trees and shrubs from spreading throughout the biotope.

We learned plenty about nature preservation through these tasks!  We also spent a week at the Freising Cathedral, where we prevented trails from falling victim to erosion, and improved a sheep shelter and fences.  The project tasks were led by expert Tobias Oehmen.

We were an autonomous team living in a house offered to us from the locals and we were responsible for the daily shopping, cooking and cleaning. The locals accepted us with love and the local shops provided us with our daily shopping for all our needs. We were also given bicycles that helped us to get around the country side and to get to see the nature.

They were teenagers from France, Ukraine, Italy, Turkey, China and every one of us had to cook local dishes from each’s country so I managed to try many different dishes.

On our free time over the weekends we managed to visit Munich, Dahau and now I truly realized the disaster of the Holocaust.  We managed to spend a day in Austria – Salzburg. The best experience of the trip was of a 4 day trip in the Alps with hiking. As I love nature and the mountains this experience will always be in my mind. Cycling, hiking, canoeing were also some other activities that we did during our free time.

When the programme came to an end I could not believe that a whole month had passed so quickly. I returned to Greece with a suitcase full of memories a list of email addresses of my new friends and a camera full of photos and the thought that I will be able again next year to do another Workcamp with ELIX.

Its an unbelievable experience don’t miss it I will definitely not !!!

Nicholas S.