NE Rihards Demiters and HE Erato Chatzimichalaki
New Entrepreneur (NE):
Name & surname: Rihards Demiters
Country: Latvia
Age: 30
Sector of activity: sustainable farming and education
Did you already start your business? No
What is your future business? Teaching sustainability, eco farming and eco construction on an eco farm
Host Entrepreneur (HE):
Name & surname: Erato Chatzimichalaki
Country: Greece
Sector of activity: NGO and education
Experience in running a business (in years): 12
Name of business/website: Hopeland, www.elpidohori.gr
Period of exchange: 12/05/2023 – 08/11/2023
Duration of exchange: 6 months
Rihard’s story:
I had spent a significant portion of my adult life working office jobs, sitting in front of computers, and it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I decided to take a break and do some backpacking abroad, that I realized that office work was not fulfilling me and I needed to make a significant change in my life. Over the course of my travels, from having visited eco communes and villages, and talking to people who lived and worked in them, I developed an idea that I wanted to try starting an eco farm, which could also work as an educational camp, back home in Latvia. It was an idea that I got very excited about, and felt this could be a direction that would feel genuinely meaningful for me. The only problem was, having no experience of my own in that field, or having no entrepreneur experience at all, I had no idea where to even begin.
A friend recommended the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program to me, and through my application, I came to be placed in Hopeland – an eco community in Greece, run by a woman named Erato. Being there for 6 months gave me the opportunity to not only practice the physical aspects of tending the land and growing things, caring for livestock, and large eco construction projects, but also to discuss my business plan with an experienced entrepreneur who gave me lots of valuable insight, advice and feedback.
I arrived in Hopeland at a very opportune time, as they had been planning on expanding their gardens with new bed installations, giving me the chance to learn how to build and prepare them according to permaculture ideas, and then to also start building more of them by myself, to not only help Hopeland expand its garden infrastructure, but to develop a transferable skill for myself, so that I’ll know how to build them back home as well. Having built new beds, I was also taught how and then tasked with the planting and caring for harvestable plants in them, which grew over the course of my stay there, and I was even able to begin harvesting some of them, before I left. Now, not only does Hopeland have a larger space for growing their own food, but I have intimate familiarity with the process, to allow me to do the same back in Latvia. It was also important for me to learn how to teach these skills and pass them on to others, and for that I had plenty of opportunities during many international projects that Hopeland hosted during my stay there. I got the chance to not only lead workshops on garden work and land care, but also to lead small groups of volunteers in daily gardening tasks. It was shaky at first, but I did quickly get the hang of the workflow and what it was like to lead others in work that I was still new at myself, and things started to go surprisingly smoothly.
Possibly the most valuable thing I gained in my time at Hopeland was the connections and friendships I developed with many of the people who were working there, or participating in the many projects. I now have valuable connections with not only eco projects in Greece, but also with people in Spain, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Turkey and more. I now have a strong network of people that I can collaborate with on many future ideas and projects, or to ask for advice and guidance from, if I need it, and that is an invaluable gift to have received.
Overall, I am very satisfied with my time with the EYE program. I feel that it not only lived up to, but also exceeded my expectations in helping me along my way to starting my own eco farm.