1966 1st summer camp Livadi
The first summer camp Livadi, June 1966 from the Dutch town Vlaardingen, quickly was split in two working parties, the larger one that started digging trenches downhill from the place the water tank was to be built and the other that started laying the foundation for the water tank. The Team’s bulldozer had started the excavation for the reservoir in the rocky soil on top of a hill behind the ruin of an old stone windmill. The working party here consisted mainly of boys. Supervision of all the work by the campers was by the three technical students Lex Pannekoek, Anton Opdam en Jan Stappers. The three of them stayed with the Vlaardingen camp leaders in a house halfway Kato Livadi. My job was the coordination with the village president to make sure that people accepted the crossing of the water supply pipes over their properties and that enough required hand tools were supplied or, when necessary, repaired by the local blacksmith. I lived in the 2nd team house in Chora but had my midday meals with the family Samios in Kato Livadi. To learn if there was not too much pressure loss in the plastic pipes, I asked the village president for a test when pipes had been installed as far as the houses behind where now the Roussos family pottery is located. Fortunately, water flowed with enough speed even with the slight height difference from the test stand.
November 2014, we came in e-mail contact with Bas de Groot who participated in the first camp. He came to see us at our home with his friend René Vervoort through whom we met photographer Henk Vos. Bas told us how hard they had worked to finish the foundation for the reservoir before the arrival of the second group from Vlaardingen. They had to do the finishing touch of the excavation, pour a thin layer of blinding concrete for an even surface before stringing the double layer of steel reinforcement. Then the pouring of concrete. Fortunately, they could make use of a concrete mixer. Keep in mind that they were in no way acquainted with this type of hard work. In the afternoons it was too hot to work, therefore they also worked in the early evening. They managed pouring the bottom and next morning laid empty wet cement sacks as cover against the fierce sunshine to avoid drying out of the freshly poured concrete.
January 2020, Jean Bingen
**For more photos of the local community and summer campers in 1966 follow the link of photographer Henk Vos in the text above. More photos and you can here made by Marijke de Lange and click here for photos made by Piet Rijken
