1962 By-weekly reports: A summary of main topics, events, visitors, etc.
The 3rd year brings the Team the first feats that everybody hears about: the very first landing stage at Kapsali for the ferry from Piraeus on its trip along the Peloponnese to Kythira and the installation of plastic pipes in Logothetianika, Potamos and Diakopoulianika/Karavas for their community water supply. The Bishop predicts that George Koksma will stay forever on Kythira. The hospital at Potamos is a continuous source of concern, this applies also for the bulldozer on steel tracks, but both serve a good cause on Kythira.
1962: January 15 / 28
An article in a newspaper against the Bishop; to settle controversy bulldozer driver and president of Chora about the doing of work and again a serious break down in the hydraulic system; water tower drawings for Logothetianika not comprehensible enough; the dismissal of bulldozer driver Demos; Mr. Koksma does not like to see people working on Sundays (but he himself is doing a lot of administration on these days!)
Nomarchy bulldozer instructor gets new driver Georgios Souris (the previous air compressor man) acquainted with the Team’s bulldozer; work on the road from Kapsali to Kalamos; the printing of drawings and the breaking of the required glass covers; arrival of Irini from Livadi to help in the household; to check the Team’s bookkeeping Mr. Schot arrives with the old steamer Myrtidiotissa and leaves again the same afternoon with Mr. and Mrs. Koksma for Athens; discontent with Jellema’s behavior, his being in Athens was required to get his moped cleared and shipped to Kythera; a lot of shopping had to be done.
1962: January 29 / February 10
Meeting in Athens with officials of the Ministry of Finance and Tourisms for finding funds for the hotel in Kapsali; a visit to the Bishop in Athens, his Grace is content with the work of the Team and states that Mr. Koksma never will leave the island, he will die there; the 4 students (Jean Bingen, Erik Boekaar, Wessel Breunisse, Martin Klerkx) from Holland have arrived by train and were collected by Keimpe Jellema and the day after all went by boat to Kythera; Jellema is made understood to stop seeing his Greek girlfriend on the island, he however thinks it is time for a culture change in Greece; the students start surveying the site for the large future hotel in Kapsali; criticism why the bulldozer cannot be everywhere; unfortunate car accident causing death of Mrs. Kalokerinos, the mother of the driver
1962 February 11 / 24
Keimpe Jellema does not want to give up his Greek girlfriend (young woman from Athens and teaching home economics to girls and young women); due to a gale nearly everybody has to work inside the office doing calculations and quantifications of material; writing an article about differences in culture and behavior of the 4 students and many other things; an offer from Holland for 1000 hatching eggs a month during one year to help the chicken project; the wedding of the head mistress of the Mylopotamos school; promising improvements at the school of Livadi; surveying entrance of the 2nd harbor of Kapsali (piso gialo) with aid of a small boat from Mr. Manolli Dapontes; contacts with president of the village of Livadi about work that could be done for the village; discussion with Mr. Tzannes, the Bishop now wants an old people’s home at Chora not minding there exists an offer for free at Potamos;
1962: February 25 / March 10
Updating the bookkeeping for bulldozer and air compressor; the students to work on the bathroom of Mr. Kondos in Areï; contractor bids 13.000 drachms on the construction of the water tower at Logothetianika; the design of a house in Kapsali for Mr. Vasili Charos; a veterinarian visited the island;
Putting slides in sequence to show the difference with Holland on various subjects; all the Team members having dinner with the Bishop and Bishop’s idea how to get the badly needed cows to the island; a serious trouble with the bulldozer; discussions at the hospital; ditch digging for domestic water supply in Potamos started; planting started of the “Athenian” forest on the road from Potamos to Agia Pelagia; about the carob plantation of pappas Nikolaos; masquerade/carnival; a summary of 10 subjects that came up on one day; printing lots of drawings for the Kapsali hotel to be taken to Athens
1962: March 11 / 24
At March 12 a picnic in a field at Paleopolis by invitation of Australian Mr. Kalokerinos, visiting church Agios Kosmas with the sandstone columns thought to be taken from the temple of Aphrodite; the road from Agia Pelagia to Potamos is well under construction by the government: there are now 4 bulldozers, 2 graders, motor-lorries and a stone crushing machine on the island; an example of misery where help is at its place; more problems with the newspaper man; Mr. Tsitsilias and his idea for a bird and animal sanctuary; all Team members had dinner with farmer Kostas in Logothetianika; arrival of the X-ray set from Germany in Kapsali; Bishop is pleased with the results of the Team so far and would like Geneva to allow for a 5 year extension; Mr. Stratis Theodorokakis would like to plant 2000 cypresses next year; survey of Livadi village for a domestic water supply started; March 23 in Myrtidia elementary school children filled plastic bags with earth for young seedlings; at Karavas indicating place of new water tower; personal belongings of young Panaretos brought back from Myrtidia to Potamos
1962: March 25 / April 7
Plan drawing Livadi village started; listing Team’s achievements up to now; Bishop declares May 31 to be a Festival of the Greenery
it was 8 o’clock when Zerlendes, Kalligeros and I were with the Bishop. He, the Bishop, appointed us to be a committee for the organization of the festal day of the greenery. He would make the invitations; he would write the program. He originates everything, and well, we are the committee. During the meeting we talked about the goats, we talked about the treelets, we talked about labourers for Yiannis tree nursery, we talked about people who would come eventually the 31st of May. Oh, yes, that is the date the Bishop said would be good: the 31st of May. It was indeed a wonderful meeting, and we spoke about a lot of things. But our good Bishop forgot the supper he had promised us. And to be quite honest all the three of us were very content, because otherwise the evening would have taken us still more time; and we all were a little bit tired.
>> Photos of 1962 Independence day 25th of March in Chora and High School Sports Demonstration
>> Photos of Independence Day 1964
; on request of the Ministry of Tourism all the drawings for a hotel in Kapsali have to be redrawn at a larger scale; for farmer Gianniotis project 70.000 drachms somehow should be made available; Bishop doing his utmost for an old people’s home in Chora, Mr. Tzannes tries to get the Bishop into the committee for an old people’s home in Potamos; Geneva is of the opinion that the Team should leave Kythera after 5 years of being at Kythera; “Yiannis” one of the students, from Arnhem Holland, had an accident with his motor scooter, young Ioannis Fatseas in Livadi crossed all of a sudden the road and both went down; the next students from Holland will have more restrictions on contacts with girls; also 15 municipalities want the Team to stay another 5 years, the Bishop however says that they are not authorized to state something like that, in 1957 they all agreed to ask the WCC for expert help, but Bishop wrote this request in his own name only; staying away from the Team house(s) at night is against the spirit of the Team; Mr. Manolli Dapontes stated that there was a possibility to obtain 250.000 drachms from the Government to improve the harbor of Kapsali, an extension along the rocky shore seems the best; ending the cooperation with the newspaper man; visit to Karvounades to look for a possibility for a public toilet; how to find a solution for an elderly lady in Zaglanikianika who does not like to see her property falling to ruins.
1962: April 8 / 22
Survey started in Kapsali for the harbor extension, drawings will be handed by Mr. Dapontes to Minister Aliprandis who has promised a 450.000 drachms and at Kythera another 250.000 will be available for this construction; continuation of lectures with slides about Holland; continuing the help in Logothetianika for farmer Kostas Athanasius (originally from Konstantinopolis) with his chicken and pig projects; the misery in a poor household when a cow dies, especially when it is the milkman; a full report of the past 2 years of doings and achievements of the Team to Mr. Naylor; again looking for water in the gorge Perati below the church of Agia Kyriaki; Logothetianika starts digging trenches for the domestic water supply;
Mr. Metzler from WCC office Athens (Mrs. Dora Gondikas, Mr. Mike Michaelidis) arrived with the ferry boat Arkadia, he promised all team members a vacation trip (at Easter) to the WCC team in Ioannina, he also told that Kytherian communities wanted the Team to stay another 10 years; Bishop made an appeal to all Kytherians to help in the tree nursery; arrival at Kapsali of the plastic water pipes from Holland; mayor Mazarakis from Chora back from Athens, new changes to be made in the hotel plan at Kapsali
1962: April 23 / May 5
By kaïki to Neapolis, 6 people in the car, one on his motor scooter, to Sparta, Mistras, over the mountains to Kalamata, Megalopolis, Tripoli, Olympia, Pyrgos, to Kato Figalia to celebrate Easter with the large Altanis family; after Easter on to Krestena where Keimpe Jellema was visiting Yiannis Zerlendes; from Patras to Arta (at the Vigla Team Mr. Jan Akkerman and Mr. Theun Kok were not found at home), to the Ioannina Team. From here a visit was made to Dodona, the ancient oracle and in the mountains to Melvina, a Philippian girl working in very poor circumstances for the WCC, saw the caves of Perama, the mosque museum. Jean (Yiannis) went alone back to Athens on his motor scooter, those with the car left one day later;
Shopping and lots of meetings in Athens; the Bishop again prosecutes evangelic people; the plans for the hotel at Kapsali will be officially accepted; costs of transport of the plastic pipes to Kythera were 26.000 drachms; discrepancy in promised and offered money for the local transport of plastic pipes to Kythera by officials of the Ministry of Merchant Marine was settled; Mr. and Mrs. Oskamp from Holland arrived by train in Athens, with difficulties spare parts for the bulldozer were collected; decisive meeting on the Kapsali harbor works with Minister Aliprandis, Bishop, Kytherians officials and Prof. Pipas of the Polytechnic School; (1st) shipment of 1000 Dutch eggs to Kythera; meeting with Minister Kassimatis (Education and Religion)
1962: May 13 / 26
Transporting of plastic pipes to Potamos, Logothetianika does that by themselves; Mrs. Koksma suffers from a nasty growth in her nose and had to go to Athens for further consultation with eventually an advice to go back to Holland for the necessary treatment; Mr. and Mrs. Koksma celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary;
A summary of one day’s work; preparation for the greenery at May 31 at 6 o’clock our forester came to talk about the 31st of May. What could we do for the fiesta of the greenery, the great day of his Grace the Bishop.; Mrs. Koksma, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Oskamp, back on Kythera from Athens; showing the Oskamp’s the Team’s achievements for they will speak about this in Holland in order to collect money; visiting the pottery in Livadi run by Irini Gianniotis aunt Kypirasoula (Roussos family)
1962: May 27 / June 9
How Australian Greeks find/select their wives at Kythera; showing the Oskamp’s around;
31 May with a lot of officials the Greenery: Bishop starts with blessing the harbor works at Kapsali, seeing the 4000 already planted trees at Kapsali, the power house in Chora, the garden of farmer Yanniotis in Livadi, in Karvounades some of the work of Miss Chrysi Fevga from Athens who taught home economics, the cows of Fratsia, so many cows next year and what to do with the milk, might 90 young people of Kythira leave this month for Australia?, river bed improvements at Paleopolis, beehives at Gonia, approx 10.000 trees planted at Myrtidia, a too long speech of the Bishop, the school of Mylopotamos, the agricultural school at Karavas (but nothing of the water supply works in Potamos and Karavas!), the chicken project in Logothetianika
A solicitor came to tell that if somebody from Chora was going to supervise the harbor works in Kapsali he would put a stop to this work; Keimpe Jellema organized an exhibition of the designs and technical drawings the Team had made so far, his whole attitude has changed; Mrs. Koksma leaves for Holland for treatment on her nose;
(missing days June 3, 4, 5); a lot of people for various reasons ask for work; in the absence of Mrs. Koksma 18-year-old Irini Gianniotis has the full responsibility for the household of 7 people, she is doing excellent; in Karavas they will not use the same design and contractor for the water tower; knowing about the presence of plastic pipes on the island several people come and ask for the possibility to get some to irrigate their gardens;
Here ends the availability of the daily reports bi-weekly sent to the WCC office in Geneva.
Click here for a main topics and work from mid 1962 until december 1962, from Jean Bingen’s private archive.
And
A private diary in Dutch by Jean Bingen, one of the 4 first technical students from Arnhem Holland who came to Kythira, covers the period end of January 1962 to 18 July 1962.
Click here for more island photos from Karavas to Kapsali in 1962
