Eleni’s journey to our village began through The High Mountains’ open call for the management of their mountain greenhouses. Together with her family, she applied, was selected, and today lives in Demati, taking care of the greenhouses and building a new everyday life close to nature and production.
Through her experience, we can see how a new beginning in the mountains can become not only a personal choice, but also part of a broader effort to keep mountain communities alive.
We asked her to tell us how this journey has been unfolding so far.
“The experience has two sides,” she tells us. “On the one hand, there is a lot of eagerness and enthusiasm to create something new. On the other hand, this also means that we have to face difficulties, which require a great deal of persistence.”
Professional vegetable cultivation in greenhouses, especially in a mountain environment, is something new for both Eleni and her family. In practice, this means constant learning. Technical issues, such as lighting, the particular conditions of the altitude, the intensity of the sun on young plants, or even a delay of a few hours in opening the greenhouse, can directly affect production. At times, they had to start again from the beginning but this time with new knowledge.
Despite the difficulties, the overall feeling remains very positive. “It is a new beginning that, for now, we are enjoying. Both life in the village and the natural environment, as well as the work in the greenhouses.”
What seems to touch her most in this new everyday life is the contact with nature in all its details. The plants, their growth, biodiversity, even the tiniest things one begins to notice when living and working close to the land. For Eleni, who comes from a place closer to the sea, the mountains open up a new world of observation and discovery. “I like that we are discovering all this together, with the support of The High Mountains,” she notes.
The decision to come to Demati did not happen by chance. As she explains, they were already at a point where they were looking for an alternative. The High Mountains’ open call was very close to what they had in mind and gave them the opportunity to try, in practice, another way of life, one with more contact with nature, production and community.
To anyone thinking of taking a similar step towards a mountain village, her answer is clear: “Go for it.” Not because everything is easy, but because there are possibilities for those who have the appetite, persistence and willingness to learn. As she says, a person needs to be able to stand with nature, not be afraid of every difficulty, work with their hands, take care of their home and their surroundings. But if there is a real willingness, ways can be found to work and live in the village.
Eleni’s story is a real journey, with enthusiasm, trials, mistakes, daily care and persistence. And precisely for this reason, it shows that repopulation is not simply an idea, but a process built day by day, through people who decide to try, to learn and to put down roots again in a place.