This is my land, this is your land.

By: Kiriaki Linou

 We pollute the environment everyday using our cars, motorcycles, factories, etc.

  We also pollute our world by cutting down trees and killing our forests.  The forests are so valuable to us and there are thousands of kinds of wildlife that live in them.  We also need the clean air that forests give us. Stupid people set fires to our forests and murder the land along with all the animals that lived there. 

 In Chios, this is a very real problem.  People need to be more careful about this to protect our beautiful home.  There are also too many cars on the island and it is difficult to move around these days.  Something needs to be done about these things to make our island a better place to live in.
 

We can help save our planet.

By:  Joanna Mendonidi

 Our planet is in danger so we must save it.  It’s a little stupid because we destroy the place where we live and we don’t really care, because we don’t understand what we are doing!  People need to learn more about what is going on around them.

 There are a lot of ways that people can help “rebuild” our planet.  One of them is to recycle rubbish.  It’s a really good idea because if we don’t we’ll be drowning in rubbish one day!  We should stop using plastic bottles or metal cans that don’t die in the ground. 

Factories are the worst source of pollution because they throw chemical waste in the seas and boats leak or spill oil and litter.  Then the sea is polluted and full of oil spills so that the animals, fish and birds die or can’t live there anymore.  There must be more rules for factories and ships; and punishments if the rules are ignored.

 People must play a bigger role in doing everything they can to protect our planet from further abuse.  We need to care about it so our children will have a happy and healthy future.

My Outward Bound Adventure

By :  Evi Fragou

 If my parents send me off on an “Outward Bound” course, I am going to be very happy!  Of course, I am going to be a little scared and nervous, too because I will not know what I am going to face.  On a course like this I would learn many wonderful and useful things.  I would learn how to set up a tent, how to light a fire.  I would gain more self-confidence in myself.  I would exercise hard and I would overcome my fears.  I ‘ll learn how to face new challenges and how to read a map.  I learn how to use a compass and we’ll play lots of games.  I’m going to learn how to compromise with people who don’t have the same character than me.  I’ll learn how to swim faster and learn lots of other things.

 From this course I can gain self-confidence, which I don’t have.  I’ll gain power and patience and courage.  All of these things are important when you have nobody to rely on but yourself.

 I wish that my parents would do this for me.  I can’t think of another way where improving myself would be so much fun!

Good friends

By George Katsos

 I am very cool when I am with my friends and we play billards.  I like to go out with my friends and we always have a very good time.

I think I’m like John Ploatanxos because he is a very good singer and he has a good and beautiful body. 

I think I’m very good with my friends and they are good for me.  I have got a lot of friends but my closest friends are Steve and Jimmy.

I love my friends and I hope we’ll be friends for a long, long time.

A letter to a pen-pal

By:  Joanna Mendonidi

 Dear Mary,

 Thanks for your letter!  I was glad to read about your news and learn about your activities!  I think that we don’t have a lot of things in common, anyway I’ll tell you mine.

 My weekly schedule includes, three English lessons, three dancing lessons, two French lessons and regular school of course.

 School and French are tiring, but I like English and I love dancing.

 In my free time, I go for walks with my friends, I watch TV, I play Play Station 2 or PSP, and I usually call my friends and talk for ages on the phone.

 I’d like to take skiing or riding courses but, firstly I don’t have time and secondly, these sports don’t exist in Chios!

 Write to me soon,

Love,

    Joanna

This is my land, this is your land!

By: Anglina Kalogeraki

 Lots of things cause damage to the environment.  Some of the things that cause damage are:  factories, cars, rubbish and people.  They all cause air pollution and water pollution.

 The activists try to help but it’s very difficult because we (the people) don’t try as hard as they can.  They recycle rubbish, which is good, but people should do more.  One day we’re all going to be ill.  There is rubbish and mercury in our water.  We are forced to buy bottled water to drink.  We also need to be careful when we bathe.

 Here in Chios we have a problem with the water and the cars.  We’re the town with the biggest number of cars after Athens and Thessaloniki.  It’s horrible isn’t it?

 I have some answers to all these problems.  We should recycle our rubbish and not waste water like we used to. We can use fewer motorcycles and cars to avoid air pollution.

 This is our land and we must protect it.

Animals have feelings too!

By:  Evi Fragou

 Walking around and looking at the shop windows we can see all these leather goods like shoes, belts, bags, coats made from leather or fur and we can imagine what people do to the animals to get their skin.  Going also for a walk in a park or in a zoo we can see animals in cages or even worse when we go to a circus we can see animals abused and suffering.   

But what do we do about it?  Instead of revolting we buy and wear leather and fur, we enjoy the circus we make these people rich and the animals miserable.  How many times have we seen pets outside our doors and we don’t help them?  Not, that I have done lots of things about it but one day my friend’s cat had seven kittens and she wanted to throw away some of them and I took them and cared for them.

 People need to take more time and care about creatures that live with us on this planet.  I’m sure it wasn’t God’s plan to hurt and abuse them.  We need to live in harmony with God’s creatures and treat them fairly and with respect.

When I’m free, I’m free!

By:  Evi Fragou

 I don’t have lots of free time but when I do I like going for walks or playing with my friends, I like painting, dancing, singing, going to the cinema, watching TV or better DVD’s with my favourite company. 

 I like team activities more than solo ones because I enjoy the company of my friends and I like to compete with them, to gain a team spirit.  I like the outdoor activities because we can play more interesting games, we have lots of place and we exercise more.  In my town outdoor activities are more popular because we still have lots of neighbourhoods, very good weather and good communication with our neighbours.

 Sometimes though it’s hard to find time to play.  We wait for the weekend to come so we can.

We can save our planet

By Jim Tampakis

 We don’t want to see beaches with rubbish anymore.  We also don’t want rubbish anywhere!

 I don’t like rubbish polluting nature, I feel terrible when I see animals dying from rubbish.  I feel so happy when I see clean places full of life.

 I think all of us should help.  At home we can help by not making a lot of rubbish without a reason.  We can also avoid throwing rubbish everywhere we go. Littering is ugly and unhealthy.  The most dangerous materials are plastic and glass.  They are the most dangerous because they take too much time (if ever) to disappear from nature. 

We all should help for a better tomorrow.

Animals have feelings too!

By:  Steve Melis

 There are a lot of abused animals in on our planet. Hunters hunt animals like dogs, tigers, monkeys’ rabbits for their skins.  When they take their skin they are alive!  There is a lot of pain and blood.  One day I saw a cat with no skin and with a lot of blood.  I called a veterinarian immediately.  He cam there but it was too late.  The cat died.  I was very sad but I couldn’t do anything else.  I would like to get my hands on whoever did it.  I was very angry.  I couldn’t understand the reason.

 I would take in a stray cat into my house if my mother let me.  I would like to take care of it and feet it the best I could.  Pets are a part of our lives so we must care for them and most importantly to love them.  We mustn’t leave them helpless in the streets.  If we don’t want babies from our pets we should go to the vet and get them fixed so they don’t have babies.  Then there wouldn’t be all those extra strays.

 I don’t like people who wear furs because it is a cruel action to take the fur or skin of an animal. People should know the history of their clothes and perhaps then they’d feel sorry.