The Greek word “mazi” means: “together,” “common”, and “for one another.” It was an ideal name for a great non-profit group founded in late 2018 in Germany and disbanded in 2022. The mazi e.V. goals were to:
promote exchanges with Greek people
inform about social and cultural concerns of the country
initiate workshops and educational activities
organize joint events in Greece and in Germany
provide monetary and material donations against the background of the Greek crisis
support charitable and future-oriented initiatives
generate contacts and cooperation locally
help foster the spirit of Europeanism in the areas and form partnerships from the grassroots level up.
During its four-year lifetime, MAZI focussed on an extensive region in southern Crete where mazi founders and members had had close ties for many years.
The first major mazi action took place at end May/begin June 2019 when mazi volunteers supported the Cultural Association of Miamou/Lentas – Asclepios with a major project: creating homes out of old ruins. The resonance was amazing and 13 engaged people flew from Germany to Crete for ten days to get down to work. The action week concluded with a fantastic and lively celebration in Lentas. Approximately 200 people took part (including many interested tourists). They enjoyed food, drinks, and listening and dancing to live music. You can watch a wonderful documentary about that action on YouTube here.
Mazi also contributed greatly to the water-is-life.eu project. Highlights here include being the driving force behind the first version of the project’s website and our brochure. It was also thanks to mazi that the first Water is Life awareness campaigns (posters, cloth shopping bags, etc.) were initiated and funded.