Greek Ancestry is excited to announce that “Family Trees of Pylos, Messinia” has been chosen as the beneficiary of the first Village History Project Initiative (VHPI) grant!
Announced in the last session of the International Greek Ancestry Conference, the VHPI aims at helping people connect and exchange information by fostering collaboration. A village history project focuses beyond a specific surname to include all identifiable people residing in a specific village for an extended period of time. It includes all projects — whether they are in the planning stage, have commenced, or are completed. In the past two months, 18 projects were admitted into the VHPI! All projects admitted are listed on VHPI’s register, so that people are informed and encouraged to launch projects of their own! Along with publicity, VHPI projects are eligible for major discounts on all Greek Ancestry records and, most importantly, are considered for a VHPI grant. These grants are funded by revenue from the Greek Genealogy Guide and include donations of books, DNA tests, subscriptions to genealogy platforms, as well as other types of support. Their beneficiaries are chosen on a quarterly basis.
“Family Trees of Pylos, Messinia,” beneficiary of the first grant, is an online, publicly accessible family tree project, sponsored by Dr. Angelyn Balodimas-Bartolomei. It currently hosts over 1,300 names of people originating from the area of Pylos! This project has been chosen as an outstanding format of the structure and scope of a village project, aspiring to set an example for others to emulate. “The information has been gathered from trees on DNA sites, official GAK records, religious records from the Metropolis of Kalamata; numerous churches in the area, school records, and individual family trees. It is our hope to obtain additional information and family trees from other individuals.”, Dr. Balodimas explains.
As requested, 3 DNA kits have been donated by Greek Ancestry to Dr. Balodimas in order to test people in Pylos in the summer! We wish Dr. Balodimas every success in her project!
At the same time, we congratulate all those who submitted a proposal to the VHPI, and assert our wish to support them! While the next grant beneficiary will be announced in early July, it should be noted that support is not restricted to beneficiaries only. In the past two months, Greek Ancestry supported two more projects: the “Αντικείμενα – Δαφνί Λακωνίας / Artifacts – Dafni of Laconia” village history website by providing free translations of the website’s contents, as well as the “Amykles Villages – Χωριά των Αμυκλών History Project“, through a special discount coupon on Greek Ancestry records, available for anyone affiliated with the project and its goals.
If you work on a village history project or plan to launch one, do not hesitate submitting it to the VHPI, by filling out this form!
The VHPI relies on revenue from the Greek Genealogy Guide, an educational platform about Greek family history and genealogy, including history, useful vocabulary, informaton about Greek names, detailed descriptions of different types of records, information about archival repositories, lists of resources and more! You may access the Guide, by clicking here. To support the VHPI, you only need to purchase the one-time fee subscription to the Guide!