The present work is a combination of research methods, namely ethnographic research, field research, as well as the case study.
The case study concerns the two villages from which I come from, Sourpi in Magnesia and Lahana in Thessaloniki. The motivation for the research was my own name "Soumela", which I inherited from my Pontian grandmother, and a general search about my origin and the places where I come from.
A second point of interest was that of village life along with daily practices, cultivation, vital, which were based on manual labor and self-sufficiency. In the village, man, nature, and animals act in a complementary way, with respect and balance between them. Handwork is the main means of achieving daily practices and "nothing is wasted", as long as you learn how to use it.
Combined, the above triggered a search around places, times, and ways, following the triptych of where-when-how my family, through various practices, maintains its self-sufficiency.
Within this issue, a collection has been made, using mainly audiovisual media, of the ways in which my own family ensures its self-sufficiency and constitutes my own "survival manual", which I share with you.
