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“Believing in volunteering as in art of humanity and sincerity, I decided to apply for EVS” – that’s the first sentence from my letter to the Hosting Organization. I remember the day when I was writing this letter – it was spring, about a year ago, I was in my room thinking what I can tell to yet unknown people about myself, about my motivation and dreams. Today it’s another spring day, I’m sitting in my room and writing about what had happened to me – and now it’s another room, city and another country. Sometimes it’s hard to believe in this wonderfully new spring of my life – with new friends, journeys, full of unforgettable moments. And it’s nice just to give myself time now and to reflect on the reasons why I decided to be a volunteer, what I wanted to gain and what I gained. And to think what volunteering is for me after I’ve experienced it. To make things easier I spell this word and suddenly find out every letter has its special meaning.
V is VALUES. Sometimes it’s hard to define them, but they are the same for all of us. Caring. Equality. Morality. Trust. Honesty. Traditions. Environment. Courage. Family. Freedom. And what is interesting – I discovered some values in myself only while living abroad. Indeed, “whatever we find when we move is what we had inside us all along”. (Pico Iyer)
O associates with OPPORTUNITIES. Actually EVS is a chance I was lucky to get. Now I feel it gives me much more than I even could expect. Voluntary Service is a perfect opportunity not only to meet people, but also to learn how to find common language with them. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to check myself by facing challenges and finding solutions. And there is one more opportunity that for me seemed impossible for a long time – to reach over the borders, to travel and to enjoy wonderful cultural heritage of Europe. Maybe because I was so long dreaming about it, I can’t believe now that it’s happening. Vienna, Rom, Barcelona… What will be next? Visiting new places, feeling their unique spirit makes me want to learn more about history and cultures. But deep in my heart I’m still disappointed that because of borders and complicated visa procedures not all people can have an access to cultural wealth – though it belongs to all of us. I hope there will come a day when mobility won’t be associated with migration, countries won’t have fear to welcome visitors and people will have equal chances to explore Europe.
L means LEARNING BY DOING. I’m sure there’s no point in learning about youth work without actually working with youth. I had some previous experience before applying to my current project. But open youth club – it’s something new for me. This work is challenging because it’s hard to predict if any planned activity works out or not. Youngsters are coming to our club with good or bad mood, with or without motivation, happy and sad. One needs to be very flexible and creative to feel what young people want and to involve them in common activities. I’ve already learned a lot from my colleagues and I’m inspired by what they’re doing. Our youth club is a space for communication and sharing. Here everyone feels at ease. Motto of our club is “Sei wie Du willst” (Be whom you want to be) – and it means here every single person is treated with respect. I wish such clubs could appear in my country!
U feels like UNCERTAINTY. It makes me doubt the facts and ideas which were obvious for me just a couple of months ago. Am I doing the right thing? Do I really suite my work? What new skills and knowledge will I bring back? What will happen when I return home? This feeling of uncertainty caused by being far away from everything familiar, brings me also to new evaluation of relationship – some people just go away from my life and some remain true friends no matter where we are (a postcard I received from my friend says: Close friends keep connected by memories and love even when miles and schedules keep them apart). Uncertainty is a frustrating feeling but it helps to discover new horizons and new values.
N is for me NATIONALITY. It’s what one starts to feel and appreciate living in multicultural society. For people I meet during Voluntary Service I represent not only myself but the whole country so it depends on me which impression they will get. And nationality is more than colors of the flag: it’s mother tongue that creates our personal world, it’s holidays and songs. It’s when you’re proud of being yourself. Living with devoted young people from all over Europe, who are eager to return and work in their native countries, I’ve almost forgotten the bitter feeling of shame I felt getting a visa in the embassy. I heard there people talking about moving abroad – just because they find our country not developed enough. I wish those people could learn from my international friends: if you want your country to be better – start the changes yourself!
T is TOLERANCE, also a learning by doing experience based not on the statements about equality we’ve learned at school but based on living, working and communicating with so many different people. Tolerance is when I care what people feel. It’s when I know what can hurt them and that’s why I’ll never do or say that. Tolerance is respect towards a different origin, religion, language born out of warm friendly feelings. Because “let’s get down to that – love is color blind” (Sarah Connor “Love is color blind”).
E – EMBARRASSMENT. The night I spent in the train between my hometown and place of my Voluntary Service was one of the hardest in my life. I knew I was travelling into different reality – but couldn’t even imagine how it will look like. Last 15 minutes before train finally arrived to my new city, my soul was fear-stricken. When I got used to place and new life, I’ve almost forgotten about those feelings. But sometimes they return. Because there is nothing familiar here and I need all the time to be flexible to accept things. New language is such an exciting change but sometimes I fail to express even half of what I want to say. With time a feeling of being a “legal alien” becomes not so sharp – but it never disappears.
Another E means EXCHANGE. How do we greet each other in our native countries? Which endearing words are there in our languages? How do we celebrate holidays? What are we dreaming about? How do we see future? Talking to other volunteers, discussing political and cultural issues, sharing thoughts and memories, working and travelling together I every day answer a very important question: How does it feel to be different from me? Are we the same? (Avril Lavigne “How does it feel”) And the more I get to know people, cultures and beliefs – the more I enjoy diversity.
With letter R starts a word RESPONSIBILITY. My friend who is also living abroad in one of her letters wrote a wonderful sentence “It’s hard to become an adult when you’re more than 20”. But indeed it’s high time to do it! Independent life means making hundreds of decisions every day, it also means being responsible for own health, time, work, money. Responsibility seems sometimes hard, but together with it I learned to enjoy personal freedom and appreciate help from people around me.
I means IMPRESSIONS for me. Amazing. Tiring. Unknown. Striking. Lovely. Lonely. Friendly. Rainy. Charming. Disappointing. Ancient. Melodic. Warm. Elegant. Distant. Sleepless. Dreamy. It feels the whole world is not enough to hold all my feelings and impressions. Kaleidoscope in my head. Unbelievable. Wonderful.
N associates with NOSTALGIA. There are periods when perhaps every volunteer needs to look through old photo albums and call friends just to hear their voices. Nostalgia is when memory returns me to something familiar. “I've been many places, I've traveled round the world, always on the search for something new, but what does it matter when all the roads I've crossed always seem to lead back to you”( Blackmore’s Night “Home again”). There was one evening when I desperately wanted to go out of the flat, cross the street and open the door of my own house. When I realized that between us there are not the streets but countries, I felt being caught in a trap. But now I’m thinking in a positive way – imagining how I will meet all of my dear ones. And also sign and send postcards when feel myself lonely, it makes me closer to people I miss.
G is GLOBAL VILLAGE. Once I talked to volunteer who told me: “Every time I meet a person who represents a new country, world becomes smaller.”At first I didn’t understand the meaning of these words. Now I do. There is a famous theory called “What if world would be a village with 100 inhabitants «and according to it all people are really neighbors. “The world is closing in, did you ever think, that we could be so close like brothers?”(Scorpions “Wind of change”). It’s hard to imagine – better to experience, because living in global village teaches to celebrate diversity and to be open for everything new.
EVS gave me so much and yet became not only a bright adventure and helpful experience but also a state of soul! And when I feel time is a bit too fast and wonderful moments of Voluntary Service are running through fingers like sand, I want to repeat Goethe’s words:
Werd' ich zum Augenblicke sagen: Verweile doch! du bist so schön!
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