ESE prostovoljki iz Valencije, Lucia in Raquel, ki sta v naši pisarni preživeli 4 mesece, sta se vrnili domov v Španijo.
Skupaj smo preživeli lepe trenutke, ustvarili nepozabne spomine in stkali nova prijateljstva.
Svoje vtise o preživetem času sta delili z nami v nadaljevanju.
Hello! I’m Lucia, and I'm writing this letter to share my experience as an ESC volunteer in the Mladinski center Brežice.
I arrived 4 months ago, at the end of January, without knowing exactly what to expect about this experience. The only thing I knew about that time was that I wanted to live abroad for some time and meet new people. And now that this experience is about to end, I can say with security that it has exceeded my expectations.
I am aware that this experience has been so good because from the very first moment I felt welcomed and we felt Brežice as our small home. Being far from home sometimes can be a little tough because you miss your people; but I have felt so supported during my stay here, that these feelings took a back seat. I know I have to thank MC Brežice for making us enjoy Slovenia this way, moreover, we were lucky that our work colleagues became friends.
From a work perspective, it has been a very good experience, having the opportunity to see how an institution operates from the inside is something I recommend to everyone. Additionally, working with young people and in another language that is not your own seems very enriching to me. We had the opportunity to organize a camp by ourselves, it was a very fun experience and the days of the camp were days that we will always remember. I can only thank the trust that the ZPTM Brežice placed in us.
But without doubt, personally this experience has been indescribable. I feel very grateful to have been able to discover a country like Slovenia so thoroughly and accompanied by such good people. In my opinion you are very lucky to live in a country like this, with all of this nature and amazing landscapes.
I can’t think of a better way to end than how we concluded our presentation, which is by encouraging you to get involved in your communities. We are very lucky to have government and non-government institutions that bet on offering these kind of opportunities, like ESC volunteering, we should appreciate and take good care of it.
Hello everyone!
Now that my adventure in Slovenia is coming to an end soon, I wanted to reflect back on my time here as an ESC volunteer and on what I personally take from this experience.
First of all, this volunteering made me discover in depth Slovenia and its culture. What before was a country that I barely knew about, it turned out to be a beautiful surprise. From now on in my mind, Slovenia will always be the country that overflows with green, lakes and amazing waterfalls, but especially with good-hearted people. I can confidently say that the friends that we made here are one of the best things that could happen to us.
Working in a Youth center for the first time was also quite enriching for me. After this experience, I’m really inspired by the many doors that youth work and non-formal education can open for young people, offering them opportunities to travel, to learn, to expand their social circle… Moreover, I’m very grateful for the opportunity that the organization gave me, offering me to give Spanish lessons, as I could work on something related to my studies and had my first steps as a teacher for foreign students, which I enjoyed a lot.
One of the most important things that I will take home thanks to this volunteering is a new concept of solidarity. Here I learnt that we can all be solidary and make an impact on each other’s and on our communities; that rather than big demonstrations sometimes the small acts of solidarity in our day to day life are the most fruitful. The realization that we are all needed and have something meaningful to offer back to our communities it’s really empowering, and it has made me want to be more active and participate in solidarity projects when I come back to Spain.
In addition, being an ESC volunteer gave me the chance to meet people from all over Europe, each one of us coming from different countries and backgrounds. I really liked to see how even in spite of our cultural differences we could see there were more things uniting us than dividing us, and that we were able to create meaningful friendships in the process.
Finally, I would say that these months in Slovenia have shown me my strengths and weaknesses, which has helped me grow and evolve in significant ways. I learnt that no matter how my personal circumstances are, I can always learn and improve from difficult situations. That even in the middle of hardships, I can still enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the path that I am on.
I will forever be grateful for this opportunity that has been given to me and I encourage everyone to become a volunteer abroad too!
You will not regret it!
Raquel
