It’s
hard to believe that I have been here for four months already. I had lived
abroad before and also did so many volunteering projects with disadvantaged
children before. However, I have never felt that I could actually ‘touch
someone’s life, that dense. Here, in my project building communities through
volunteering, I have the feeling that volunteering can change someone’s life.
Since
high school, I have been volunteered in different associations and the
experiences I have made me the person I am now. Volunteerism is a dialectical
relationship and transforms while interacting on both sides. The aspect of life
that we never had a chance to learn before, or already forgotten how to learn
is taught us by the children. Having expectations is not an obstacle on the way
of happiness, in fact making a smile on a child dispels all the expectations.
It helps you how to have fewer expectations from life and live in the present.
Everyone
has their own perspective of teaching and interacting with the kids. Some
people do it in a serious-teacher way, some do it in a funny enjoyable way.
Both ways are acceptable if you feel like yourself. There the question appears:
Is this experience of EVS for the volunteer or only for the community? I
believe it should be about the volunteer first, especially for the volunteers
who work with the children. If a volunteer feels her/himself comfortable and
happy in this experience, then she/he can express her/himself to the children
and community as well. Let’s think vice versa, when the first thing is
community; then volunteer puts her/himself in a back position which decreases
the level of motivation and willingness. Children will lose their interest and
motivation respectively. As long as the project loses children's interest, it
would also cause losing sustainable goals. Which causes problems and
communication issues among the participants in the environment. I greatly think
that the balance between volunteers and the community can be established in an
environment of respect and peace. When this peaceful environment is protected
by the participants, the experience gets greater. Being with children during
the day, teaching them in a way that you feel like yourself, enjoyably
interacting with them, broaden their horizons and aspects through life is the
most wonderful feeling that I have experienced during these four months in
Romania. Whether it is too hard to achieve, it worth to try and I strongly recommend
everyone to do volunteering in their local community or abroad.
Gul Ecem Cam – volunteer in the project BCV - Building communities
through volunteering - funded by ERASMUS +
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