Volunteering is about giving your
time and skills, for the benefit of others, the local community and very
importantly yourself. You can learn new skills, build confidence, make new
friends, or simply take pleasure in being a part of something or supporting a
cause that you believe in. It 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 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.
During my project, the students
gave me most of the motivation, and helped me to feel more confident and gave
me the ability to improve my learning pattern to apply them in different
situations. While I was learning about keeping my expectations to a minimum
level, I had a chance to find about myself more and learn more about my
emotions and how to control them. Meanwhile, I comprehend the importance of
accepting the challenges in life and being able to accept the mistake
constructively for lifelong learning.
Working with children in a rural
area of Oarta de Sus, who had fewer opportunities and perspectives of not being
able to find a place in rapidly changing societies gave me another perspective
of life and willingness to broaden their horizons. During my consulting for
youth and from their experiences, I learned how to cope with uncertainty,
solving conflicts, and managing crises. I realized that even if we make one
small change in their lives, it will get bigger like a butterfly effect.
Therefore, it was important for me to make them observe my consulting and
experiences about life.
I never had the privilege to live
in a house with very different cultures before. During my volunteering service,
I shared a house with Portuguese, Spanish, Azerbaijani, and Tunisian
volunteers. I had a chance to learn about all their cultures, cuisines, and
behaviors as well as sharing my own. I developed my intercultural sensitivity,
flexibility, and understanding of differences.
Through doing various activities in
both urban and rural schools with children, I learned more about Romanian
culture and the educational system. I had a chance to comprehend the different
behaviors and Romanian education system between children in rural and urban
areas. One of the workshops that I have attended, and also from the experiences
I heard from other volunteers, lead me discovering more about the Roma
Community, and understanding difficulties that they face in society.
After experiencing this life in
Romania and get to know me and skills better, I will continue improving myself,
accepting more challenges, and continue doing volunteering locally.
Gul Ecem Cam – volunteer in
the project BCV - Building communities through volunteering - funded by ERASMUS
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