11 weeks of Online Volunteering – dealing with COVID-19

We started the online volunteering on 17th March, eleven weeks ago. Neither of us thought it actually could bound us with the kids this deeply. We have prepared our activities every Monday, to become more efficient and raise awareness of the children and their capabilities. Afterwards, we had activities every Thursday and Friday. Due to differences in activities and not boring the children, we planned them according to demand, and we did two activities each day, respectively. It was also essential to provide their activities in order to create an interactive way of learning. 29th May is the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Therefore, for the 11th week, we decided to have activities related to peace.

How did Romania change me as a person?

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. 

Erasmus in time of coronavirus

I don’t know what to write. I don t think any other volunteer lived a similar situation and I hope

noone lives this in the future.

Everywhere is Corona, on social media, TV,on the street you only hear  about corona and this is the new world wide trending.

One country after another fall down and no difference between first or third world countries

no difference between religions mosque church synagogue every place of pray is empty no differences of  colors no border can save anyone we survive together or we vanish together.

Humanity and environment are taking their revenge for what we did to them for decades.

For me the worst is to stay at home waiting for the unknown.

Luck of responsibility and the unconscious of many people make the scenario of the virus going 

worst and worst

What happened in Italy should be a lesson for everybody.

Refreshing and thinking more about yourself time – the Midterm Evaluation!

When we heard that other volunteers went to Bucharest, instead of Brasov; we were quite sad. Then when the place of the evaluation was announced, we were quite happy and feeling lucky. It will be held in a lovely historical city in Romania, Sinaia. We got on the way with the night train that goes through Bucharest. I got on the train with all the experiences and thoughts that I have been through in these 7 months in Romania, and cannot say that I was well motivated. Despite this, I was very demotivated. But I had the feeling that everything would be good, and I could have this time for myself and refresh again.

Erasmus+ at its best in Tunisia

  

E adevărat ce se spune: Erasmus+ deschide noi orizonturi! Privind în spate, nu cu multă vreme în urmă nici nu mi-aș fi imaginat că voi ajunge să petrec două luni în Tunisia. Totuși, pot spune că decizia de a părăsi Europa în favoarea caldelor meleaguri africane, tocmai când în România frigul își făcea apariția, a fost una dintre cele mai îndrăznețe și înțelepte decizii pe care le-am luat vreodată. Deoarece cred că un pic de context ar constitui un adaos favorabil în înțelegerea experienței mele, vă voi spune că la finalul verii eram o proaspăt absolventă de master, fără o direcție clară de viitor, și știam doar că vreau să fac ceva diferit. Aveam impresia că nu investisem suficient timp în a-mi înțelege proprile dorințe și aspirații și mă aflam într-un punct mort atâta vreme cât nu reușeam să mă cunosc mai bine. După cum mi-a dovedit experiența din Tunisia, aveam dreptate.

Multiculturalism – Loving, sharing, receiving and giving!

Multiculturalism is defined as how a society deals with cultural diversity, both at the national and the community level according to many sociologists. It is a heterogeneous society in which people coexist but retain at least some of the unique characteristics of their traditional culture. It is the key to achieving a high degree of cultural diversity. Diversity occurs when people of different races, nationalities, religions, ethnicities, and philosophies come together to form a community. A truly diverse society is one that recognizes and values the cultural differences in its people. I live in a flat with other 4 volunteers from Azerbaijan, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia. I would like to define us as a mixed salad bowl with different cultures and unique characteristics.

what kind of future this humanity will get in the absence of awareness, culture and education

Am I being held in the same vortex of the corrupt educational system I experienced in Tunisia?

Do the children get better future?

Are we really helping them or pushing them into the unknown? 

After four months in Romania and after working with variety of students those questions possessed me. Was the international day of the Arabic child, last month.  As an Arabic girl I remembered the children of Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and all the marginalized children in the world. My big concern is how to benefit the maximum from this experience to be able later to help the Arabic children with what I learned.