Nasza europejska wolontariusza Dorota Rydel opowiada o swojej przygodzie z EVS-em. Chcecie dowiedzieć się jak dokładnie wygląda życie wolontariusza na wyjeździe? Albo może macie obawy bądź wątpliwości co do swojego udziału w Wolontariacie Europejskim? Zapraszamy do lektury! Tekstu jest w języku angielskim i specjalnie nie przetłumaczyliśmy,żebyście mogli ocenić swoje umiejętności językowe:)
My EVS
For a last 11 months I was a EVS volunteer in Kazanlak. On the beginning of March 2012, I have changed my place of residence, country, and current work on something completely different... I started to I lived in a small town in central Bulgaria, as a volunteer on the EVS project. Since I remember I was "close to nature". In the past I spent a few months in a eco-village in Poland, so as soon as I found the project "Ecology Development" in Bulgaria I decided to apply and become EVS volunteer.
In this way I began my adventure with the beautiful country- Bulgaria. Why I decided to make one year of gap at my job and change my life completely? In my opinion participating in a social work by project like this, is the best way to do something enriching awareness of society and in the same way enriching myself. I wanted to give a part of myself to others who need this. I wanted to give my own “brick”. The important thing that I've learned through EVS project is how to develop solidarity and promote tolerance among young people from different countries. EVS has a huge influence on supporting European integration. Being a volunteer on EVS was a great opportunity for me to exchange ideas with people from different cultures and develop various intentions. With different points of view about world, we can create many new ideas and thereby impact on the awareness of society, on environment.
New points of view from my country and ideas from volunteers from other countries were an inspiring mix. I could try my skills on different subjects and thanks to this convinced myself that many things, which at the beginning seems to be impossible, turns out to accomplish.
During first two months in the group of 15 volunteers from 6 different countries we were preparing Eco-Festival Koprinka.
Koprinka is a small village with a beautiful large lake. But unfortunately, people do not appreciate the beauty of this area and they do not keep clean environment around... Therefore we decided to clean Koprinka, encouraging locals to help us. It was our main goal, but of course, our actions were preceded by a large number of different activities. Among other things, we visited schools, showing a special presentation about environment, we shot a few movies about ecology, took a part in Eco-conference, celebrated the Water Day and Forest’s Week, cleaned reiverside in our city, we made workshops of trash-art and recycling...It was a very interesting period in my life, two months of learning about different cultures, exchanging experiences, increasing knowledge about ecology.
After two months my main task as a volunteer was to write articles for the local newsletter. Subjects of my articles were varied. I was often writing "socially sensitive" issue and expressed my own opinion.
Living in Bulgaria gave me an inspiration and subjects to write. I'm became addicted to travelling on Balkans to collect new experiences, memories and new subjects to articles.
In my life one of the most important things is the intention of doing something and the message that I would like to give to others. And in Bulgaria, as a EVS volunteer, I had a chance to make this real. That's why, by my words I would like to encourage young people to find opportunities like EVS program. It's one of the best way to get to know yourself better and to be useful. The one advice, that I would like to give to future volunteers, is to stay openmined and even if your expectations are not „reflected“ in reality, there is nothing to be discouraged, but to look for new solutions…
