Volunteering Stories: from Georgia to Baia Mare – by Elene

Hi, I am Elene international volunteer from Georgia. My second month in this project has just started and here are some interesting facts about my volunteering experience and me.

Since the student period, I have always wanted to try myself in international volunteering and as soon as I had graduated from the university, I applied for this project, that’s how my story starts here – in Baia Mare.

About work 

In the project, mostly I work at school with students and share the information with them, like digital skills and developing skills needed for young people in the upcoming job market.

During these weeks, I assisted in the presentation of making Curriculum Vitae that included practical activity and students were able to make their own CVs, as well as presentation about job interviews with an interview simulation and activity.

Besides working on digital skills, I presented my country as well.  With another Georgian volunteer, we talked about our country’s history, culture, cuisine, traditions and customs, and presented Georgian dance and music.

Our team also made a presentation about ESC volunteering and our project. We talked about the best part of international volunteering, shared our stories and experiences and made an engaging activity with the students.

Best part of volunteering  

We all know the general definition and benefits of volunteering. For some people it’s about exploring new cultures, people, languages, and traveling, but for me, first and foremost it is the best way to explore yourself. When you are out of your comfort zone in an extremely different environment you realize yourself the best, your skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, whether you are beneficial for others or not.

Best part of volunteering for me is exploring the cultures and customs of particular countries as well. By communicating with other volunteers or local people, I get more and more information about their countries and cultures.

Being an international volunteer means to be part of an international community that gives you a chance to discover the world.

Here is a lovely story – during the presentation of Georgia, we showed the students a video in which the Georgian ensemble performed a Georgian Christmas Carol. After the presentation, the whole group of students performed a Romanian Christmas Carol for us!

Interculturality, exchanging impressions, fostering a sense of unity and belonging – that’s what I love about volunteering.

The volunteer is hosted by Team for Youth Association in project number 2022-1-RO01-ESC51-VTJ-000062337 (also called “Year2”), on a 3 months European Solidarity Corps project in Baia Mare. The content of this article does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. The responsibility for the information and views expressed in the article rests entirely with the author(s).