New Volunteers–New Life- New perspectives
By Merle
Welcome to the second round of Cultural Fiesta! Three weeks ago, the new volunteers Marie and Merle arrived in Baia Mare. With them came new initiatives and perspectives and in general new objections. There will be slight changes in our project, so let us introduce them.
New volunteers
Marie is currently 24 years old and from France. She studied history for five years. Needing a break from all the online classes, she chose to come to Romania and join the Cultural- Fiesta- project. Maybe after this eventful year, Marie will do her PhD in History. However, she certainly does not only study. After doing an internship in France in a local museum, there is a lot of experience the new volunteer can contribute to the project. On the personal side, Marie knows really weird facts about various things and is very much hilarious. Therefore, working with her is a pleasure for the other girls.
Merle is from Germany and 20 years old. After studying law for two years, she is now taking a gap year to orientate herself new. You can not only see her in a museum or a theatre, but also a lot on the running track. Accordingly, Merle brings her more sportive and active assets into the team. Almost always smiling and laughing at Maries jokes, she brings a positive attitude to the group.
New life
Adapting to the new life around them, already had a lot of ups and downs for the volunteers. Living in a country where a language unknown for you is spoken and everything is unfamiliar and different from home is very overwhelming at first. Yet, throughout the time you meet new people, who´ll soon become very familiar, like the new surroundings. Weird things to miss from home? Marie misses the French bread and wine, while Merle misses the German bread, her bicycle and her skies.
Afterall, the new volunteers had a great person by their side: Elvi. Elvi, the “good soul” of the project, made Marie and Merle feel extremely welcomed from beginning on.
New perspectives
In a big meeting between the association and the volunteers a lot of things got cleared up. The three of them, are now working with much clearer perspectives and objectives than in the last stage. Therefore, some differences were made within the project. The new objectives the volunteers are now working towards until April are:
- Getting five young local volunteers permanently involved with the local partners
- Implement five initiatives in the museums, that already show results
- The initiatives should be sustainable and have less of an event- character
- Participate in three public events implemented by the partners
Besides, those new perspectives, we are working closely with the museums. Our target group are still people from 16-35 years. Therefore, we are trying to adjust to the cultural needs of the local community.
A lot of work and great projects are ahead of the volunteers- so stay tuned!