Hello everyone, my name is Aleksandar! I am 20 years old, and I am from Skopje, North Macedonia. I am currently doing my European Solidarity Corps project in Bremen, Germany, where I am volunteering for NaturKultur e.V.
The first time I heard about the possibility to do a voluntary service abroad was on an Erasmus+ youth exchange. I was only 17 at the time but I knew that once I finish high school, I will apply for this once in a lifetime experience.
While I was in high school, I was a local volunteer in an association for sustainable development called Go Green. In this organization I had the chance to work in the communication team and that is how I got involved into the marketing/social media field for the first time.
I graduated high school in the middle of the corona virus pandemic, and I was not sure if undertaking an ESC project was the right thing to do at the time. However, the wish to take a gap year and go abroad was stronger! Turns out it was the right decision for me, and I do not regret going on this adventure at all.
I applied for the ESC project ‘’Achieve Recognition through Social Media’’ hosted by NaturKultur e.V. and after finally getting the visa, I moved to Bremen, Germany in January 2021 when I was just 19 years old!
Even though I was 3 months late, I managed to fit in the group of volunteers that already had the chance to get to know each other. At the beginning, there were a lot of restrictions due to the pandemic and not much to do outside – still, I used that period to adapt and got really close with my 4 flatmates! I am the youngest volunteer in our house, and I am incredibly grateful for all the help I got from my flatmates (#Adulting101).
My ESC project was a turning point where I made my passion for photography and social media a part of my daily routine. My tasks as volunteer are to manage the social media accounts of the organization, and grow the fan base, traffic, and visibility. I am also responsible for disseminating the projects and activities of the organization to the public eye, so we inspire more people to act in solidarity! I also write new articles, stories, and news on our website.
It has been 6 months since I moved here, and I am really enjoying my time as a volunteer in Bremen. I am very satisfied with my project tasks even though the pandemic affected the activities a little bit. Most of the projects and events so far were online, which meant even more screen time and Zoom calls. However, through the online youth exchanges, I still managed to experience the beauty of Erasmus+ and I met so many new people.
For some time now, we have less restrictions and almost everything is slowly opening again. With the rest of the volunteers, we often go on weekend trips to nearby cities and visit new places. We also often gather in one of the 3 houses we all live in and hang out. When the weather is nice, we go by the river where we chill, play games, listen to music etc.
Bremen definitely has a special place in my heart. I have previously been in Bremen couple of times, but I really enjoy living here. I would describe Bremen as a very vibrant and multi-cultural city with a lot of young people and cool places to see. On a sunny day, you can often find me in some of the beautiful parks or drinking coffee in a café in the centre. We also love going out for drinks in Viertel during the weekends!
I am looking forward to more things opening and less restrictions. For now, it looks like a promising summer and I am ready to explore more of Bremen and Germany in general. I also hope that my organization starts organizing residential youth exchanges and training courses so I work more outside of home office! I can not wait to see what these next summer months bring!
Talk to you soon,
Alex.
