9 months of my volunteering are already over my shoulders. It is actually a great time for a further reflection. Indeed, so much happened during this period.
Although some (for a certain time very strict) corona restrictions were in place, it did not color my volunteer experience in black. Of course, some doors were closed but other – contrary – opened. What is more, they definitely brought an excellent and unique experience in my life. And I am very grateful for that!
The conditions of lockdown changed a nature of my working tasks. But I still had a plenty of opportunities for learning and acquisition of new skills. I started to dive deeper into such areas as writing applications for new projects, video editing and e-learning/teaching. Moreover, I got a chance to open new classes (English and ballet for kids) at the school where I am currently volunteering. In addition, I used an opportunity to integrate knowledge from the Social media management course (organized by NaturKultur) into my working routine. Just to stress, there are always many open doors.
Once the pandemic restrictions became less strict, travelling appeared in the list of to-do priorities. I should admit that I spent a great time with my flatmates and other volunteers, discovering different German towns. For example, we discovered together Hannover, Göttingen, Emden and always there was something special about these trips. Something that I want to take with me when my project is over. I am also happy that I visited some new friends who I met on the mid-term training for volunteers. I hope that even more wonderful meetings in person with people from the youth exchange or trainings for volunteers wait for me in the nearest future.
If you ask me to choose a couple of words that describe my volunteer experience so far, those would be – never ending learning & plenty of opportunities.
Only with best wishes,
Olya
Olya is hosted by Integration durch Kunst e.V. (Theater11) on the project “Achieve Recognition Through Social Media”, financed by JUGEND für Europa and the European Solidarity Corps.