Tips & advices for a nice EVS experience

Opened eyes

Months, far away from your  country ..in your luggage maybe there are some pictures of your lovely family, your dog, your friends… at the beginnig looking at theme you will feel a little bit melancholic, nostalgic but we want to suggest you: take it easy! Update your profile on FB, change your position on the map, keep your eyes open and discover the beauties of this land, the colors of the people, the unity in the diversity for living an experience that will enrich your own person, entirely.    

 

Carpe diEm!

Enjoy every moment, share it with other nice people just like you, open your mind, meet the World, explore new people, discover yourself under new lights and shades, trying to leave your darkness in the back while walking towards the sunshine.

Take it easy if plans do not go as you have been wishing, because you always have a B plan, and a C plan and a D plan, isn’t it? ;)  And when you are just ready for doing it… here it comes the X plan, that one you were not even imagining!

So… what are you waiting for?

 

Meet people, meet the world

Let yourself flow with this great experience and especially with the people that you find in it, you will learn a lot of things from them. Take the opportunity to improve and learn languages, travel and learn everything you can. Get over fears and have more confidence in you.

Flexibility

To really enjoy this new experience, in a good way, between a lot of other forms, is to be open to changes, expected and unexpected, to be flexible with people around you and be curious with the opportunities that are presented to you to learn new things. All that you can learn is useful for yourself and to share new knowledges with others.

Giving up

Yes, you will reach a point that everything seems like a nightmare for you! The beginning enthusiasm will fade away and now you will want to go home earlier, abandon the project. So, in order to help you, because volunteering is all about helping, here are 5 motives to use when writing your giving up declaration:

1.     You are sick. How couldn’t this work? Assuming that you have a bad health condition is half the way to put you in a plane and go back home. Only the fresh air of your country and that product that only exists there will cure you. Pack your things, sayonara foreign country!

2.     You broke one fingernail. What worse can happen to compromise your work than having a broken fingernail, especially if you are a girl? And if you claim that it was during an activity of the project, even better!

3.     Your religion does not allow. The Congregation of the Divine Socks, the one that you belong, is very strict about having you very distant. Amendment #17 says that one that misses the Washing of the Socks ceremony for more than 6 weeks on a row is condemned to have smelly feet for eternity. You sure don’t want this to happen. 

4.   You miss mummy and daddy. Start to cry and suck your thumb. Easier than words!

5.     You realized that people speak strange. You arrived and suddenly it looked like you were in a different reality. People, for no apparently reason, speak other language! It is impossible to live in a place where you can’t understand anyone. Besides, the voices you hear at night are warning that the ninjas are coming for you; you’re not safe in this country anymore. 

There you go. Your work made easier. Now you don’t have excuses to not give up. Thoughts of giving up are also part of the experience. You will pass by your dark moments, but you will have your moments of joy too. Imagine your EVS project as a life simulator. In order to recognize joy, for example, you must pass by its opposite. Happiness/sadness, responsibility/irresponsibility, respect/disrespect, hot/cold, you will always find this dualism whatever you do and wherever you are. It is up to you which one do you want to give importance, which path do you want to take. Give up/not give up.       

Anti-Human Trafficking activities in October

October 2012 was dedicated to human trafficking. During the previous months we have been studying the complex phenomenon of the Human Trafficking. Definition, forms, statistics, cases that tell us the incredible drama of millions of persons sold, bought, exploited, held in slave conditions, physically and psychologically abused. Human rights cannot be put in front of money and personal benefits. Observing the psychological, behavioral and social characteristics of the criminal it is possible to understand that behind any man, any woman there could be a trafficker of an human being. There are a lot of tragic stories of poor little kids, vulnerable women, people that live in a condition of social inequality, in a war context, with a low education that easily can become the victims of this transnational crime, manipulated by the false hope of a better life. With raising conscious we decided to leave the words behind and take action!

 

October 18th marks the International anti-human trafficking day, and, as said, we dedicated the whole month for spreading campaigns of awareness in Arad. We made one in the Liceul Pedagogic and another at Vasile Goldis University, with a peer to peer purpose. The week after we came back at the High School to attend the students making their own campaign. They elaborated topics and information, presenting different funny activities, interactive smart games, movies telling strong and hard stories about this inhuman crime. They made us surprised, admired, angry, excited… They shocked us with their creativity, energy, sensibility. They did a great job!

 

And for the last activity of this month, from the 23rd to the 26th we took part on the International Symposium with the title “Trafficking in human beings – form of cross border organized crime”, held by our hosting organization, Pro Prietenia. With themes like preventing and combating corruption, human trafficking itself, combating human trafficking or preventing and assisting the victims, the symposium was assisted by more than one hundred participants and had lectors and lectures with a high level of quality. One of the most interesting aspects was that it was not all about theory. The case studies that were exposed and discussed showed us how human trafficking is fought, with real cases and even footages of the operations. “Operation Gold” was the case study of day three of the symposium, about a Romanian child trafficking ring in United Kingdom. For example, in this case of human trafficking, at a first look, these people are seen as marginal or criminals, but it makes all the difference when they stop to be seen like this to be seen as victims, because they came to that reality (begging and little thefts in this case) by means of force and threat. Then, the approach and the methods change too in order to help them and fight against human trafficking. Apart from assisting the lectures, we also helped in the organization during the 4 days of lectures, with logistic and administrative support.

 

It was an intensive month, with lots of things going on, but we finish it with a feeling of mission accomplished, we made our part on spreading the awareness and stop the indifference people have about this serious crime. And we don't want to stop here! We want to continue the awareness after our project, in our own countries!

 

 

Newsletter

Half of our journey has been traced.

Here is a feedback of what have we done so far!

Download PDF version

Words on paper watering time.

Walking in the streets of Arad colors, sounds, languages​​, steps, perfume are blended, tell us the bustle of humanity and I among people, live my experience as a volunteer, in this place that continues to amaze me for its beauty, its contradictions, its quiet vitality.

I look up and the sky is very blue, the eyes wander over the old palaces faded by the time, in the big park behind the theater, the air smells of roses and  in the puddle of a fountain, a pigeon is busy with his personal toaleta. It's a hot July day and this afternoon I have nothing important to do. I decide to go to see the painting exhibition, I take my bike, the city runs under my eyes: cross the tram No. 6 on the boulevard, on the right the street kebab, Gigi, begging gypsies, the Cristal's terrace ... I smile at people, I get smiles ... on the left side the Mc Donald, in front of it there is the  City Hall, the Red church , the famous Libellula terrace, clothing shops, straight in front, the Orthodox church climb people's attention, the bus stop, the bridge, the traffic light ... the sun begins to go down... its red tones, its orange, pink shades... this spectacle of nature in the background of Arad kidnapp me, I follow it. I pedal, the landscape begins to change slowly, I remember that the intention was to go to see the exhibition in Clio's sala, but now ... who knows? Me, among those who know where to go, and who goes without knowing. Life takes turn at a traffic light.

Rò

From Arad to Predeal :)

Seven cheerful volunteers travelling from Arad to Predeal.

Predeal. It is nine o’clock in the morning and there are no activities in the afternoon. Just the time to leave our backpacks in the hotel and go, once again in the train forward Sinaia, through the snowy mountains of Carpaţi. The fog wraps the firs that stand up to the sight in their dizzying verticality, the thoughts rolling roll along following the rhythm of the rails.  

Consulted the map, we decided to visit  the monastery and the Castel of Peles. The latter  is  a very museum among its walls, between a door and the other real worlds are opened to the visitors, each room is furnished and decorated with a different style: Spanish, Turkish, Italian, German, French ect.. quite different from what I imagined was a typical Transylvanian castle! 

When we back at the hotel we met our EVS mates. They come from anywhere: Turkey, France, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Spain.  Among activities, games, laughter and coffee times, the five days of training course passed so quickly that  we don’t realize we are again in front of the gara waiting for the train that will lead us in Brasov.

... Travelling is possible realize that for the street of the world there is an immense number of travellers. Through the journey the human spirit sharpen itself and get rich ... 

Two days later we reached the Craiului Parque of Zarnesti. On the train we meet Bogdan, a funny boy coming back at home from Bucureşti. He warns us that we have just bought sweets from a peddler could be no eatable. I decide to challenge the death! He provides us a lot of interesting information about the place, advices and strategies on how to escape from bears, wolves and linces, about the cold winter and the beauty of his country. We arrive at the end of the line, and we say goodbye. Just twenty minutes later behind us, on roller blades, there is him, He decides to come with us untilthe park entrance. The landscape is amazing.A picture of intense colours: the green of the fields, the white of the snow on the top of the mountains, the blue of the sky. We walk a lot, following the river. There are maybe 30 degrees but the snow, hidden under the leaves, by the shade of the trees and huge rocks, has not melted yet. We come to a cross road. Which way we have to follow? Two cyclists show us the path. Among a question and an answer comment on the lack of the respect for Mother Nature! It is true! We cannot avoid to notice that probably many people don’t care to throw the rubbish in the bins. The environment education is one of the thematic that we wish to carry on during our EVS project.

We could go on deeper into the park but the sun is setting and it is time to back. 
We say goodbye to our new friend Bogdan with a tasty pizza and a refreshing Silva  and we toasty at our meeting under the spanish football team’s flag hang on the wall of the pub. What a better way to celebrate diversity!

We come back to Braşov, tired but happy. The following morning we leave  the city for exploring Sighişoara, where we meet Remi, a young french researcher. This small but charming town will be our last stop before getting the train that will take us back to Arad. 

Rò

Un dia con Viorel

Ayer fui con Romina a comprar un poco de verduras al mercado de la calle
tan tipico de Rumania ,¿y cuál fue nuestra sorpresa? Que nos encontramos a Viorel,
el hombre de la recepcion , que tenia una hija que trabajaba en España.
Me invito a 4 ``Mici´´ una comida tipica de aqui elaborada con una mezcla de carne de
vaca y oveja que se come con mostaza y pan. Romina no quiso ,ya que es vegetariana.
Después nos invito a su casa a beber tsuica ,una bebida tipica Rumana
y tambien a beber vino elaborado por el ,  nos enseño su pequeño museo del ``Real Madrid´´.
Es un hombre muy amable,nos abrio literalmente su casa y su corazón.

Con esta pequeña historia abro mi sitio en este blog.










(Mici)

J.Pablo (Spain,Malaga).

El 9 de Mayo realizamos nuestra primera actividad como voluntarios/as participando en "La fiesta de apertura de la aldea de Proyectos de Europa"

Queremos compartir algunas fotos con vosotros/as para que podáis acercaros al ambiente que allí se respiraba!

Aquí podéis ver nuestro puesto en el que representábamos a España, Italia y Portugal. Para ello nos disfrazamos de diferentes personajes históricos de nuestros países, llevamos unas recetas de nuestros platos típicos e información sobre el proyecto de Pro- Pretenia

Pablo representando a España iba disfrazado de Sancho Panza, mítico personaje del libro mundialmente conocido "El Quijote" escrito por Cervantes. Romina estaba caracterizada como Dante, magnífico escritor italiano entre cuyas obras destaca "La divina comedia"

Y aquí podéis ver a Don Quijote gracias a la caracterización de Ana y a Judith disfrazada del pintor español Eugenio Salvador Dalí.

Queríamos también recibir un buen feed-back de como la gente de otras diferentes culturas nos veía a nosotros así que aquí tenéis a Helder, nuestro compañero de Portugal, sujetando unos papelógrafos donde la gente iba escribiendo que era lo que le venía a la cabeza cuando pensaba en España, Italia y Portugal.

Pero nosotros no eramos los protagonistas...los grandes triunfadores de la tarde fueron los jóvenes de las diferentes asociaciones de Rumanía que con sus danzas y música nos dejaron con la boca abierta

Y finalmente aquí podéis ver uno de los muchos puestos que las organizaciones llevaron representando a sus países. Gracias a ellos pudimos probar los dulces de Irlanda y Ungría; la mamaliga y el sarmale de Rumanía. Y acercarnos en definitiva a conocer las distintas culturas de nuestros/as compañeros/as voluntarios/as de Europa.