I am Tamar Giorgadze and I am volunteering in Málaga, Spain. I was really lucky to find this Project in the most beautiful region called Andalusia. A year ago I decided to get out of my comfort zone and looked for new opportunities. I think my volunteering time is really special, because of the following reasons: 1. I was lucky enough to have working experience which is related to my profession. 2. I am among the volunteers who are doing their Project during the pandemic.
I work in the organization which empowers people and supports social inclusion. I work with homeless people, with immigrants, women who are victims of trafficking and with people with different kinds of vulnerabilities. Usually I help them to get information about social services and resources, so they can find a job and integrate in the local community. Also I organize activities to help them develop their employment and social skills, going to the houses where immigrants live and helping them in their daily life.
This is already my 8th month since I have been doing my volunteering. For me it is divided in 3 parts:
Time before lock down: adapting period, because living in the new country is related to new challenges like getting to know the culture, organization, people, learning and finding out the ways to communicate with users and colleges in a language I did not speak very well.
During lock down: On 13th of march the organization stopped working because of corona-virus and after two days the whole country was in quarantine for 3 month. We were not allowed to leave the house at all, just only to buy the food. There was a lot of fair, uncertainty, confusion. It seemed really hard to stay at home under these circumstances. But on the other hand I was lucky enough to have amazing flatmates. We always tried to support each other, and were organizing activities that could help us to overcome the situation and my organization always was for us whatever we needed. Also this time was a great opportunity to concentrate on learning the language. During this period I was working from home and had online sessions with my users.
After lock down: It is hard to describe the feeling when you are allowed to go out even with the limited hours just for a walk. Slowly life went as normal as possible. But it was really strange to face the new reality. Still it is not completely allowed for volunteers to work from the organization (in order to eliminate risks), so I continue my work from home but also have face to face meetings in the office or in the houses of my beneficiaries.
During my free time I attend cultural events, go to the beach and travel as much as it is possible under this situation. Of course to follow the safety rules.
This Project is one of the best experience. I live in a diverse community, face many challenges, growing personally and professionally, getting confident and the most important having new friends from around the world.
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