6 months EVS in Romania - Etunas, Avto and Lasha stories

Hosting org: EXPLORATOR Association 

https://europa.eu/youth/volunteering/organisation/62000669249_en 

Sending org: Association "Georgian Youth for Europe"   

www.gye.ge 

AVTO

My EVS life was very good. I liked my daily job, i mean working with disability and with autistic children. It is really huge experience in my life. Honestly to say i was expecting totally different project about ecology, in the beginning i was a lit scared when i saw the fact that i have to work with kind of children, but time by time i get to use in and right now i feel myself very close with children. I think its great thing what I was doing here in Romania, we had different kind of outdoor and indoor activities with them.

   With autistic children i worked two days in a week and three days with disability children. We did several times events for them and collected some money, it was kind of donation, we celebrated world autistic day together seconds of April with them in the city center and organized flash mob especially for them. I am happy when i see their smiley faces.

   During this project we had twice Greening day. It was kind of activities about ecology with children in kindergarten and with the children from different school. We explained them how to care about your nature, the area where do you live, how to protect it. We planted trees and flowers together, had a several types of games and they have been so happy because of it :)

   The members of my hosting organisation are so lovely and friendly, they are really nice, they always stand next to us whenever we needed them. We had also mentor and once in a month we hafd a meeting with him. Shortly to say they are absolutely brilliant, i love them.

   So my 6 months of EVS was amazing, only I were missing my country, my family, my friends, my lovely dog for sure and the situation of Georgia. I were miss everything what is connected with Georgia. When project was over finish, I started counting the last days of mine. J

LASHA

I am Lasha , i had EVS in Romania, nice country with great people , i love that country,i love my Job. I were volountering in activities for children with special needs , like Autistic Children. I cann’t say that it was easy for me to work with them. At the begining it was really difficult but later work went more easier. I like it very much.  Children was so lovely and kind, all the time they were trying to hug me. We were  doing sport activities for them. My project is over but i am so sad that i had to leave them .

Last year i had Erasmus studies where i was parting all the time but now  when i compare it between each other i can say that it is two competly different lifes . During of my EVS i started to think a lot. Thinking about everything  about my future life . I grown as a person . For now i have different values . I think now i became more serious :)

Now i am going to tell you a Little about my life in Craiova (Romania). I can say that here i met a great people. I really love that country .  Romanians are such a kind people. I became really good friend with one Romanian coupe . I love them , they did a lot for me. They were helping me in hard situations. Most of my time i was spenting with them. Here i arrived together with two more Georgians – Avto and Etuna. For few month we were living togather but later me and Avto moved to other place. We were living six in a Flat . We were cooking, drinking and haveing fun always togather .

During my EVS i had nice and sad expariances but at the end i want to say that EVS is great life and everyone has to try it :)

ETUNA

A walk to remember

I could say everything went great. Well, it didn’t at first. I searched for meaning, for purpose, and for a sense of utility. Many of those things I couldn’t really find at all times. But then again, I found friends to help me along the way. 

Then there were a small amount of troubles, petty disagreements, niggles and squabbles. They festered, and in time, threatened to derail the story. But they were frozen in a winter of discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of…Romania? Much later, when unfrozen, they were found to be irrelevant and unworthy. And so it came to pass that I came to the present, where I have different outlook on my situation. A much sunnier one, where everything is going great. Where the sun grows brighter every day. Where I get to work, travel, and help people in equal measure. Where life is fulfilling on a personal and professional level. Thereby I do highly recommend doing an EVS. It can change your life. It sure did change mine. 

More information about EVS project GAIA in the fallowing the links (from both the website and Facebook page): 

http://gaiacraiovacommuni.wix.com/gaiacraiovacommunity

https://www.facebook.com/GAIA-Craiova-Community-1498283857168866/?fref=ts 

BE HERE TO DARE, 8 month EVS in Latvia

Association "Georgian Youth for Europe" (GYE) already for many years have cooperation with Vecpiebalga Youth Centre "Balgas Strops" from Latvia. Together we have been implementing many youth exchanges and trainings. Therefor when "Balgas Strops" decide to host their first EVS, they gave us this honour to be their first sending organisation from partner countries. The main aim to carry out this project was to change geographical and social isolation of young people from Vecpiebalga region to the active participation based on possibilities; to give local youth not only the chance for those who can go some time to some youth exchange, but also to all local youth with fewer opportunities to experience different cultures, to know different traditions, histories and politics and to get new skills, attitudes and views. The mission of the project - with support of European volunteers open the world full of opportunities for local youth in Vecpiebalga region.

Giorgi Beridzishvili from Georgia (Sending organisation GYE) done his EVS service in "Balgas Strops", Latvia from 15.01-31.08.2015. Giorgi about his motivation to take part in this project: "As in future I want to find myself in youth work, this project was the start, I could test myself how good can I be in this field. Improve my skills, gain new experiences, travel around the country, spread information about my own culture and learn about new one-are my motivation for EVS. You might ask why I choose Latvia for my EVS. I’ve never been there before but I have Latvian friends and knew some things about it. It seemed to be a very interesting. So I really liked to get know the people, their culture and their way of life. Besides, I always wanted to visit northern countries, so that was twice interesting for me."

More about Giorgi experience and Vecpiebalga Youth Centre "Balga Strops" activities you can fallow in their blog -https://youthcentrevecpiebalga.wordpress.com/

Also if you are interested to apply for EVS there, please contact us! liene@gye.ge 

Project was funded with support of Latvian National Agency of Erasmus Plus EVS programm. More information here - http://ec.europa.eu/…/erasmus-p…/discover/guide/index_en.htm

Long Term EVS In Slovakia

My name is Tornike Togonidze and I had a wonderful one year EVS in the  beautiful country of Slovakia, so I would like to share some feelings, emotions and experiences that I had during this time.

I became a member of the Non Governmental Organisation "Georgian Youth For Europe" in 2013.  I was involved in several exchange programs in Georgia just before going for Evs.  It was my firs time going abroad, so my sending organisation made a pre departure meeting and  explained everything.  Later, they helped me get a visa.

My hosting organisation was friendly and everybody treated me like a new member of the family they gave me Slovak language lessons and they have never been late.  Also, for delivering pocket money on the .first one month at new home was little bit difficult I had to get used to a new culture, new people, new traditions, and a new language, but after the  first month I felt at home.

What about work and free time  We had to work from 30 to 35 hours per week, so if you worked 7 hours during 5 days and if you also worked in shifts during the weekend next week you would have 3 free days to visit the surrounding sights not only in the capital city but also in neighbouring countries.

One of my favourite parts of EVS was On arrival and Midterm trainings when you with other EVS volunteers from all around Sovakia meet and get to know each other. We had a little bit  of a delay because of the new Erasmus plus project, but it was worth the wait.  During this time I met new people from all around the world and got to known lots of different cultures and traditions gained new friends.  We were like family, we had parties almost all the time and what is the best thing during mid term is that after training you can visit them in their cities and villages.  They also come and visit you too, so you never lose contact or friendship

Something negative about my EVS was that you  always miss your family, friends, and relatives.  I was wanted to see them just for one minute, hug them and get back to EVS.  Also, winter in Slovakia is so long that even in mid April it is possible to snow.  We had -12 degrees once, so it is a little bit boring because you can not go out from the house, but you figure out how to spend your time.  With table games, you can survive!

To make a long story short,  now I am in Georgia and I really miss Slovakia.  If you compare how many possibilities you have when you are EVS, you will realize how great the opportunity is.  I want to thank everyone for helping me to become EVS and helping me to find myself and let me enjoy the best one year in my life.  I advise  all youngsters to try EVS once in your life .  After finishing it, you will feel that one year, simply is not enough.

Romania EVS story of Tamaz

Volunteering in local school

Hello , my name is Tazo . I did my 1 year  EVS project in Romania, in organization called YMCA . Organization staff was friendly and helpful during this time. We did lot of events, trainings, that was fun to participate. My project was about working with children from the ages of 5 to 14. I went to schools in the city , nearby village and to gypsy children in Romani Center. I had one project partner , her name was Salome and she was from France. After couple of months working together we formed a really good team and working was really fun. Here is a picture at one of our schools .

Beauty of  nature in Romania

Except us there were other volunteers in my town . I met good people , which are now my friends and we keep in touch after our projects. After work, on weekends and vacations we went hiking, swimming, travelling in Romania, made dinners together. Living and understanding people from all around the world is a really great experience. I managed to learn Romanian language , to know more about other countries and traditions. Romania has beautiful nature , I went there with the intention to see as much as I could . This is the picture from Transfagarasan , we were heading to Moldoveanu peak.

Tazo and his travel mate during free days of his EVS service time

To sum it up, I am glad that I did EVS. I gained lot of friends and positive features during this time . I encourage people to do it, because it`s a good adventure.

Tazo

GYE note:
Tazo Kvitashvili done his EVS service in Romania from April 2014 to March 2015 in the frame of project "YOU(TH) ARE GOLDEN".
His sending organisation was Association "Georgian Youth For Europe". 
Hosting organisation: YMCA Romania. 

Please find links to have a better idea about the  project outcomes and activities.

http://ymca.ro/2015/2-european-voluntary-service-volunteers-are-finishing-their-service-ymca-romania-_-youth-are-golden/

Some of  videos created by Tazo and project partner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTzdoS65tjo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1K-cmOFsZI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWVRxHN0E7A

DO YOU WANT TO GO FOR EVS AS WELL? VISIT US!

GYE office is located in Batumi str 22, Rustavi city, Georgia. We are open for visitors every working day from 11am till 6pm.

Salo Bye Bye :'( Keti welcome party :)

Few months ago our beloved EVS coordinator Salome decided to leave GYE and move on with her life. We, volunteers, were happy for her since she will probably get an awesome job as a tour guide but on the other hand we would miss her a lot since she was “our coordinator, our friend, mother and sometimes a daughter (Armonaityte, 2015)”. Luckily for us, Alex made a reasonable choice and picked an amazing new EVS coordinator for us – Kety. Since farewells and welcomes are always a good opportunity for celebrations, we decided to celebrate in a Georgian style and all together. The original idea – to have a classic supra - eat and drink until you puke, was nice enough, but when Gigi came with an invitation into his house in Sagarejo, it was abandoned immediately. Idea of spending a night in Georgian village with all our friends, some sashlik and nice vine was so exciting for us that the whole organization met on Sunday, 29^th of March and moved to a nice village of Sagarejo, about 40 minutes of marshrutka ride from Rustavi.

Weather did not allow us to discover all the beauties of Tochliauri but the day was saved by Rosto who prepared the fireplace and Lembit who brought Scrable. After few hours of intensive preparation our main cooks – Achiko, Vaxo, Alex and Vato finished the dinner and all of us together could finally enjoy a proper Georgian supra starting with amazing cheese and bread, continuing with chicken cooked and chicken baked, sashlik and ending with traditional horn drinking. After heartbreaking toasts delivered by our toastmaster Achiko teambuilding and fun continued till the late night.

I have to say, that meeting such a nice people at such a nice place while enjoying an awesome food was a very pleasant experience for me and I believe that for all volunteers and staff as well. GYE proved once again that in contrary to other associations, it is not just an organization but a small family and people involved are not just colleagues but good friends.