Thousands of interesting and useful ideas in my head - ESC Story from Romania

Hello, I am Nino. 8 months ago I decided to use the pandemic period productively, take on new challenges and gain life experience. I took part in an exchange visit announced by the European Solidarity Corps and I went to Romania within a month. I am very proud of myself because I accepted this challenge and despite all the fears, language barriers and I moved to a completely foreign space.

The place was called Empowering youth academy, where I spent 8 months, completely changing my worldview for the better. I worked at a youth center. My job was to prepare social-emotional, art therapy and mindfulness activities with other 4 international volunteers for children ages 6-12.  This place has become my source of inspiration! I was motivated to do civic activities when I returned to my homeland. If not for the people around me I would probably find it very difficult to adapt to a foreign space.

I can’t fail to mention how much experience I have gained working with children. The relationship with the little ones turned out to be very interesting and rewarding. During this time I discovered a lot of things in myself.

It was extremely interesting to live with 5 international volunteers. I learned a lot from them that will be very useful in life, thanks to   them. Romania has become my second home, I got so used to the place, the lifestyle, the culture, the traditions and the people that it was very difficult for me to go back. Traveling with friends and discovering new spaces has motivated me to travel and enjoy new sights.

  

This exchange visit, these eight months made my life more exciting. There are thousands of interesting and useful ideas in my head. Most importantly at this moment I know exactly what I want to do in life and how to be happy.

 

 I am happy

ESC story from Latvia - Ia Artmeladze

Hello! I am Ia Artmeladze. I am 23 years old, volunteer from Georgia. My project “100 words about Europe” (2019-3-LV02-ESC11-002815) started in Latvia on 7th February.

The project directly involves learning and teaching foreign languages (English, Latvian), explore Europe values and doing activities with kids in Augšlīgatne kindergarten “Zvaniņi”. Now I teach English to 3-4 years old children and introduce them with Georgian culture. 

Children are very fun, sociable and active. In a short time, I visited some very interesting and impressive places for me – Līgatne, Sigulda, Zvārtes iezis and learned some Latvian words. I have high hopes that by the end of the project I will gain a lot of experience and learned a lot of interesting things. I wish you a lot of success!

ESC story - Ana Margishvili

I am Ana, from Georgia an ESC volunteer in Poland, Bialystok. I am a Bachelor of  Psychology and I have Master’s degree in Special education. In my country, I worked as a special education teacher and I have the experience of working as an ABA therapist in abilitation center with children who have different disabilities. At present, I am focused on special education. I wanted to learn more about the situation in Poland in regards to the field of special education. I was looking forward to discovering more about achievements and activities which are offered to adults. I knew that Poland had great practice with adults with different disabilities, which was the reason I chose this country and this school.

So, everything started like this: That was my first visit in Poland. I was a little afraid of what would happen here, new country, new culture, new people, new school and etc…But I can say that it was the best experience of my life, especially the school. My expectations came true. In school I had new practice, which is going to be useful in Georgia. It was quite interesting for me to see all this differences between the two countries. I participated in activities such as: Gardening, cooking, hoteling, revalidation and so on… The school opens new doors, lessons prepare the   students   for   the   future,   they   give   them knowledge, teach them how to live independently and show them activities they can do after school. However, what I like the most is the relationships between students and teachers. The love and respect they have for each other makes them very friendly.

I can confidently say, that the experience has shown me that, the support of students at the school is huge, this helps them to prepare for international days, there are different workshops for students, where they are able to prepare handmade things, work on zero waste activities, make exhibitions and so on... The most valuable experience for me was the friendship I built with students, these people have become very dear to me.

I can say that this project increased my knowledge and also improved my language skills. my personal and professional skills have also got more advance. Here, with the help of ESC project I got to know new incredible people and we became really close friends. 

In addition, I enjoy travelling, so it was a fascinating opportunity for me to get introduced to Poland. It was a great pleasure to get deeper knowledge of the culture and traditions of Poland. Also my hosting organisation “ANAWOJ” was really hospitable, attentive and thoughtful.

For me it was big challenge to go to another  country and live with other people. So it changed my life and views about many things as it broadened my horizon. I'm very grateful, that I was able to take part in this project.

I have two chapters: My life before ESC and after ESC

Hello. I'm Gvantsa, from Georgia. I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in special education. I’ve always been interested in working with children with disabilities, that's why I've been working in this field for 5 years. I have never stopped learning in my profession. I always wanted to do more for my students and to get to know to foreign countries’ practice. During this period I thought about what I could do to develop myself in my profession. When pandemic period started in Georgia it was very stressful. COVID-19 has changed our daily lives, but even in these difficult circumstances, unexpected good news happened. I missed active life and live communication with children and people, because I worked online. That’s why I decided to participate in European Solidarity Corps Voluntary project.

To be honest, I was a little scared at first, but I also was excited to participate in this project. For me it was a new challenge. I thought that it would be a great chance to gain some experience, living in a foreign country, getting to know to new people and culture. Also, I was happy that I would be able to share my opinions, points of view, knowledge and would broaden my horizon.

When I started living in Poland, it was very delightful and exciting. As a foreigner, I would be happy to share Georgian traditions to people. I would meet a lot of children and teachers here at school, collaborate and cooperate with them, as well as learn many fun and useful activities. For instance: supporting children in learning process, handmade craft and zero waste activities, cooking, dancing and language classes, sport activities, preparing workshops: New year, Easter, Georgian and European weeks, and etc. I learnt new methods, which I’ll use with my students in my country. I’m sure that this experience will undoubtedly improve my professional knowledge.

Besides, this project was the great way to learn a lot of things about myself because I’m really getting out of my own comfort zone with meeting and living with other people. I’ve finished my volunteering project. This period has really fulfilled me with positive emotions and unforgettable moments including my travelling with other volunteers in Poland and in different countries. During the project, we had a lot of interesting and significant activities connected to the main topic. Also our hosting organization “ANAWOJ” was kind, hard-working, hospitable and really supportive throughout the project. 

Now I can say without doubt: ESC has changed my life and I am so glad to have had this opportunity. My expectation about this project came true. I really believe that ESC is an experience that no one ever forgets. It happened to my life and I believe, this can happen to your life also, if you never give up on your dreams and do your best to participate in this project. ESC is really one of best opportunities, if you want to change your life. Now I can boldly say, I have two chapters: My life before ESC and after ESC.

ESC Story from Poland -Kristina Tsereteli

Hello, I’m Kristina Tsereteli. It was a usual day in September, when everything started. Someone called me and said that I was invited for the interview. That time I didn’t realize this interview would change my life. Surprisingly, I was chosen for an exchange program. It was so hard to believe, because I had tried for the first time and epidemic situation wasn’t so good in the world, though however this attempt became successful.

So, I went for living my new life in Poland, Bialystok, that is amazing with its fantastic nature, all green and fresh around. My voluntary job was at special school, that is quite closer to my profession, because, I worked as a special teacher in Georgia as well. Besides, the school where I worked was also dormitory.

There were some different special classes for kids and also for adults, I saw how psychologists, occupational therapists and speech therapists work with children with special needs, also I had the opportunity to become a direct participant in the learning process, that was much interesting to interact with students, make some friendly relationships with them and with people who worked there, that also made me easier to learn Polish language, because I had to remind the words and sentences that I really needed while communicating. Sometimes the students and me had to exchange roles, sometimes they were teachers for me, and sometimes I was as a teacher for them, we also cooked together some Georgian cookies, and Polish as well, during that time we had much funny stories.

Honestly, my expectations really justified. I really wanted to get to know how special teachers worked here, new technics, new strategies, maybe also I could share my experience for them, that we really did. On the other hand, what I love about Erasmus+ projects the most is that in the beginning we are all strangers to one another but by the end of the project we all become really close friends (which btw makes it really hard to say goodbye). The world feels so small when you gather around people from different parts of the world in one room sharing their stories and giving you the pictures of what it feels like to be a person of their nationality. This is the type of learning which broadens your horizons and makes you see the world from a different perspective. We always planned some tours together, almost lived together and these ten months we became as a big family. Frankly speaking, it wasn’t so easy from the beginning, because there were some different attitudes about different topics, and cultural dissonance, but for sure, later it became challenge in all of our lives, that really taught us a lot, made much stronger and the result is this big family, how we really feel now

Overall the project it was really successful both on a professional and personal level. I am truly grateful for the life-long friendships that I have made and memories I have collected during my time in Bialystok. I want to thank ECS for giving me this opportunity and ANAWOJ our hosting organization in Poland for making this project possible.