Zhenia Sakanelashvili’s ESC story

Hello to Everyone. I'm Zhenia, a 20-year-old student from Rustavi, Georgia, and I'm going to share with you a short story of the happenings that took place in Krakow, one of the most breathtaking cities in Europe, which is also home to some of the loveliest, friendliest, and most supportive people. Krakow is a city rich in culture and history, with architectural excellence. Everything had an easy beginning. For years, I've wanted to take part in the ESC project. The comfort zone is the cause of why it remained only a desire. But when the moment was perfect, I submitted the Krakow application, I felt that I was ready and now here I am.

My project started in September and it'll take 10 months. It is difficult to condense all the benefits, but the environment that permeates both inside and outside of the school is the first thing I can mention. After facing many things, I can say now that, despite individual differences, there are no limitation to what humans are capable of. My host school is absolute heaven. It is impossible to go there and not transform. Even one day is enough to leave entirely changed. I've been observing the attitude toward kids every day for the past three months. THIS IS MORE THAN CARE.

In addition to the school's uniqueness, during these three months, I underwent a noticeable personality change. Furthermore, I met and got to know a lot of people from various nationalities and religious backgrounds, which improved significantly my intercultural communication skills and encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone and bravely take on new challenges.

After completing this project, I will be certainly a completely different person who continually strives to have an active social life. I want to express my deep gratitude to ESC and GYE for providing me with the chance to join the large ESC family as a volunteer for this.

ESC in Rustavi - Laurin

Hello, I’m Laurin from Germany and I’m volunteering at GYE in Rustavi for one year. I have been here for already 2 months and so many great things happened already!

My tasks are mainly doing German conversation clubs for youngsters and young adults which I really enjoy, but also supporting ERASMUS+ youth exchanges by running energizers and get-to-know-each-other games and general support for the group leaders. The youth centre also offers other activities, such as national evenings or outdoor activities which I help with. In the future I will also assist teachers in one school for German and French classes.

Working with international people brings me a lot pleasure, it is so cool to have volunteers from different nationalities (although many of them are German) and Georgians and other European people. It helps to reflect on your own culture but also gives you so many opportunities to learn about other cultures.

I have already seen many different places in Georgia, I was in Kobuleti, Lagodekhi, Udabno, Stepanzminda and visited Tbilisi many times. What I like most about my voluntary service is that while I am doing a meaningful job, I still have enough free time to travel and explore the country. I’m so happy to be in Georgia because it is a completely new culture for me, everyone is so welcoming and the nature is incredibly beautiful.

Although I had some difficulties in the first weeks, I feel very lucky to have a safe place here in Rustavi where I can be myself as a queer person and have people around me who support me regardless of their nationality. I didn’t expect that, but I guess I’m generally surprised by the extreme comity of Georgian people, which certainly doesn’t exist in this form in Germany.

As I have just finished school, it is the first time for me to live in a foreign environment without my family for a longer period of time. I love my flatmates a lot, we support each other and have a great time together.

I’m very glad that I took this opportunity, there is no other place I would rather be than here now. 

Volunteering in Vilnius

Hello, my name is Vakhtangi, I’m 18 years old, from Georgia and I am volunteering for the European Solidarity Corps (1 year) project in Vilnius, Lithuania. 
I work as a volunteer at a day center “šviesa” for adult people with mental and physical disabilities.

My primary responsibilities as a volunteer are to assist center visitors with their daily needs, to help them during their classes, to provide them individual attention, and to engage in activities. I have a wonderful time with them, we are drawing, having walks, listening to music, constructing puzzle games, and so on. Especially now, during the summer we have so many exciting outdoor activities, on lakes and rivers. For example, last week we had a trip to the Lithuanian seaside city of Klaipeda, we spent a great time in the hot weather in the cool Baltic Sea. I have never met such warm, honest, and kind people as “visitors” of the center. They like spending time with us a lot. They are always ready and willing to share their emotions, thoughts, and, most importantly their works from the day. They give me wonderful emotions and sincere friendship. 

I am going to have a day of presentation of my country and I will definitely try to bake our country's traditional food  Khachapuri with my hands and taste it together with my friends at work.

I must mention that this project is a great experience for me, for several reasons: this is my first time to live abroad, the first time I live so far from my family, the first time I live with foreign-speaking volunteers, the first time I get used to create own independent life in a completely foreign country. Huuh…  It's a great challenge! I've been in Lithuania for four months already, and when I remember myself in the first days… :))) I see a lot of changes in myself, and I'm very happy about this rapid development. 

My sending organisation from Georgia is: Georgian Youth for Europe.

The project is coordinated in Lithuania by: Saltes.

Hosting organisation in Lithuania: Dienos centras "Šviesa".

Many thanks to all of them for such an interesting experience and opportunity. 

Warm greetings from Vilnius, 

Vakho Inasaridze

My time in Georgia

I have been living in Rustavi for three months now. I arrived on a cold February morning. Aleks and Nana picked me up from the airport and gave me a ride to my new home on Batumi street. In the beginning, I was a little bit lost in terms of my duties. I did not have much experience in the field of working with youth. But that wasn't much of an obstacle because I had great support from my coordinator and colleagues. Now I can say that I'm very well integrated with the team and, I get a lot of satisfaction from my work.

My daily tasks are mainly, conducting English lessons both one to one and in bigger groups. We also organize various educational and cultural activities. Besides that, I was involved in a couple of Erasmus+ youth exchanges. I'm very grateful for that experience I had now an opportunity to work with groups from Denmark, France, Lithuania and Latvia. Working with people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds brings a lot of diversity to my daily routine and is something I see myself doing in the future.

Besides work, there is also an extraordinary country to explore. I had an opportunity to explore Georgia before on vacation with my parents. I was amazed by both culture and nature here. When I found out that they are looking for volunteers here, I didn't hesitate for a second to send my application. Even though Georgia isn't a big country, the diversification of nature here is astonishing. You can wake up in the desert and go to sleep in a tropical forest the same day. I'm trying to explore Georgia as much as I can, but also the neighbour countries. I had an amazing trip to Armenia which was also my first time trying hitchhiking which was an experience that I'm going to remember for a long time.

I still have almost three months till I will go back to Warsaw. Without hesitance, I can say that decision to take part in the ESC project is one of the best decisions in my life. Every day I learn a lot not only about the work I do here or culture but also about myself. Meeting new people, trying different things and putting myself in new situations is something I think will pay off in future. I can only say that I strongly recommend to anyone taking the opportunity to volunteer in European Solidarity Corps, especially in Georgia.

Szymon

ESC in Rustavi - Katia's Story

Hello everyone! I am Katya, a volunteer at Georgian Youth for Europe. I came from Poland, even though I am originally from Belarus. 5 Months have already passed since I landed at Kutaisi in December to spend several months in Rustavi.

I had previously visited Georgia and was excited to come back! Georgia for me is a country of hospitable people and amazing nature and all these months I have spent here so far can only prove it.

My main activities as a volunteer include English lessons for youngsters and organizing various cultural and educational activities. For examples, in February we organized the first edition of YOUth TALKs, an adaptation of the TEDx format, where young people are able to share their personal stories. I have also organized a series of workshops related to Human Rights issues and political discussions on the topics such as the “Relations between Russia and Ukraine”. Apart from this, I am involved in some bigger projects such as Erasmus+ youth exchange that we had in April for young people from Georgia and France; I had a chance to prepare and conduct some of the activities. Currently we are planning a training course for Georgians about Hate Speech and how to deal with it.

My free time I usually spend with other volunteers from GYE or Scout Center or some GYE participants. Therefore, we sometimes explore Tbilisi together. I really love this city for the variety of things you can do there: I have been watched the spectacle in the theatre and visited an art exhibition. I have also managed to travel a bit and see the mountains in Guria and Borjomi and the seaside. But the most impressive for me were the mountains in Kazbegi as I have never seen such high mountains! The view was stunning! I hope to travel more and come to the neighboring Armenia as it is getting warmer.

I would encourage everyone to take this challenge to live in a new country as it is truly unforgettable experience!