Nino's story from Poland

Hello,   I am Nino Dvali, 25 years old. Last year in April I decided to apply EVS/ESC project. To be honest I was a little bit scared to make moves to start life without friends, family, and my country. But on the other hand, it was kind of challenge for me and I was going straightly  for my desire to make something new in my life. To change my lifestyle, develop my skills, and make an experience in international fields. In this period in my body was living two Nino, first who wanted to stay, because of fear and second,  who wanted to try new things. To cut a long story short, I decided to go and be a participant of this great family, which is Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps.

  

Since  May 2019 I have started a new life with new challenges in Gdansk. I'm very lucky, that I have chosen this amazing city, which is located next to the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. I have chosen the best city in  Poland with a great hosting organization Caritas. 

In the first two weeks of my Polish life I was exploring and getting familiar with the different cultures, cities, and places where I had to stared working and volunteering. Caritas is a Catholic church organization, which is helping every kind of person, regardless of belief. They have facilities where they are helping the children from difficult families, seniors, disabled people, and so on. I have chosen to start working with kids in one facility which was located close to my home. It was my first experience working with kids and I have to be honest and say that it was amazing. They are very open and helpful in any situation, despite of, the language barrier.

While my EVS/ESC project I had two training, one on arrival training located in Warsaw and second, mid-term training in Torun. Both of these training were so helpful and interesting in my voluntary life. There I met so many volunteers from other organizations from other parts of Poland. This training was a place where so many cultures were changed by volunteers from different counties. Besides the EVS/ESC project’s training's and events, my hosting organization was making events with other local volunteers and we were helping people altogether. 

While this one year, I have learned so many new things, got familiar with different cultures, tasted food from around the world, made new friends and met so many interesting people and finally I fell in love with Poland and I stayed more than one year!

"The Sun kids" project - Story from Latvia

Hello! I am Salome Zoidze, 22 years old, a volunteer from Batumi, Georgia.

In Latvia I arrived on 7th of February for the ESC project "The Sun kids". In this project I and children will explore more about nature, will learn more basics about physics, biology, chemistry. During this short time till today, I collected a lot of unforgettable emotions.

I’m working in PII "Saulīte" • Kindergarten "The Sun". I’m participating in one group aged 3-4 years. It is very interesting and special for me to work with children. They are very individual and different from each other, with contrasting interests and desires. Some of the children know Russian language - that helps me to communicate with them. In addition, I study Latvian and English languages, explore Latvia and its culture. I am happy, that I was chosen for this opportunity to participate in this project. With the help of this project, I can realize my skills and abilities. I wish you a lot of success and health.

Nika's story from Lithuania

Hello, I am Nika Javakhishvili, 22 years old. My project started on September 1, 2019 and will be completed by the end of August 2020. I am a volunteer in Telsiai, Lithuania. 

My activity is about the work of young people who have an entertaining and cognitive character. Our main task is to keep young people engaged in sports and active life. We have one building in the city where the main activities take place, and we also have outings in a building near the city where several day camps are held, which also has an extreme look. We also often hold culinary days where I share my experience and prepare Georgian dishes. At the center we have both table toys and musical instruments for them and we use them if we wish. It is a great experience for me and this project gave me a chance to improve my English. However, the majority of young people do not know well and we are trying to establish an English club for them as well. We also have various events related to the holidays. I had training where I met other volunteers from different countries who had a lot of experience in communication and English. 

For the summer we have planned several camps for young people where we will use bicycles and I think it will be very interesting. I also conduct training on organization and introduce Georgia. I am very happy about this project  because I got a big experience in my life. It was my first fly to different country, I meet a lot of people and now hey are my friends.

IN SUPPORT OF NATURE CONSERVATION

All around the world, thousands of birds and their habitats are endangered. For that reason, it is important to preserve bird populations where they naturally come. The organisation I’m volunteering in is called „Biom“, It’s non- governmental nature protection organisation that is based in Zagreb in Croatia and has several project related to animals’ conservation and research. The name of the project I take part in is „Island birds project“.

It’s about the conservation and research work

of three locally endangered bird species that breed on isolated islands in Mediterranean sea in Dalmatian region of Croatia. We are trying to find out the problems that have a negative effect on our target birds’ populations and do our best to help them to increase their breeding success. The aim of the project is to find out more about what are the main problems of the protection

of three marine bird species: The Audouin’s Gull, The Scopoli’s Shearwater and Yelkouan Shearwater. The project is planning to set up a base for the recovery of marine bird populations in Special protected areas in southern part of Croatia. I have already spent three months here and had many memorable moments. 

We were working several small islands that are on the territory of Lastovo Natural Park. Did some conservation work to help previously mentioned bird species to have a successful breeding year. Now they are already on their eggs and waiting for their chicks that will born very soon. We have also done nest searching and found more nests of our target birds than other researchers last year, so it is a positive news and sign of the success of the project. We do more than 10 sea transects every month to find the resting and feeding territories for our target birds in the Mediterranean sea and find out which bird species use the sea routes during the migration. For the next months as planned according to the project I will go to another town and volunteer in the local office of the organisation Biom and do some different kind of fieldwork in the mountains. We will look for Eurasian lynx and other mammals and birds which need to be scientifically understood better.

Tallinn Meelespea Kindergarten 2019-2020

I am Nana from Georgia and I am very happy that I am volunteering at Meelespea Lasteaed in Tallinn.

Before starting this project I never been in Estonia, but I always wanted to explore this part of Europe. Many of my friends were studied at the University of Tallinn and they were totally in love with Estonia. Based on their recommendations I decide to choose Tallinn as my next destination and one of its best kindergartens – Meelespea. I am really glad I did it. From the first days when I came here I found that Estonians are really friendly towards Georgians and many of them know Georgia really well. Volunteering at Meelespea kindergarten is a big experience, but at the same time also a big challenge for me. Kindergarten administrative and teaching staff are really high-

professionals. The environment is colorful and modern. Everybody is open for new suggestions and initiatives and I am always free and independent to do whatever I want in the frame of my work responsibilities. Daily activities are very well organized and interesting. I spend my working day with many kids, who are incredibly smart and friendly, but also each of them is an individual and specific, therefore I have to deal with each of them in a way which will meet their needs. This time I also learn how to be their friend and when necessary their teacher, who will give them advice. Recently I also notice that I am able to communicate with children in Estonian, which makes our mutual understanding even better. Every day we spend time together, they often ask me to play with them and do different activities. There are lots of things to explore together: Museum visits, Zoo, botanical garden and many more. We don’t have time for boredom!

Besides my work activities, there are lots of things to do and to explore. For example living in an international environment with new friends, new cultures and languages. Sharing amazing moments together, having fun, travelling, gaining more self-confidence and unforgettable experience.