Impresiile voluntarilor din cadrul proiectului Building Solidarity - Bart van den Brink

Experiențele noi ne provoacă, ne aduc multe bucurii, prietenii și lecții de viață. În perioada septembrie 2019 - iulie 2020, 7 tineri entuziaști din țară și străinătate au făcut parte din echipa Green School, în cadrul proiectului Building Solidarity, un proiect finanțat de Corpul European de Solidaritate și implementat de Green School și Centrul de Voluntariat Cluj-Napoca.

La final de proiect am întrebat voluntarii care sunt gândurile pe care le iau cu ei în noile aventuri. Fiecare dintre ei a trăit diferit această perioadă, unii au fost alături de noi toată perioada proiectului, alții au venit mai târziu.

În următoarea perioadă veți putea citi testimonialele lor., astăzi este rândul lui Bart.

1. What did you do in your ESC project?
In my ESC project, which was called Building Solidarity, I volunteered at an elementary school called Green School, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. We did this with a group of 5 volunteers (2 romanian, 1 Bulgarian, 1 Italian and me from the Netherlands). Our project initially was about educating the kids of the school in the subjects of peace education, global education, sustainable development and human rights. Next to this we also did a lot of playing games and doing overall fun activities. We were supposed to do this in the school of course, but after two weeks of doing the regular project we had to work from home because of the Corona quarantine. From home we did daily activities with the kids on zoom, varying from playing online games, to sports, to science experiments. 
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2.     What motivated you to do an ESC project?
I was motivated to do an ESC project in the first place to work in a country I didn’t know in order to discover it during my gap year. I also wanted to meet new people from abroad and this seemed like a good opportunity.

3.     Why did you choose this specific project?
Building Solidarity looked almost perfect to me. I like to educate children, even more when it comes to educating about sustainability which is my field of study and green school offered me this opportunity (although it didn’t really turn out the way I wanted because of Corona). Apart from the work, Cluj-Napoca seemed like a great place to do this kind of project. It is a buzzing city with a lot of young people in a country I didn’t know before with much to explore in its surroundings. 

4.     What did you learn?
From the work I did I learned that teaching young children takes some more patience than the older kids do, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. In these times I also learned new things like playing guitar and sewing (we made face masks with our volunteering organisation for the less privileged) that I liked more than I expected. I also learned more about myself. I learned to listen more to myself and that it is okay to give myself the time I need when I encounter something negative. 

5.     What was your biggest challenge and what did you enjoy most during your project?
The biggest challenge was staying inside most of the time during quarantine without a lot of distraction. The thing I enjoyed the most during the project were the people I worked and lived with, since we always made the most of it even though the situation was tough. 

6.     What would you tell someone who is about to do an ESC project, wherever that is?
Just go for it. Don’t have too many expectations and do whatever you like the most in your new country. And even when it doesn’t always go as planned, know that there will always be something positive to take from this experience. Also, try to get involved with the local culture as much as possible. 

Urmăriți-ne și citiți și ce spun colegii lui Bart.