I can’t believe that I spend 7 months in Germany. My main tasks of the project are depending on the situation. Monday I clean the chicken cage, this place is full with around 20 chickens. I clean the floor and put new hay into the small cage where they sleep. Normally Tuesday and Thursday I…
“To sum it up… I’m speechless”
Hidden in the Velebit mountain range, the Kuterevo Bear Refuge (Croatia) welcomed us – a group of 20 volunteers coming from different countries (Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Greece, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Germany and France) – for the Kuterevo Camp Coordinator Training. Through this training, our awesome trainers Đurđica Valadžija and Nevena Sićević prepared us to coordinate international…
No Border Fest
When my dear friend and colleague Sylvi told me about her plans for the holidays I was impressed by how different they were to those of other people I know. They included volunteering at an international level to promote freedom of movement for all and integration on a local level through the organization of No…
Introduction to social entrepreneurship
I am doing my project in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The title of my project is introduction to social entrepreneurship. The idea of the project is to improve the South side of Rotterdam which is one of the most disadvantaged areas in the Netherlands. The organisation that I am doing my EVS with is Lava…
A Thank you letter from a workcamp with SCI Norway
Everything has its end, also the 2017 workcamp at Jøssåsen Landsby (unfortunately). The volunteers at this workcamp have been some beautiful people! They have worked hard in rain, in wind, in sun, in shit (literally), in mud, inside, outside, on ladders, on scaffolding, on bumblebee nest (we first realised that after in total 5 stings), in loudly…
“Balkan Steps” – Alessandra story
In the last weeks we had the chance to have a glance at the hardness of the reality that the refugees here are forced to face every day and to try to understand it better. All of them keep trying the so called “Game”, a nice name to describe the never ending attempts at crossing…
“Balkan Steps” – Silvia story
“Today we can finally breathe!”, I thought, maybe too naively, this morning. The heat, until yesterday nearly unbearable, has decreased considerably, gifting us with a bit of relief. Problems, however, as I too soon discovered, have not stopped yet: the burning sun has been replaced by heavy rain and, with it, a good measure of…
Workcamps in Kosovo – a summer opportunity you cannot miss…
In July and August, GAIA, the SCI branch in Kosovo, is offering three diverse but extremely compelling workcamps. There is something for everybody: If you want to experience traditional lifestyle, escape from civilization, (no internet, electricity or running water) and explore different views on life, the universe and religion than you should join the monks…
SCI France Annual Assembly
I was invited to go to the Annual Assembly of SCI France about a week ago. I arrived in Lille, where Eline and Victor picked me up and drove me along with 5 others from SCI France in the direction of Bretagne! 7 hours later, we finally arrived! Surrounded by French, I was feeling at…
Borders separate, nature unites
GAIA Kosovo has completed the project focused on youth and volunteering programs for nature conservation in rural areas called ‘Youth for nature, volunteering and inclusion’ supported by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU. The project included 3 international activities which took place in Kosovo. A training course on qualitative and strategic programs for youth in…
Volunteering impact: from Northern Ireland to Tanzania
Tools For Solidarity (TFS) has three basic aims which I will use to talk about the organisation’s promotion of values like solidarity and inclusion and how what I do is having an impact on the lives of people in my local community and further afield. The first aim we have is providing people, communities and…
My EVS in Albania: helping instill values
The world faces a huge, often seemingly insurmountable range of problems. Whether these be economic, social or otherwise, people with the fewest resources and opportunities always bear the brunt of their impact. Values such as solidarity, interculturalism and active citizenship are of paramount importance in solving these issues, building peace, prosperity and making the future…
