Category: Youth Centres UP

It was a week of getting ready and cheering each other on.

The first wing was a preparatory group work, part and the end of last week.  Week after week, we learn how to climb the mountains of adventure, our adventure is to jump in order to look into the far future.

It was only possible to encourage each other and pay attention to the smallest details that changed the course of our work and our psychology, which is the most important thing.

The second wing was full of surprises that are getting to know and talking to local people in order to get more information which is really a way to deliver young people a youth house in their neighbourhood (Dorobantilor).

Talking to people and getting to discover more about Romania, is a wonderful thing for me personally. This was the best of every team I was in, with all humility!

The most surprising thing I found out is that my name is love in Romanian, which, by chance, was told to me by a former FITT volunteer (thank you, Eliza!).

SURPRISES STATION

The beginning of the week was full of surprises that put us to the test of self-control and prudence to continue our work and reach the next stations.

It was a surprise with some of the things that we naturally encounter and how we should deal with them.

VIEWS STATION

It was the occasion, during this week, to live with different kinds of windows like points of view. We also shared time with the team through digital games and meetings. We had to confront the digital issue because we were not prepared and used to have 100% of our interactions online with the rest of the team.

The question was how to consider these new borders when we watched outside:

Positive sense > pay more attention outside, be attentive by observing the landscape, etc.

Negative sense > considered as impassible borders or obstacles that we can not reach, overtake.

The last window was the metaphysical window of time and liberty. It is a spiritual question. The question was how to be in peace with ourselves, how to be occupied and to be active in this period of time in a very limited physical space.

ASSIMILATION STATION

What is assimilation for me?

You have more time to sit down and talk to yourself, and it was an important station to move forward in the project and think about everything that could happen and how to deal with it or in the sense of being fully prepared for obstacles.

Also, meditating on nature and observing people’s behaviour from the window, when you see people waiting for the bus and the ascender helps the other to get off, this is part of nature.

This week has been one of the most wonderful parts of the project.

Last summer I was an au pair in England for 3 months and it was my first experience abroad alone. I really enjoyed it because I met good people, I improved my English and I discovered myself. This period has changed a lot of things in my life and made me realize that I’m not sure about my studies in Science of Education and my desire to become a schoolteacher. So, I decided to do a gap year to think about what I wanted. I first decided to go to Stockholm as an au pair for 3 months and at the same time, I was looking for a volunteering project abroad. I wanted to be a volunteer to get involved in a project and be useful to people. I also read a lot of testimony of previous volunteers from all over the world, all of them said that it had changed their life and that if we have the idea to be a volunteer, we should just do it. So, I trusted them, and I wanted to live a unique experience.

I’m used to working with children, so I wanted to discover a new public like teenagers. This volunteering project in Lugoj with FITT met all my expectations because it’s in a youth centre and non-formal education. I’m happy to have found this project because I will have a lot to learn and to discover about people, Romanian culture and also live with international people. I hope this experience will enrich me personally and professionally.

When I arrived in Lugoj, I met the other volunteers of Lugoj who are my roommates and my coordinator. On the 1st day, we visited the Youth Centre in Lugoj, and I was surprised by how big it was. There are a lot of rooms, a garden, and also an office for the volunteers and the coordinator to work on projects for the centre. The building was refurbished last summer by some volunteers, but some rooms still need a little bit of work like putting the floor, heaters and painting in order to make it useful.
I am already excited by the idea to renovate and make these rooms good for the youth.

We also met the other volunteers from Timisoara, and it was nice to exchange about what they did because most of them have been here for a long time. All the people I’ve met since I’m in Romania, which are international volunteers, Romanian youth and staff, everyone is very friendly and funny. Everyone talks with everyone, I like the atmosphere and feel very comfortable. I can’t wait to live these 8 months in Lugoj and make the youth centre live with the other volunteers.

In my last year of secondary school, I decided that I wanted to go abroad and be a volunteer. As the school year got close to an end, I realize that I had made, for sure, the right decision. I felt the need to go away, to do something different. I had been living in Sintra with my family for 18 years and had been studying for almost all my life, I wanted to do more. Don’t get me wrong, I had loads of fun, I always had the privilege of trying different things. With my family and in scouts, I have always been motivated to do bigger things and pushed out of my comfort zone. Still, I needed a bigger challenge, something more permanent, something that would really impact me in a different way.

So, I started applying to ESC projects. I applied for very different projects, I wanted to help people to make a difference. I applied for projects with youth, migrants, women, I really wanted to be in a project where I could experience different social dynamics. I wanted to meet new people, different realities and interact with them. After some time applying (which really tested my patience), I found this project in Romania that looked very cool. I hadn’t applied to any Romanian projects yet, but the project was exactly what I had been looking for: one where I could get to know different people, where I could develop different activities and turn my ideas into reality.

I applied to that project and now here I am. Lugoj is very different from where I lived, it’s smaller, it’s very cold. Almost everything here is quite different, that’s what makes this a bit scary, but that’s also what makes it so exciting. I have new people, a new city and a new country to discover and explore! I think the next seven months will be very challenging, and intense, but mostly I hope they are fun, happy and memorable ones. I’m really excited to meet everyone and start to implement ideas, create events. I’m glad that I can, with Pauline, Diana and Silviu, make Lugoj a better place for young people and make sure that in the youth centre they have fun, they feel safe and comfortable and that it is a place where we can all learn.

The road to Lugoj has had its twists and turns and I’m sure my stay here will be full of them but, mostly, I feel so lucky and grateful that I get to be here and have this experience!

On my way to my first destination outside Morocco, It’s not easy to leave my beautiful country for a long time but Romania deserves it, especially for a volunteer project.

Can you imagine?

One of the most important stops was getting to know each other and discovering more about the organization FITT as well as Timisoara while gaining awareness of the meaning of teamwork in all its dimensions.

I was, am and will be proud to be part of the organization.

From the first week, I became aware of the importance of social activities to homogenize a group that will work in the long and short term.

We witnessed the work of ex-short-term volunteers on previously restored centres along with the long-term volunteers, who gave us their input from their previous experience restoring those centres.

The actual station is for activating the responsibilities of each person who likes to get up and take an adventure.

Show up and be ready for a station full of teamwork!

A new breath, a new stage with good energy.

I arrived in Lugoj about a week and a half ago to start the Youth Centres Up 2 project with FITT, and that’s how I got involved. Volunteering has always been one of my interests and I could never find anything in the area where I lived. When I found out about ESC and all the international projects I could get involved in, I just knew I had to do it.

But then the pandemic and the fear of Covid-19 came, so I abandoned the idea for a while until I embarked on a whole new adventure: a human rights internship in Geneva, which was probably all I wanted. The experience itself was amazing, but I realized that this was not exactly the path I wanted to take. I want to be active in helping people, building better communities, creating safe spaces, and still working in the field of human rights. In the same year (2021) I got the chance to do a training course in Malta under Erasmus+, another life-changing experience. This opened the doors to youth work for me to do all that I want to do and be happy at the same time.

Getting to Lugoj

Maybe I should not say this, but I only applied for this project, I did not want any other. I saw it, I liked it and I applied without thinking twice about it, I did not need to. I believe that we have to take every chance to do what makes us happy and if we feel that something is the right thing to do, we just have to do it, and if it’s a mistake, we just learn a lesson from it.

After I passed the interview and got the acceptance letter, it became a real thing that I did. I was nervous and excited because there is always that nagging fear of not being good enough or making too many mistakes, not being able to integrate or not making friends in a new country. But that soon subsided, and I was just happy to move to Lugoj and get the chance to find my way and myself.

Arriving in Romania was amazing. I come from an area where it does not snow, and seeing everything white was just beautiful. Meeting the other volunteers and staff from Lugoj and Timisoara was absolutely fantastic. Everyone is so friendly and makes you feel like you have known them for years. It’s like a warm hug when you do not know what to expect. I cannot wait to see where this trip will take me!

On the 14th of December, the Youth Centre of Dacia exchanged the noise of construction work, with the sound of a guitar and a beautiful voice. Helped by the youth workers from FITT, the place changed its atmosphere. The opening was on! A little buffet, a workshop area, a lot of welcoming puff, and some thankful speeches.

The latest details were made the same day: to embellish the place and put the furniture. What a relief for us to see that big day coming! We were now able to say: we did it! The challenge of renovating a formerly industrial place to a welcoming one in a month is completed. Time was definitely our worst enemy here. But in the end, we achieved to make the list of the Youth Centres growing.

Now, the association CoderDojo will make it its own. This building provides them with a place for their activities as a “general quarter”. Until 2023, as the year of Timișoara European Capital of Culture, other Youth Centres will rise with FITT and hopefully provide local associations places for their work and activities.

2022 will then be a year of hard work for the FITT team. Months after months, the experience will be improved. Other volunteers will come and join this enriching movement. This volunteering was for me a unique, multicultural and most of all intense experience. Full of dust but also full of friendships. And I wish the next ones to enjoy it as much as I did.

Here we are on our way to renovating the next Youth Center for the YCUP2 project. For a month, we will make our best to design a welcoming place for the youngsters around the Dacia market.  

But this project is not only about renovating, this is also about building a team, our team.  

Some of us are here for a long-term experience, some for a short term. Some also were already here last month and decided to stay longer to continue this experience. All of us are coming from different countries, have different backgrounds and reasons to be here. Eighteen volunteers will work, live, eat together for the next weeks.  

The first step is then to get to know each other and build a bond between us in a respectful and open-minded space. To do so, every member of the team took part in activities and games to learn about solidarity and cooperation. We shared here a bunch of meaningful and funny moments. 

And now it’s time to get our hands dirty. The former heating space is huge and has a lot of potential thanks to the big windows and the high ceiling. To reveal it, a lot of work needs to be done and organized within the next weeks.  

– Cleaning and recycling the furniture; 

– Making a welcoming facade and entrance; 

– Cleaning the outside areas; 

– Cleaning and repairing the bathroom; 

– Scrapping and repairing the walls (inside and outside); 

– Levelling the floor; 

– Painting the walls. 

In this cloud full of dust, our work is changing the place hours after hours. Inside and outside are both stormed by our hands. Everyone finds his way to participate in the team effort. To make things easier we are divided into three teams (Boom, Shaka, Laka). Each one has a team leader with who we can discuss our tasks.  

Sharing is the watchword: advice on how to do the work, ideas, how to organize the effort. But also, and not the least, to hold the ladder for another to safely make a change. All this proves that we need each other competencies and energy to actually do something. And it is exciting to wonder what we will be able to achieve in such a short time until the opening event on the 11th of December.

The fourth week began as the third had ended: with a lot of paint. Walls turned yellow, ladders were
carried around and brushes were dipped into buckets until even the last corner of the building had
the colour of our imagination. A little later, we slowly reached a point where things we hadn’t cared
about before suddenly became relevant. That means, among other things, that we cleaned the
bathroom, which was full of paint, went hunting for tape remnants and tried to remove dirt and
paint from the floor. At the same time, we were able to give the youth centre more character by
means of a sofa that had been donated to us, a carpet and other furniture. In this way, we drove the
spirit of the construction work out of the building.

The opening followed. We had prepared the neighbourhood for this beforehand by putting up posters
in the streets with invitations to it. Walking around in clean clothes and without paint or dust in our
hair in the spaces we had spent weeks tinkering with was strange, of course, but added mostly to the
sense of closure. The opening included games, live music, speeches and food, as well as visiting from
the neighbourhood, which made our work seem more relevant than ever.

While perhaps not everything went perfectly and still isn’t perfect, we did our best for a month, and
certainly laid the groundwork for a place for the neighbourhood’s youth that now only needs to be put
to good use. In conclusion, all we can say is that we can look back with pride and wish the next 9
teams an equally beautiful and successful time!

We have been working now directly and indirectly on the realisation of a youth centre for three weeks. The tasks of the second week often coincided with those of the first. In concrete terms, this means that we still mainly scraped and sealed walls and removed graffiti to prepare them to be painted. At the same time, we repaired and painted furniture.

So we created a foundation on which we could build the youth centre. While the tasks themselves resembled each other, it changed how we dealt with them and their surroundings; so as we wall-scratched our way through the indoor and outdoor spaces, we became more routinised, more attuned as a team, discovering strengths and learning how to use them. We scratched problems free, then scratched our heads while swearing, but always found solutions in the end.

From the third week on, everything started to come together relatively suddenly. Within a day, a rather drab -but of course excellently prepared- facade became a colourful one, its appearance resembling that of a Rubix cube. Over the course of the week, this wave of colour continued to spill through the interiors and exteriors: we painted walls, ceilings, window frames, doors, and now and then accidentally floors and ourselves in all the colours the rainbow has to offer. At the same time, a carpet of tiles spread in one of the rooms, turning some of us into true experts in the field of tiling.

This change was also noticed by the community. Suddenly we were no longer perceived as the gang that made a shabby building even uglier than it already was, but as the ones trying to change something for the better. Our work was appreciated more than ever, with more and more residents stopping to comment on our work and ask questions.

In the past two weeks, we also continued to take time every day to actively reach out to the community. In addition to the usual engaging people by asking questions, we added active promotion by distributing flyers. This was supplemented by the help that the community offered us. This included local volunteers helping us with crafts and donating furniture for the youth centre. This kind of response was very motivating and encouraged us to continue to do our best every day at the youth centre.

At the end of the third week, we are now close to the completion of the youth centre. We have now reached a point where a coherent picture emerges from a construction site and can hardly wait to finally complete the project and declare the youth centre opened!