A handful of short-term European volunteers recently finished their one-month volunteering project in Timișoara. Below, there are some of the testimonials about their experience.
Georgia: This voluntary project has provided me with many opportunities. First of all, the opportunity to visit Romania and discover its astonishing culture. It also gave me the opportunity to learn more about other countries since I have been living in an international environment for a month. I also acquired skills in organizing activities and actively participating in the community. Besides, this project helped me develop and gain confidence. I started this as a way to challenge myself and overcome my limitations and I think I was successful!
The most important thing I have achieved this month is a wonderful international family in which everyone respects and cares for others. Spending time with them has helped me so much that I can’t even count. I’m very grateful to them and also to the old me who had the courage to apply and come here.
Yarek: This project gave me the opportunity not only to make new friends and be involved in a local community but also to learn many things about the Romanian language and culture. Working with the youth of Timișoara was a great experience for me. We learned how to plan, organize and promote events, how to break stereotypes and live in a diverse international community.
Mathilde: Coming a second time to Romania after a first volunteer experience was very challenging. But the FITT community was very friendly and the volunteers I was with were amazing! I had a lot of fun with everyone and organizing activities at the youth house was difficult but awesome. We lived and worked together as a family, and I loved that!! I got one of the best experiences in Romania!!
Pamela: Coming to Romania and volunteering at FITT is one of the best things I’ve ever done. Through this volunteer project, I learned how an NGO works, how to organize activities and how to involve youth and the whole community in those activities. Overall, it was a wonderful experience where I had an opportunity to meet new people and learn more about Romanian culture.
Pedro: I don’t think there’s much I can say about what I experienced at Casa Tineretului (Youth House) thanks to FITT. Nevertheless, I would be happy to share some things which, probably, are a bit more deeply into my international soul. Volunteering at the FITT not only made me realize how important non-formal education is but how much we need human support throughout our lives. I think all of us have been empowered by each other and have achieved things that we never expected to achieve. We have created well-organized workshops for random people in a country we hardly know. We promoted our work using different selling techniques and we made gold from what looked like silver.
Overall, we all gather in Timisoara and have found the best of us. The organization worked as a bridge and mediator among us all, but we were the ones who worked together to achieve our own goals. They gave us the river and the boat. It sounds easy, but we had to go with the flow and pedal together. If you just go with the flow, you risk crashing, if you work and put all your strength on the pedal and change the direction you are going to get to see it.
