Tag: ESC experince

We are in the last week and everyone is active. The team is working hard to accomplishing the finishing part of the Building Renovation. The finishing part of the youth centre includes painting the walls, decoration of inside walls, cleaning all the floors and gardens and fixing the scratched and painted windows. The FITT team also helped us in the last week and some more friends joined to finish the renovation work in time. Even more admirable is the work of local volunteers with coordinators till the end of the day. Our friends showed their dedication, solidarity and worked hard for more than 12 hours on the last day before arranging the opening ceremony day.

Let’s read some testimonies from our volunteers’ experiences:

I was free in the summer and my father arranged for me to join the solidarity program. I really like to work with an international community. I find the work and everyone interesting and I like the schedule – it’s a good balance of work and rest and I find that mostly the minds of the youth are same irrespective of their culture and location. (Radu Jidovin, volunteer from the local community)

The last week was full of activeness and integration, it was the week of achievement. All the members were really working hard to contribute on their behalf to the project. On the last day, at the opening ceremony, I felt proud of myself and my whole volunteering team for their contribution. We worked, learned from each other and enjoyed ourselves together. (Hussein Abdo, Iraq)

In the last week, we made efforts with full zeal and zest to finish the work. The FITT team also helped us and that was encouraging to me and my friends. We painted the interior and exterior of the walls, cleaned the floors and arranged the whole centre for the first ceremony program. It was a great experience for me. I made new friends and I find the program interesting to learn a lot about social life. (Muhammad Usman, Pakistan)

The last week of work finished with the inauguration of the youth centre. Here are some captures of the results of our work:

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You can find out more about the project on its website.

Lately, I have been thinking many times about how I want my future to be. Although things have changed a lot since the last time we could go out without a mask, and we did not have a curfew, life goes on, and we have to adapt to new circumstances.

For this reason, after finishing my university studies last year and realizing that my professional career could not start as I had planned, I decided that volunteering in Europe was the best option. I have always wanted to do volunteering, and due to lack of time and other excuses, I have postponed many times. 

The last months have not been easy for anyone, we have had to learn how to deal with certain challenging situations with fear and uncertainty, and we have witnessed how our freedom was reduced day by day.  However, when in January I proposed to my friend Esther to apply to ESC, we did not doubt it. “It is now or never,” we thought.

Surprisingly for us, the whole selection process was pretty quick, and in a month and a half, we were getting ready to come to Romania. I know we are so lucky to have the chance to live this experience together. We are friends since we were just three years old. I think, Romania is a beautiful country, which is sometimes so underrated, and getting involved in a valuable project like Youth Centres Up 2 is a great chance. 

Besides those mentioned above and after my Erasmus in Finland in 2015, which was an incredible experience that opened my mind incredibly, I discovered the European Solidarity Corps. That’s when I thought that any opportunity to live abroad gives you a priceless experience that takes you out of your comfort zone and forces you somehow to improve yourself every day. Hence, one way or another, we feel like we should make the most out of this adventure. 

In this case, the level of responsibility is high, but we have to commit to our decisions. If not, progress will never happen. Now we need to work side-by-side with other young people on a joint project that will unite us, with which we will explore new things, and learn a lot. Undoubtedly, although challenging situations will come, this experience will enrich us in many aspects. 

Finally, after a few months here in Timisoara, I feel comfortable, proud of the decision I have made, and welcomed by a group of extraordinary people.

Apart from that, I realize that whenever we think we know the future, even for a second, it changes. Sometimes it changes quickly and completely, and we are left only with the choice of what to do next. We can choose to be afraid of it, to stand there, trembling, not moving, assuming the worst that can happen, or we can choose to go on with the best possible attitude. 

In the end, I think it is just about taking a step forward into the unknown and assume it will be brilliant. 

I remember stepping into that huge building, Casa Tineretului. My baggage was heavy and so were my feelings, faced with the fact that I did it, I came back. It looked like nothing has changed. Dimmed lights were illuminating the walls, the echo of my steps was filling the space and the memories began to return in bursts. 

Happiness was mingled with anticipation and I stood in front of my decision, wondering if it was right. 

One year later I got my answer… 

There is no proper way to sit down and write about how this year felt for us, neither about what we have learned or what we have not. After all, it is still too early to define the range of our prospect to emerge all the gained knowledge, isn’t it? But at least I can try.  

What matters is what we all have inside of us. The change that came and will follow us back home. In the last days we could only wipe our tears and let the family go, all the members at their own side. That is life, that is what you learn. We learned to overthrow the differences that we, just a couple of months before, were holding on so tight. We recognize the glare in all the constructive discussions, or how we like to call them, fights. If this one year would become two, and we would have one more chance to be here and do what we do, we would obey the decision to stay united and loved. But it is just one year. And transience overtook us faster than we expected. 

Things to appreciate

Thereafter, we will learn to appreciate the moments, the big ones and the ones that at first sight seemed small, to give them the value that they deserve. The difference between them is deceiving. We will learn about the stories coming from our youth centers, and how the work continued many years after. The young people will have a shelter and a safe space to discover others and themselves. The same way how we did while bewildered going to organize public speech on the topic of human rights. The yearning feeling of going back and getting just one more slice of that cake made out of knowledge will consume us, and we will learn that the decision was right.  

Details are important, mrut jan. Smells, aromas, and side notes that you leave in the kitchen. But there will always be some malaka, which will not know if he left an empty glass on the table. And it’s possible that that glass was filled with jin tonic and a lot of ice. The ambulance could pass next to your window each time when you’re speaking on the phone, and people will not understand how. And sometimes you will hear someone singing in the living room, or while showering.

From across the street of Aries 19, late at night, when the whole Timisoara is sleeping, you could see one or two lights still being on. And there were some shadows on the curtain. These shadows have their dreams, oddly they keep them sometimes, but many times they share them. Those shadows would often be late from a common meeting and will need only bi dakka bi dakka to join. They laugh. A lot. And cry. And then laugh again because there was always a hug and a bad joke to suppress the silence.  

But believe me, no, really, believe me, all this will matter to you only when it’s time to leave.  

It was five in the morning when I arrived after 6 months. I was feeling that I am at home, I was feeling that all the memories that I have left would come back again.  

This year will always stay with me. It was something that had both extremely good and extremely bad days, but as I am always saying, we should realize the positive side of the coin. Every day of my life in Timisoara I got something new, something beautiful and meaningful. 

I am taking with me for my life this whole year and this amazing experience that gave me things that I will be grateful for in my future.

In summer ’19 I got involved in a great adventure. I was among a hundred volunteers from different parts around the world who came to Timisoara with only one purpose. We built 5 youth centres in 5 neighbourhoods of the city, in order to help the local community of young people. To be honest, I was not very familiar with volunteering programmes in Europe and just by a lucky sequence of events, I discovered for myself a new world. We worked hard that summer and left with the feeling of fulfilment, satisfaction and hope that these spaces will become centres of culture, creativity and innovation in this small, but beautiful and historically important Romanian city. 

The Change

When FITT opened the call, I was really excited to come back and actually be the one to see The Change in the community. I was happy to be accepted and could not wait to start working in my Centrul de Tineret Aradului. I imagined the upcoming year to be full of great concerts, cozy gatherings, and many other kinds of events. I imagined a lot of things, but the reality turned out to be in its own way. 

Right after signing the volunteering agreements, the global pandemic took over and put us in lockdown for two months. It was a great time for distant learning and self-development, as well as for planning the activities of the project. 

However, it was hard to plan anything because the situation was so unclear and the air was literally filled with fears and anxiety. 

Cleaning and renovation

In May, Romania entered the state of alert and we were allowed to finally go out and start working in the youth centre. Complete abandonment of the building resulted in so much dirt, dust, and destruction, that me and my Armenian partner Arus, needed about two months to make the youth centre look decent.  

Besides all the cleaning/renovating, me and my working partner were trying to spread awareness of our project, in order to get the acknowledgement and receive help from the locals. We recruited many local volunteers among teenagers and students in the community. We tried to involve them in the organisation of the youth centre as much as possible, but most of them disappeared, due to both the pandemic and their personal reasons. Generally speaking, the local community was not very active and receptive towards the youth centre. 

Emilia and Alice

However, two local girls, Emilia and Alice, have really put their hearts into the project. Thanks to them, I feel that my presence in Timisoara had meaning and purpose. These girls initiated two amazing projects (Art Club and Eco Club) on the base of the Aradului youth centre. They brought life into the youth centre and invited their friends. This way we managed to get at least some trust in the neighbourhood. Moreover, these two girls will take care of the youth centre after our projects ends. 

It is good to leave something important and close to your heart with a complete assurance that all these efforts will not be abandoned and forgotten. 

Even though many kinds of socialization were restricted, me and my working partner managed to get to know many people and get involved in different projects with a number of local NGOs and private companies. We have managed to get the awareness of people in the neighbourhood and had a lot of help from them in organizing the activities. Later, when all events in physical space got forbidden again, they helped us create online projects, which had relatively low participation, but otherwise, went awesome. 

Final thoughts

To be honest, I have been thinking a lot about the project and the purpose of it. We spent most of the time at home, actively coming to the youth centre only in summer. 

Did we accomplish our mission, which is “to set the tempo” for cultural life in the neighborhoods? Is it possible to do so when human connection is forbidden?  

I do not have a clear answer to this question even now. What I know for sure, is that we did make a change. Maybe not in the neighborhoods, but in the people, who were helping us and participating in our activities. When I hear words of gratitude and appreciation (and that did happen quite a few times), my heart is filled with meaning and purpose. 

After all, despite all challenges and disappointments, I know that the decision to come here was actually the best possible option. I feel grateful for myself and all people around me for this experience. Now it is time to move on and explore life. However, volunteering will always have its special place in my mind and heart.