Sunday 16 February 2014

EVS in EDRA!!

Living in Greece

When I first knew about this type of project I was from the first second interested in being part of, mostly when I had always the conviction that I would not die without doing voluntary service and that is how EDRA and Athens happen in my life.
I applied to the project and, for some months, I thought that I would not be selected among all other candidates because I didn’t had anything that I would consider outstanding and a “must have” in this type of experience. I had, for sure, a huge willing to help, to know more, to meet new people, to discover a different country and a different language. Months later, I got the e-mail, I was selected and I was going to Athens. Here I am, 5 months already, more than half of my project time, and I can’t imagine how I will say goodbye to my life in Athens.

My project is related with my academic studies, I have been working with mentally disabled people who live in a boarding house and were taught the daily basis activities, such as preparing the lunch time settling the tables for the meals. In this house they have also a team of professionals who take care of their needs. The staff is composed my nurses, psychologists and therapists. They have internal activities such as music therapy and external activities, like going out for coffee, go bowling, and events that happen here in Athens, like the Christmas Factory in December.
My biggest lesson with this project so far is that, for this people with this kind of disabilities that are normally excluded because they need so much from us, for me, a foreign girl that didn’t even knew how to say “how are you?”, all they need is a smile, a friendly face and an open mind. A smile really can make a difference and it’s, for sure, the most efficient language.  Because although most of them don’t understand why you don’t know how to speak, they understand that you are there to help them, to be with them not to harm them. And I confess, some days a kiss or a hug from one of them make my day. They notice you, by who you really are, and how you act, not anything else.
In this time that I am here, I met a lot of people that without this I would never have met. I met my roommate, Miriam, that I consider as a sister to me, a person that I could not exclude, and I wouldn’t do it, in any of my adventures in Greece.

I learned how to deal with some difficulties that I would not have to deal if I was in my country, like the language, for me the hardest struggle to deal with in my life as a volunteer in a foreign country, like being away from my family and friends and missing them so much.
I learn how to deal with that… I bought a ticket to Portugal and did a Christmas surprise to my family and friends :)
With the language, well, as the Greeks say “σιγά, σιγά” (sigá,sigá) which means “slowly, slowly” and we can managed it, EDRA provides us a excellent teacher that has a lot of patience to teach us this wonderful language.
And besides it all, you still have time to travel and discover Greece as much as you can. Even staying in Athens, you have a lot to see, explore and discover its mysteries… but I will tell you something, go around the touristic sites, discover Athens on your own, grab a map and start by areas, walk in the streets, feel the Athens atmosphere, and enjoy you experience “Athenstyle”, I would not change this experience for anything in this world!



Joana Xavier

Saturday 15 February 2014

Miriam, an EVS volunteer in EDRA explains to us "Why you should be an EVS volunteer?"



Why you should be an EVS volunteer? 



ΓΕΙΑ!



I would like to share some feelings with you about why you should live this experience. To be an EVS volunteer is to have an opportunity to improve yourself. You can live your own life, to be really you and if you don´t know how you are…you will know in the end of your project!

It´s true that is not everything easy, some moments you miss your “real life” because you know how is your life in your country and that it is easier to communicate in your mother language when you are speaking about feelings or important things. However, it´s true that in one point you forget all these things and your EVS life became your “real life” and I think that in the end of my project I will miss this. I´ll miss my flat mates, I´ll miss our users, the staffs, our GREAT mentor, our sweet Greek teacher, the others volunteers, in general the life in Athens…

The most common things that you can live if you´ll be a new volunteer can be…

…To smile a lot, to know new people that in a short time they become your small family, to improve your English, to learn Greek, to improve your skills and aptitudes, to travel, to reject stereotypes of a culture, sometimes give the lie to, to value all the things that you have…

If you want to live a new experience like this…you are welcome to EDRA!


Miriam Aragon Mendez

Thursday 13 February 2014

EVS in EDRA !!

Petra is the new EVS volunteer in K.S.D.E.O. EDRA and she gives us her first impressions!

"I arrived in Athens one month ago and I feel in home here! I like the cheese, olive oil and the Greek bread with seeds, I like the tradition of drinking coffee for long hours, I like the small streets and the monuments, and I like the music and the Greek accent. I just don't like the crazy way that people drive here and the bad habit of smoking everywhere. About my project, I work daily with people with mental disabilities what is for me a very rewarding challenge. ΕΔΡΑ, the organization where I do EVS, is one of the Greek organizations that does an excellence work with these people. My project is exceeding my expectations because in addition to promoting the cognitive and motor development of these people, I can do food education. Educational materials, cook workshops and educational games for kids are some of the activities of my personal project in ΕΔΡΑ. I am loving this experience!"





Tuesday 11 February 2014

Η Βούλα μιλάει για την εμπειρία της στην Ισπανία !!!

Γεια σας! 

Είμαι η Βούλα, είμαι 27 χρόνών και είμαι από τη Θεσσαλονίκη. Είμαι εθελόντρια στην Μαδρίτη, σε ένα από τα δημόσια πανεπιστήμιά της, σε μια οργάνωση που ασχολείται με φοιτητές με νοητική καθυστέρηση και ουσιαστικά παρέχω την βοήθεια μου στην διεξαγωγή των μαθημάτων τους. Ταυτόχρονα παίρνω μέρος σε δημιουργικές δραστηριότητες που κάνουμε με ηλικιωμένους σε έναν οίκο ευγηρίας. 




Μου μίλησαν για το EVS όταν ακόμα ήμουν φοιτητρια και από τότε πάντα το είχα στο μυαλό μου γιατί η ιδέα μου τράβηξε πολύ το ενδιαφέρον. Τελειώνοντας τις σπουδές μου γενικά δούλευα οπότε ήταν δύσκολο για μένα να φύγω από την Ελλάδα παρόλο που ήθελα να γνωρίσω καινούργια μέρη, καινούργιες κουλτούρες, καινούργιους ανθρώπους και γενικά να ζήσω ένα χρονικό διάστημα σε μια χώρα που δεν ήταν ελληνόφωνη. Έτσι, κάποια στιγμή αργότερα έμεινα χωρίς δουλειά και πια είχα τον χρόνο να συμμετάσχω σε ένα EVS. Η απόφαση δεν ήταν καθόλου δύσκολη, ήθελα να ρισκάρω γιατί πίστευα πολύ στον εαυτό μου. Τo EVS ήταν η καλύτερη ευκαιρία που μπορούσε να μου δοθεί έστω και αν στην αρχή του προγράμματος συνάντησα δυσκολίες. 
Είμαι στην Μαδρίτη εδώ και 4,5 μήνες και ζω στιγμές που δεν ξανάζησα ποτέ, κάνω πράγματα που δεν ξανάκανα, νιώθω ότι προσφέρω και γι αυτό νιώθω χρήσιμη, κάθε μέρα μαθαίνω τόσα πολλά που στο Πανεπιστήμιο ποτέ δεν διδάχτηκα, γνωρίζω καλύτερα τον εαυτό μου. Ζω, προσφέρω, δημιουργώ. Εσωτερικά νιώθω ότι γίνομαι καλύτερη και το σημαντικότερο, πλέον έχω αυτοπεποίθηση όταν μιλάω και λέω την άποψή μου χωρίς να φοβάμαι. Είναι τόσα πολλά που δεν μπορώ να περιγράψω σε λίγες γραμμές. Το EVS είναι ευκαιρία ζωής, γιατί απλά ζεις βιώματα που σ' αλλάζουν κυριολεκτικά :)





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