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