Stefania is reporting her first experiences from Lithuania, as EVS volunteer !

Stefania is reporting her first experiences from Lithuania, as EVS volunteer !

 MY JOB:

"I am working in the Public Library - Klaipeda in different departments. I have different kind of work to do every week. I am working at the book lending department, giving and getting back books, scanning, putting codes and make registrations. Also, I work in the children’s department, where I have contact with children from 5-9 years old, and I prepare for them different topics to discuss in English, we draw together and we read books…Also, I work for the covers or any other kind of booklets the library may need... or I help librarians to fix the old books in the book storage department...once a week, I use to go  to hang posters concerning events of the library, at coffee houses that youth use to go and at universities in the cities....and sometimes, I provide my help to the music department where the staff also help me practice my language skills.."

However, the first month was not easy for Stefania. 

She reports : “ I had to find on my own a new apartment and then to get the “ok” by the hosting and coordinating organization to move … I had to buy by myself all the equipment for the house needed, except from bed and chairs, that the hosting organization brought for me... the first month was stressful. At least, now, after almost 2 months I live in good condition. I have my own room and a bed. Kitchen and bathroom is ok. I can cook and live in healthy conditions”..

Stefania took part in the on arrival training: “It took place at a nice training centre, situated in a small village, in the nature … It was very interesting to meet the trainers (from other organization), they were nice people, we had a lot of workshops and games that opened our minds and help us set our goals… We also had a long day hiking in the nature, transformed in a non formal education activity.

Some of the people , the most “risky” dive into the cold lake..and we cooked 23 people together some Lithuanian “snacks” …

 

Nice team, nice topics, nice experience.

So far, Stefania has travelled around, for visiting one of our volunteers, being in Poland at that time:  

 “Before our departure, I had been in contact with Leonidas who was going to do his EVS in Poland..and I decided to visit him there. I stayed over 2 nights and we had really good time. I met some of his house mates..we hang around the city, in the parks, in museums, and I had the chance to taste some polish dishes.

 "I am preparing my new trips.."

                          ... and it is just the beginning for Stefania!!

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

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

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!"

Τree planting activity at "Antonis Tritsis" park!

Last February, the seminar for ex-EVS volunteers took place in Athens. The seminar coincided with the program "Στο βάθος...ΚΗΠΟΣ!" ΜΚΟ "ΕΔΡΑ", where I'm working. I informed our trainer about the program and he happily accepted the proposal and he with the rest of the volunteers participated in it. So for half a day the seminar moved from the centre of Athens and Omonoia Square to the metropolitan park "Antonis Tritsis", where volunteers helped in a tree planting activity in the  forest area of the park. In the activity volunteers from "Φίλοι του Πάρκου" group also took part as well as children from the Greek Red Cross with some volunteers from NGO "EDRA". 

Katerina, an ex-EVS volunteer, writes:

Once a volunteer, always a volunteer.

Meeting other volunteers is always a fantastic experience which always fills you with energy and new ideas. But once you come again face to face with your volunteer self it is impossible not to proceed in a new voluntary action. So, when Stella informed the participants of the EVS annual event reunion about the “Parko Tritsi Project” it was sure that we would participate. And it was awesome! We, kids and other volunteers of EDRA managed in no time to plant many trees, take care of others and learn things about gardening that we had never heard before. Such actions, beyond their social impact, fill you with energy and positive feelings. Keep going EDRA!

Giota, an ex-EVS volunteer, writes:
Athens, February 2013 
With only just a few days back to Greece, having fresh in my mind my 8-month EVS experience in Spain and trying to get used to the old reality, I got together with other ex EVS volunteers in Athens for the Ex EVS Annual Event. All the team members appreciated and responded to the great idea that Stella had for our group to join the tree planting activity to the Environmental Awareness Park “Antonis Tritsis”. So we transferred the seminar activities from the typical hotel conference room to this amazing urban -unlike others- park. We enjoyed the wonderful Sunday morning, got to know new and cool things about trees and plants, took positive action for the environment and made new and interesting friends with the other volunteers. “The garden in the background” surely did fill me with positive energy!

Anastasia, an ex-EVS volunteer, writes: 
I’m being a volunteer for many years! There are many reasons to be a volunteer; I don’t remember why I started but I’m happy that I did it! There are a lot of projects: for one day or more, for some hours or even months! You can start from something that doesn't take a lot of time, so I thought EDRA was the perfect place to start as it has many projects!!! I took part in a small project for few hours in the park "Antonis Tritsis". The project was about planting trees and takes care of others. If you are a volunteer you can surely learn many things! Thank you EDRA for that experience as I learned a lot about trees and I’m happy that I helped and participated in this activity.

Eirini, an ex-EVS volunteer, writes:
We had our annual meeting in Athens. We are Greek volunteers who worked voluntarily in different European countries (European Voluntary Service). In this meeting we discussed about our experiences abroad and the opportunities that non typical learning gave us. The meeting became much more creative and interesting, when we visited Stella (former EVS volunteer) in the environmental park 'Antonis Tritsis', where she was working. Stella was working there as an agricultural scientist until this day.Visiting the park was part of our training. Stella is working with little children, in order to create a vegetable garden and to make a plantation (pine trees e.t.c.). So did we!! We all gathered there in a great sunny Sunday! We met the children and some other volunteers, who were taking care of the park and participated in this wonderful activity. With some guidance by Stella, we started using the planting tools and we digged our first hole in the ground! We then planted our roots and covered them with soil. It was so much fun!
We were sweating, but it was worth it! Thanks to Stella's suggestion of visiting the park, we got to know some basic ways of planting trees, we met other people and we enjoyed the company of the children involved. This was a great experience and I wish we could repeat it soon. This activity promoted the importance of human cooperation, the need for environmental awareness and the ideals of volunteering.

Stella Ioannou

EVS in EDRA!

EVS in Athens in Times of Crisis

When I was looking for an EVS program to participate in, I wasn’t looking for a specific country or a specific city. My decision was based on the program’s description itself and the idea behind the certain experience. However, my EVS experience happens to take place in Athens, Greece.

I didn’t know what to expect of this city, I had never been to Greece in my life before.

Now that I have already spent almost five months here, I can say that going to Athens was the best thing that could have happened to me. Not only is Greece a beautiful country with unique landscapes, beautiful islands, very nice weather conditions and Athens a very lively city which is offering so many events, festivals, concerts and has an appealing bar scene, but it is also a country which is deep into a process of changing and finding its identity as a nation and as a part of Europe. Being here has taught me so much about what it means to be European, what it means to live in times of crisis and fear, frustration and hope. I have met people who were/are very open for discussions, interaction and exchanges of opinions; I have also made “bad” experiences with very closed and narrow-minded people.

To be in Greece also means to perceive the whole situation from a different angle, to get another or, at least, a broadened view on the incidences.

I feel way more European and am also able to define my nationality and identity with new aspects.

Besides all of this, the work in my EVS itself is wonderful and gives me way more than I have to give. I work with people who suffer from mental retardation or psychological problems. These people who are often kept away from public have so much to give to society and demand so little. I enjoy going to work every day and will miss it once I will have to go back to my country.

In summer, I also had the chance to visit other places in Greece. Together with friends I made here I have visited Volos and surrounding area, the temple of Sounio, we have also travelled Crete by car which was by far the most impressive journey I have ever made. We were greeted and welcomed by all the people we met during these 10 special days. Amazing beaches, a stunning valley, many goats and a lot of Raki accompanied us on this trip.

EVS is a huge chance for everyone who wants to experience the spirit of Europe!

Cora