New blog, for a new adventure

Dzień dobry!

Sorry for the late introduction of this blog.
Maybe you already know us, and if you don't, come by Pracownia to see us.
So what about our story. Well there is not a lot to say. We are Ben and Juliette, a Belgian and a french volunteer in the village of Sokolowsko, where we are working with the organisation Stowarzyszenie Kulturalno- Ekologiczne ”Filtrator”.

In this short article we would like to tell you more about the reason we became volunteers for this organization but also how you can be one as well. There are many different ways of volunteering and many different projects in which you can take part depending on the topics you prefer. Our adventure starts with encountering the European Volunteering Service, which is a European subsidized project, part of the Erasmus+ program.

This program has the mission to stimulate young people (17-30 years old) from all over Europe, to actively participate as a citizen. By this participation the program aims to improve personal competences and start an intercultural dialogue between participant and their new environment.
All these opportunities can be found on the EVS-database: http://europa.eu/youth/volunteering/project_en

Ben, why did you decide to come on this mission?
“After graduating I was not quite sure what direction I wanted to go: another study, maybe an internship, what line of work would I want to do ?, can I find work with this degree? Can I commit myself to a steady job ? Would I want to stay in Belgium ?… All these questions dangled in front of my eyes and made me realize that I was not ready to answer any. So I started looking for something that could give me more insight, more experience. That is when I found my first foreign volunteering opportunity, at first I went by different hosts from the WWOOF-network  (organic farming). Which was always a short commitment of at most a month, when I came back from this journey. I was longing for a longer commitment where I could participate and watch the longterm evolution of a project. This is what I found in the project “be curious for the world in Sokolowsko”, a project where foreign volunteers would be invited for the first time, to build on a network within the community. To strengthen the connections and stimulate new ones. A project that would give the oppurtinity to work and live within the community of Sokolowsko, to be part of it.”

What about you Juliette?
“I just graduated too and wasn’t really satisfied with the job I found after that ( not steady, not really interesting). In my future job, I want to connect people with their environment, with their culture so that they can protect it and pass it to the next generation. The EVS program is an opportunity for me to challenge myself, to discover new ways of growing as a person, to do things differently. By applying for this project I wanted to bring my competences in the environmental field to this organization and learn as much as possible about alternative education here. With the experience I will acquire here, I hope to go back to work in my country (or another) with more confidence and more competences. Plus I really wanted to test myself in a new environment, a new country.
Why Poland then? I have never been here before, that is why it is so interesting, I have a lot more to learn, the culture, the language, the food… everything in fact, and I am really looking forward to that.”

You can come to speak with us in english, in polish or even in french or dutch if you have any questions about us or the EVS program.  See you soon in Sokolowsko!