Every day the office of POLITES organization wakes up happy and energized. That September morning two former EVS volunteers from Germany, Sabine and Julian, have visited us. Although they participated in the project four years ago, every now and then they enjoy coming back to Szczecin. We had a very nice conversation with them about their previous EVS experience.
Where did you volunteer and what were your main responsibilities?
Sabine: We volunteered at Gymnasium #34 and we were preparing German lessons and workshops about German culture. We also helped with school projects.
Julian: Yeah, I think that is it. Also, we worked at some projects here in POLITES, some local volunteering projects like marathon or German lessons.
Was it difficult to introduce elements of non-formal education in a formal institution?
Sabine: Well, we tried to be creative with our lessons. For example, when we did a German lesson, we played games to remember words. So, we brought stuff from our kitchen, like a plate and a fork and then we asked what it was in German.
Julian: I think it was not easy for all the teachers to cooperate with us because not everybody could work with informal education in their lessons. But with the teachers we worked together it worked quite good. They gave us some freedom and in this free time we could do some workshops or presentations.
Do you mind sharing the most memorable moment of your volunteering experience?
Julian: For me it was when I arrived here. I was realizing that now I was independent, I moved out of my parents’ home, I had to live by myself, be in another country. I think the arrival here, in Szczecin, was my most memorable moment.
Sabine: There are a lot of them. But one that comes to mind was in the last few weeks. We had the marathon and we had to give the medals to the people who arrived. So, there were people who ran 42 kilometers and then there was us giving them medals. That was really cool!
And what were the main challenges you faced during the project?
Sabine: I think there were some intercultural differences, not problems, but how people see things. Someone from Portugal, or someone from Germany or from Ukraine will see things differently. Sometimes it was hard to find the common understanding, but it gets better if you are open to this experience.
Julian: Yeah, I can relate to that. And, of course, the language also was a problem for me sometimes, especially when you were in touch with people outside of the work and outside of POLITES who didn’t speak English or German. So, there were communication problems, but most of the time you could overcome them with improvisation, with the help of hands, gestures.
How has this project influenced your future life?
Sabine: It introduced me to the volunteering. And now as I’m back in Germany, I volunteer a lot because I’ve learned how much you learn from it and how many good experiences you can have. For example, you meet cool people, you get to do very exciting things, and you get to travel.
Julian: Through the project I realized that I want to become a teacher and work together with children later on in my professional life. So, it helped me a lot with my professional choice.
What are you doing right now? Do you study at university? Do you work?
Sabine: I study at university. I study Linguistics and Political Science and I volunteer for a few projects with young people and Erasmus people and I work at a museum.
Julian: I study for becoming a German language and History teacher. I also work in a project which is an international football team with the refugees from different countries. There I am a football trainer and also a person who they can talk to, I help them a lot.
Do you often visit Szczecin? And what makes you come back to this place?
Sabine: I visit it once a year, if I can. And it is the people that I want to see, the people from POLITES and the teachers from school. Sometimes I just want to return to old memories and fun memories.
Julian: Now, after three years, it is the second time I visit the city and it is always nice to see the people and to see how the city is changing too, get some memories back.
What would be your advice for the current volunteers?
Sabine: Be open and take part in all of the experiences you can get, go out and make friends.
Julian: Be active, I would say.
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It couldn’t have been said better, “Be active and volunteer!”