We work in four different kindergartens: przedszkole publiczne 18, 27, 30 & 

Przedszkole nr 2 Miejskie (Stargard). Within the last five weeks, we discovered new insights, faced first challenges and found ways to solve them. 

Nana (19 y/o, 🇩🇪), Mariam (21 y/o, 🇬🇪) and Elliot (19 y/o, 🇩🇪) enable us a deeper understanding of their daily lives describing their experiences:

How did you experience your first month working in the kindergarten?

Nana: Surprisingly positive. The kids bring a lot of energy everyday which makes you automatically excited to see them.

How does a typical day look like? 

Nana: When I arrive at the kindergarten a breakfast is already prepared for me to eat.  After that, the kids have different educatory activities with the teachers throughout the day. I try to help if the children struggle with a task. At around 12 pm I eat lunch with the children. Before or after that depending on the weather, we go outside to play, go for a walk or stay inside to play or draw. Between 1-2 pm, we eat dessert which is typically something Polish.

What did you like best? What did you like least?

Nana: Best: I love playing with the children! They have fun teaching me Polish words which also helps me a lot to build my vocabulary. Least: That I have to get up at 6 am to travel almost an hour to Stargard.

Which challenges did you face? How did you solve them?

Nana: It is a challenge every week to prepare an activity for the children on my own and running it, especially because of the language barrier. However, I also lack experience to come up with many ideas for the children. But in both cases the teachers help a lot, they tell me in advance that they can help me with the translation and are open to give advice on my plans.

How were you feeling about working with kids before coming here? 

Mariam: I was excited to start this work, though naturally, I had some concerns about how things would go with the children. It was a new experience for me, and various factors, especially the language barrier, made me question whether I had made the right choice. Even so, I hoped everything would turn out well. A key reason was that I truly believe we often learn more from children than we realize. At times in life, we need to step back and view the world through children’s eyes.

What was your first impression of the kindergartens?

Mariam: My first impression, from the moment I stepped into the kindergarten, was how different everything felt compared to my home country. Initially, I experienced a sense of apprehension, unsure of what to expect in this unfamiliar environment. However, I quickly discovered a welcoming and positive atmosphere, surrounded by people who were kind and engaging. The kindergarten offered a variety of interesting educational activities, and I realized that this place was full of opportunities for growth and connection. I knew I would never feel bored here.

How are you feeling about working with kids, now that two months have passed?

Mariam: Interacting with the children and teachers is a joy; they constantly fill the day with positive energy through fun activities. I’ve grown comfortable around the children, and it’s become an easy way to learn the language, as they’re always trying to teach me simple words.

Have you encountered any problems during work due to the language barrier?

Mariam: As I mentioned, I thought the language barrier would be a major challenge, but communication can happen in many ways – especially through body language. The children quickly understood and adapted. Once they realized I spoke another language, they even tried using the words they knew in my language throughout the day, making the language barrier much less of an issue than I expected.

Do you feel confident working with very young people that don’t speak your language?

Elliot: Kind of. The kids I work with are too young to understand that they don’t speak my language, but they also don’t really care what I answer most of the time. I tend to speak to them in English or even German and while playing they won’t mind. The only times I have doubts is when they start repeating phrases or words and I know they want something but can’t understand what. Recent example, the kids wanted me to print a picture for them to color, but I didn’t understand them so they just started repeating it. But then I have the other teacher in the room who can help me when this happens!

How do you communicate with young people that don’t speak your language?

Elliot: The kids understand hand gestures or simple words (like “go”). The most useful thing however is probably pointing at things (e.g.: pictures, crayons etc.) to help them (or me) understand what’s going on.

Are the teachers helping you in any way with the language?

⁠Have you learnt some Polish?

Elliot: Yes, and I try to learn more every day.

Would you consider learning Polish necessary for living in Poland?

Elliot: Definitely!

We, the office volunteers, also got used to our new daily lives – working on our volunteers’ social media pages, organizing events, creating workshops in schools and presenting them. 

It was a colourful first month, consisting of various tasks, interacting with diverse people and developing personally and professionally.

Ace (24, 🇮🇹) and David (19, 🇪🇸) gave us a closer insight into their experiences working as an office volunteer answering the following questions:

What did you work on?

Ace: Mostly, I would say it was a matter of learning and understanding my tasks. What was I supposed to do with social media? How do I use this platform and how do I create different graphics for events? These and similar questions were always on my mind. I also got to experiment a little with creating my workshops and figuring out what to do during times when there’s not that much work. Honestly, I kind of miss that… But it’s very fun, and I know that every single day will be different from the previous one. 

Which kind of tasks were your favourite ones? What are your least favourite tasks?

Ace: My favourite task so far has been organising and taking part in the common day activity. I really enjoyed the freedom that we were given to plan whatever we wanted (as long as it was beneficial to our community). It was also very gratifying when everyone else enjoyed it. My least favourite… I would say the social media part, but it’s mostly because I still have a lot to learn and improve upon. 

What did you learn this month?

Ace: I learned that even the office team can’t avoid teamwork. Everyone helps each other, and we are always together. When I need help, there’s always someone willing to give it to me, and the same goes the other way. I also learned: no matter how much you think you are organised, things will not go as planned. You always need a plan B, and C, and maybe even a plan D.

How does a usual day look like?

Ace: I usually come to the office and check my emails, create my daily post for Instagram, and then work on my daily tasks. It could be more social media content, a presentation for a workshop, or helping out my colleagues. I don’t even notice it when the day is over.

How do you organize your free time?

David: Most of the time I take a break when I get home and then I take care of my responsibilities. After this I can do whatever I want, from going out with friends, walking, shopping, etc.. 

How is the atmosphere in the office?

David: The atmosphere is really friendly, we are always having a great time, making jokes and laughing, also sharing about our cultures.

How do you experience working in a team? Do you feel already formed a good team?

David: Working in a group is always better because we can complement each other. So far everything is going smoothly and I hope it stays that way. From my point of view, we’ve created a solid team.

Which abilities do you want to improve during your volunteering experience when it comes to the office work?

David: I would like to improve my public speaking and teaching skills.

Thanks again to all the volunteers who agreed on sharing some of their impressions!

Without you, this website wouldn’t be the same! 🙂