Over the past two and a half months, we have not only get settled into our new working environments, but also organized our first common days, explored Poland’s colorful capital during the On-Arrival-Training and enjoyed our free time.
How that looks like? Some of the volunteers give us an closer insight.
Free time
Everyone organizes their free time a little bit differently. Our group of 21 people is colorful and everyone brings their own culture, habits, interests, hobbies and approaches to the group. Some of us like to get up early, others prefer to sleep in. Some of us do sports, others prefer to be cozy. Some of us like to cook, others don’t. Some of us like to out, others like to stay in.
Mouad (21 years old, 🇲🇦) gives us a glimpse into their lives outside of volunteering, describing how he spends his free time.
How do you like to spend your free time? Do you continue any hobbies from back home? Have you discovered any new interests/ hobbies?
Mouad: I love to read non-fiction books, especially about interpersonal skills and entrepreneurship. Yes, I played football back in Morocco and I’ve continued that here in Szczecin. Every weekend, I explore new places in the city, meet new people, and discover local culture. It’s become a new hobby, and I really enjoy it.
Do you usually spend a lot of time with your flat mates?
Mouad: I spend a lot of time with my flat mates, especially in the evenings when we cook together or just share stories and jokes. It’s always a good time.
What is your favorite activity to do on the weekend?
Mouad: My favorite weekend activity is visiting new places and enjoying the local vibe.
What was your favorite experience so far?
Mouad: My favorite experience has been running workshops in different schools. The positive feedback from teachers and students has really motivated me to keep improving and learning.
On-Arrival-Training
Between the beginning of the October and the end of November, we go to the On-Arrival-Training in Warsaw. The On-Arrival-Training is organized by the Polish National Agency and aims to answer questions that have arisen during our first month(s), to get to know more about Polish culture and to meet other ESC volunteers in Poland.
Triinu (27 years old, 🇪🇪,) gives us a closer impression of her experience of the On-Arrival-Training in Warsaw, answering the following questions:
What was the most valuable information that was given to you during the training?
Triinu: The most valuable information for me was hearing about other volunteers’ projects, the everyday work they do as volunteers. I felt inspired by their experiences: the people they are working with, the help they offer and the volunteers themselves – young people sharing their knowledge, skills and will.
Do you think you have all the information you need to survive ten months here?
Triinu: I didn’t expect the training to give me all the answers I need for the volunteering experience. For me the training was about introducing the bigger picture of being a volunteer of ESC. In that sense, yes, I do think that I got useful information, not to survive, but to live the ten months here as a volunteer.
How would you rate the training out of 10? Why?
Triinu: I would rate it as a 7 – a training that served the goal of being the on-arrival training. I liked that mostly we, the volunteers were the ones working together, discussing and the trainers were the ones observing and guiding us. That made the training intense but also taking advantage of its potential of having a room full of young volunteers with different experiences together.
To get a 10, I would have needed more reflection about the topics we covered during the week, since I was surprised how difficult it was for me to recall everything we had done at the end of the week. The experience kind of melted together as a week of a lot of knowledge, but hard to distinguish from one another.
Common Days
Common-Day #1 – Cleaning the forest & enjoying the bonfire
For our first common day in October, we decided to clean up the forest and have a bonfire afterwards. With motivation and many helping hands, we managed to clean up a previously littered piece of forest in just two hours!
After a short walk through the forest, we then arrived at a bonfire site. We enjoyed the campfire together in a relaxed atmosphere, including a small barbecue.
Leonita (24 years old, 🇽🇰) shares some of her impressions of that day with us:
Give us a brief feedback about the common day, please!
Leonita: I enjoyed the common day very much because it brought us all together again after everyone started going to work for a month now.
What did you like best? What least?
Leonita: I liked the picnic we had; it was in a beautiful spot, and the weather was perfect for it. And, of course, the highlight of our common day was the main character, Gustavo 😎. The only thing I didn’t like was the trash we found. I expected more plastic bottles and bags, but I was surprised to find people had thrown away things like a computer and other unexpected items.
Did you learn anything? If yes, what?
Leonita: I’ve always wanted to have an outdoor cooking experience by the fire, so this helped me learn what kind of food we need and how to improvise with what the forest provides.
What can be improved for the next common days?
Leonita: One thing that could be improved is the starting hour, since the Stargard team has to wake up very early every day. But starting at 10 isn’t too bad. Also, we could be a bit more cooperative, making sure everyone has a role in the work.
Common-Day #2 – Cooking Pierogi and painting birdhouses
For common day in November, we decided to paint birdhouses and learn how to make Pierogi. Banki Żywności provided us with their kitchen and some space to paint our birdhouses. Thank you again – without you, this common day would not have been possible! Divided into groups, we painted birdhouses and were taught by Kasia, how to make good Pierogi. The results were amazing! In the end, we had nine individually painted birdhouses, lots of delicious Pierogi and Barszcz (a Polish beetroot soup). However, the highlight of the day for many of us was probably the snow that started to fall while we were working ;). Thanks again to everyone for their efforts!
Mariam (21 years old, 🇬🇪) gives us a closer insight describing her perception of the day:
What did you like best?
Mariam: I think it was one of the most interesting and enjoyable days. It was wonderful to paint birdhouses while music played in the background. What I loved most was when it started snowing – it became so delightful and fun as we all danced and sang together. Afterward, we were welcomed into the kitchen by the second group of volunteers, who had prepared delicious, hot pierogi for us.
What least?
Mariam: I think everything was so enjoyable and pleasant that there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like.
Did you learn anything? If yes, what?
Mariam: I think we all learned how to make pierogi :).
What can be improved for the next common days?
Mariam: As I mentioned, I really enjoyed this day. I think similar days could be even more enjoyable in the future if it will be organized in a warmer setting.
We had an amazing time so far together and hope to continue doing so. Here’s to more hopefully seven and a half great months!