14. June 2024

Iryna: ESC project five months after beginning

Hi, today I want to talk about my volunteering project that is in the middle of its term.

As I wrote before I had preparation before leading 2 work camps. It was training for the leaders, attending demo camp in Banská Štiavnica.

Also, one part of my preparation was to try how it’s to be a volunteer in a workcamp. For me it was first INEX summer volunteering camp of the season 2022 in small village Lukovištia. We were helping with preparatory work for renovation of the old school to the art center and with environmental work around the village Lukovištia.

After learning what things should be done before, during and after workcamp my co-leader Chiara and I started to prepare all things for workcamps.

So, we contacted local partner and volunteers, created info sheet, prepared a framework program for workcamp. After this we were waiting for the beginning of our first workcamp where we will be leaders.

Finally, 7th of August we started social workcamp in Prešov. Where we were helping with activities, games, trips for clients of OZ Barlička. We had volunteers from: Mexico, Israel, Spain, Slovenia and Italy. During free time we spent great time with volunteers together playing games, visited town nearby Košice, went on the trips in the center of city Prešov and Calvary Complex in Prešov. We played games and talked with the Seniors. With the youth, we had activities such as: walking, dancing and singing, origami, drawing. Activity that I liked most was festival of cultures. Where we prepared traditional food from our countries and after tried it.

The 4 th of September we started our second workcamp in Bratislava where we helped DSS Integra with their clients and activities for them. We had only two volunteers from Italy and France but we spent good time together during volunteering and free time activities. During volunteering activities, we were cooking, talking, dancing and doing sports activities with clients DSS Integra. After volunteering activities, we visited the city center, the botanical garden, the Bratislava and the Devin castle.

Right after workcamp I had mid-term training where I met some people from on-arrival training that I had three months ago. It was very good time with familiar people in spa-town Trenčianske Teplice. There we had good time for relax and talking.

19th and 21st of September INEX took part in the week of volunteering. During which we and several volunteers cleaned our office and made order in the stock house. We held volunteer activities at ZŠ Lachova where volunteers from Dell Technologies and NielsenIQ helped: paint the fence; sow grass around the running track.

So, after four months being at an ESC project and part of Inex Slovakia I met many people from European countries, after communicating with them my horizons broadened and I began to look at some things completely differently, I gained new experience in communicating with other people, as well as being a leader and responsible for a group of people. This summer I visited many cities in Slovakia, which I really liked.

 

Thank you for the support