On the first day of May my friends and I went to a Slovak festival, we went very clueless about the artists that were going to play but we thought it was a cool idea to attend.
Next day, Vaso, Berra and I went with Vaso’s mentor and Monika to Rača festival. It was a very hot day but the environment was so nice, there were performances and food trucks but also games. It felt so much like the fairs at home.
Then there was the event of “Mile for a mom”, we went to a park to and we made a little workshop for the kids who were attending. The three of us, ESC volunteers, needed to make some activity for the kids because they were giving us and space to entertain but also show our countries.
I prepared a small presentation on Sant Jordi’s story so the kids would do roses made from tissue paper. It was an activity that the kids were not interested in but after a few minutes more children joined and I had the impression that they really enjoyed doing so I was very happy to see them participating.
After this event we attended the celebration for the ESC project organized by the national agency in a boat. We prepare INEX material and we presented it to the schools that were invited to attend.
We got merchandising, which was my favorite part of it, but we also met the other organizations that were part of the ESC. We got to talk with some of them and share a bit of experience.
In the middle of the month, I went to a concert in Vienna with my friends but I also stayed for a couple of days afterwards and explored the city. Even though the weather was horrible, it was cold, rainy and cloudy I still had a good time and went to some of the touristic places.
Right after we came back from Vienna, I went to the Danubiana, the art museum. It was such a beautiful place with paintings and photographs. It was worth visiting because there is also an incredible view of the river.
In the office, we did a course for safe and health where we learned about some important things. Like that in Slovakia if you don’t help someone who’s in danger you could be punished and send to jail.
During this month we also did a Cleaning day, we had volunteers at the office to help prepare for the workcamps season. We cleaned the windows, checked the storehouse to know the material that we have and did some gardening to have it all ready for the next days because we were going to the Step up and Lead training.
During this training learned specifically the practical part of leading a workcamp. We did a course on how to do CPR, which can be useful in our daily life. We were also taught on what should we do before, during and after the workcamp, what are the essential tasks of a leader and how to communicate with the local parter and the organization in case of doubts or emergency and what part we should pay attention to.
We had a good time because Berra and I met our coleaders so we could not only share our opinions but get to know them a little bit better, that sometimes is not possible in a call or through messages.
The last part or the month happened something that I was expecting, the tea meeting about Japan. After communicating with the volunteers who were going to be present for almost a month, I was so happy that the moment was finally there. The girls, Mizuki and Erumasu, prepare some food and drinks that were interesting to taste and Katarina talk about her experience in Japan as a Slovak volunteer I was fascinating how much she worked but still how good the experience was for her that made us enjoyed as well.
Some of our friends came to the tea meeting as well so I had a great time during the activity the presenters prepared for us.
The last weekend of the month was time to go to Svätý Jur with Berra as a leader. It is a place I really like so I was ready to do anything I was asked to do.
We helped with arranging the spaces, so the festival was able to happen. I personally stayed more on the painting workshops, we painted with the kids rocks so they can let their imagination fly but we also painted wood pieces, where we could paint and draw anything.
