Meeting people from all over the world and getting to know their stories – that was one of my main motivations to go volunteering abroad. And indeed, in the past eight months, I already had the chance to get to know a lot of people from various countries. Sometimes you meet someone in a bar and have an interesting chat for 20 minutes. Some other times you become real friends. Either way, I love these encounters and I think the exchange with people can be very enriching.
In our On-Arrival Seminar in November, we met a lot of other volunteers from all over Croatia that are part of the ESC as well. One of them was Marco from Italy, who lives on the Island of Murter and is a volunteer for Udruga Argonauta. To get a broader insight on how other ESC projects can be structured, I asked Marco to share with me his experience so far and you can read about it in this article.
About Udruga Argonauta
Argonauta is an association which main purpose is to protect the environment and to raise awareness about sustainability and the cultural heritage of the island. The NGO has been involved in many projects involving youths and funded by the European Union. Not only the association regularly hosts short and long term ESC volunteers, but it is also an active organizer of Youth Exchanges and other forms of European Programmes.
Q: What are your tasks in your project?
M: They can be quite different from one another, depending on the project we are working on. I live and work together with one other volunteer, a girl from Spain. Basically, we are planning and organizing projects, such as youth exchanges or cleaning actions. We also organize workshops that can be about any topic we are interested in. For example, I was leading Italian classes for people in Murter.
Q: Can you make an example of some projects you organized with Argonauta?
M: When I first arrived here, I had to lead a group of short-term volunteers and that was very interesting. My duty was to guide them. We were renovating paths on a hill in Murter. We created a nice place for tourists to visit, but also for kids to play. The second project was by the shore of the sea, where there are some ruins from the roman empire. We had to uncover some of those ruins in order to create a nice place for tourists and to enhance the heritage of the island. That was very cool and I learned how to lead a group of people.
Q: Which were your motivations to volunteer abroad?
M: I decided to volunteer after I quit my job. I was not feeling that I found the place where I wanted to work and I had to heal myself from some difficult personal moments of my life. But I had a lot of energy, so I thought why should I not use this energy to help others? That’s when I started to volunteer in my hometown. Then, I joined the ESC for a short-time project in Bulgaria. While I was doing that, I was already thinking about doing a long-term project. It seemed very cool to me to be part of a project for so long. Also, living abroad and that being completely financed by the European Union seemed like a huge opportunity to me.
Q: That means you don’t pay anything for participating in the ESC?
M: Exactly. Basically, the European Commission funds this program. We as volunteers are paid our accommodation, plus we receive food and pocket money.
Q: Why did you decide for Udruga Argonauta in particular?
M: I decided to apply for this specific project because I really liked the purpose of the project since I am very interested in sustainability and the protection of the environment. And also, the thought of living on an island surrounded by the sea was a great motivation.
Q: What was your favorite moment during the project?
M: I would probably say my first Italian lesson. I spent a lot of time planning all my lessons and then the first lesson was very cool because lots of people joined. I was a bit unsure since it was the first official time in my life that I had to teach someone. But it went very well, and I would say it was the moment where I felt most accomplished. Because I created everything on my own and people were engaging a lot.
Q: How is it for you to live abroad for the first time?
M: To be honest, I am actually surprised by how well I am managing living abroad even though it is also the first time I am living alone. What I mean is how I manage the house and my time. Of course, it can be also challenging living with another person that you did not know before and that might have a different way of living. Other than that, I would say that Croatia and Italy are not that different so I did not really have a culture shock. There are just some smaller things that can be challenging, like not finding the stuff I am used to having in Italy in the grocery stores.
Q: What makes this program of the ESC valuable for you?
M: I would say the best part about it is living and volunteering abroad and meeting like-minded people. And through meeting others and getting to know their ideas and opinions, although they might differ from your own, you can broaden your horizon and it can change your perspective on some aspects. You realize that there is not always only one way of approaching things in life.
Q: What memories or things will you be carrying home in an imaginary backpack?
M: The best memory I would say is when I met amazing people in Orahovica during the On-arrival Training. I was very happy to meet new people and to live in this facility together. Having this sort of school trip experience was super cool.
If I am to talk about an object I will carry home, I would say the best one is a car plate. During one cleaning action, a friend of mine was diving in the sea and picking out trash, when she found that plate. It also reminds me of her and our friendship, so I like it a lot. Also, lots of other objects from the sea like a sea star for example.
Lastly, I will bring home my photographs. Here in the small town of Murter I had the chance to practice and improve my photography skills a lot and I will bring home very cool pictures.
Thank you for sharing your experience Marco!
In my opinion, it is great to have so many different project opportunities within the European Solidarity Corps. The individual experience can vary a lot, depending on the project one participates in. Therefore, different expectations can be met and it gives the opportunity to more people to participate in a project that fits their values and interests.
If you would like to participate in an ESC project yourself, here you can find the portal with all the available projects.
More information about Udruga Argonauta can be found on their website or Facebook.
See you next month!
Katrina
