News in our volunteer front: Gaspar (Spain) already came to Klaipėda, Ieva Simonaitytė library for 10 month's :) Read his story here!

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There are ones who leave and there are ones who come:)

 After 10 and 11 months here in Klaipėda, Lithuania, in the project "Comfort zone library", Jan Obernosterer(Austria) and Helene Hamon (France) left from Klaipėda Simonaitytė library back home to work and study, leaving us with a good time for reading about their time here. Grab a .pdf copy here and see what good was doen and felt! --> SAVANORYS'TIMES <3 So for the time being, let's wait for new one's to come:)

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LINA: "I am glad I had so many things to overcome, because if it was easy, I wouldn’t be this proud of myself at the moment."

"​Me on the top of mountain Učka, one of my favorite places in Opatija", - Lina

       

​​About a year ago, I sent my volunteering application to Udruga Žmergo, an environmental organization based in Opatija Croatia. Unfortunately, the volunteers were already selected and at that time I was about to go to Czech Republic for my internship so I went there without a plan what I would do afterwards. However, on my very last day there, I received an email from my then future hosting organization again with an offer to come for another project called “Sustainability in environmental activism on cultural topics” which got a green light. I just had to come in 10 ten days. For half a year. After considering about it for a day or two, I decided to sign up for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure and haven’t regretted my choice ever since. So, my journey started on 1st of February and ended up on 17th of September.
 
As it was more of on-a-spot decision, I did not have much time to neither build up high expectations nor get too scared to go. I was just looking forwards to this new experience. And I got so much of it, way more than I could ever imagine before going. Even if I had had time to imagine.
 
I was working in an organization with 5 locals and 5 volunteers from Spain, France, the Netherlands and Latvia, so it was a really multicultural environment. Together we were mostly working on events and their preparation. We had events with kids, teenagers; we had cleanups, promo events for cleanups, EVS presentations… a lot of them, mostly about environment. My favorite ones were with kids, when we were educating them about recycling in creative, fun, game-based ways.

A selfie during a fair of opportunities for kids. We were promoting Žmergo.

Separately, I was mostly working with another volunteer on social media. We were making a media plan for several campaigns, planning posts, creating content for it. I loved filming Zero Waste videos: we were coming up with ZW ideas, filming them and the best part – applying them in our daily life. I am very happy that I brought a lot of green ideas and eco thoughts with me back home. I hope to keep continuing on walking through this path on sustainability, because although I learnt a lot, there are still many ways where I can improve. Being conscious on this topic – is one of the things I am most happy about to get from my EVS.
 
Another one is people. I had a chance to meet many good people, learn a lot from them by simply commuting, get acquainted with their cultures, traditions… try various traditional foods, both Croatian and those from countries of other volunteers. I also met and befriended some locals, which helped me to better understand local community’s reality, history and culture, which is very interesting and rich.

 
Of course, I would lie if I said that everything was perfect.
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Together with other volunteers we had a game of memes. I would say mine is pretty much accurate.

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It wasn’t. It took us, volunteers, some time to get adjusted to a different work practice, I had some troubles with my roommate, also some health issues appeared, my computer was damaged, my phone broke… it was trouble after trouble, but I never felt growing up so fast. Moreover, I was doing it consciously. The best part about being a volunteer is that you have time and you are supposed to reflect on what’s happening and how you feel about it, what you learn from it. Which I think is very important in both, personal and professional person’s development.
 
I was learning to adjust to different people but also to express my opinion and speak up at work, learning how to speak about my feelings with my roommate instead of choosing to ignore them. I managed to get healthcare in a foreign country where I faced endless bureaucracy and limiting language barrier, I managed to look for help when I needed it. When I think about it, I am glad I had so many things to overcome, because if it was easy, I wouldn’t be this proud of myself at the moment.

I loved simply walking in the evenings in Opatija. The views were wonderful.

I realize this is also a reflection on my EVS and I can say: it honestly was for me and can be for anyone - a great opportunity to first of all, learn. Last year, I was eager to grow professionally, but I ended up with way more knowledge and life experience I thought I would get in this amount of time. To sum up, despite some circumstances, I am happy I went to volunteer and I would do it again. I recommend to take this chance and go wherever a heart may want to go, but I have to say Croatia, especially its coastline, is a great choice (oh, I forgot to tell how much I loved travelling there!).

Me and Rijeka, a city close to Opatija where we used to shop and party.