"My International Volunteer Projects 2013" By Barney Smith

Summer Rain

My International Volunteer Projects 2013

It was what every camper dreads: waking up to the sound of the patter of rain on the tent. The time was early July. The place was the francophone Belgian town of Marche-en-Famenne, the meeting place for my eighteenth international volunteer project. By the time I packed up my camping gear and lifted my rucksack, the rain had cleared, and I headed down to the station to meet the other volunteers from my project and the other Campagnons Bâtisseurs projects which were about to begin.

At the overnight stop - a hostel in the town centre - we got to know each other and completed a variety of activities and games. The leaders of my project were Arnaud from France and Noémie from Belgium, and the other volunteers Onur and Cansu from Turkey, Maria and Ana from Spain, Alice from South Korea, Damien from France and Mike from Belgium.

There followed two weeks of fun, laughter, games, sports, music, eating … and a lot of hard work too! Our project was to renovate a country mansion and its grounds, the site of a residential home for children from disadvantaged families. We trimmed trees and hedges, weeded the gardens, cleared branches from paths, unblocked the gutters, removed leaves from the ponds, swept the tennis court, cleaned statues and painted fences. Our excursions on our days off also gave us a chance to bond with each other; there was sightseeing in Brussels, as well as cycling, and a visit to the evocatively-named Festival of the Hoof (the name sounds rather more poetic in French, by the way!) in the nearby village of Porcheresse. We also organised some activities, including games and painting, for the children. We were skilfully guided in our work by Arnaud and Noémie, as well as by Daniel, a former railwayman and expert technical leader. Daniel and his wife showed great warmth and kindness to us throughout our project.

When the two weeks were over there was genuine sadness among all the volunteers (not least among those who had found love!), and there were even tears when the time came to say good-bye. My own farewell came when I changed trains in Dinant, where I was to camp before continuing my journey to Brussels. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, and after the two weeks which had come before I felt an acute sense of solitude as I walked along the river bank and watched the passing barges on my way to my campsite. After a night’s camping beside the River Meuse, on the day King Philippe was enthroned I headed for my next overnight stay – this time at a hostel in the Belgian capital - before beginning an overnight coach journey to the Estonian town of Pärnu, where I was to camp before the start of my next project.

I had been to the Baltic states once before, but my last visit was in the days of passport stamping and customs checks. This time the coach swept past abandoned border posts, as we crossed easily from country to country. In Pärnu I spent three days of quiet reflection (as much as this was possible in a slightly overcrowded campsite full of excited holiday-makers). The vast windswept beach and beautiful compact old town were a revelation and just what I needed to gather my thoughts.

It was soon time for project number nineteen; I was to spend two weeks as a volunteer at the Downtown Language School in Tallinn. I found myself in a diverse group of volunteers: Deyanira and Lorenzo from Mexico, Nives from Slovenia, Arturo and Nuria from Spain, Ege from Turkey, Liena from Ukraine and Hien from Vietnam. There were also longer-term volunteers - Cadence and Carrie from Hong Kong and Alex from Germany – as well as our Russian camp leader Maria. We worked with a group of teenagers from Estonia and around the world. During that time the teenagers worked on projects and carried out activities aimed at giving them a greater insight into the differences and similarities between various nationalities and cultures. These included daily country presentations, interviews, energisers, sports, competitions and games which took place in the school, as well as in the city and local area. Perhaps the highlight for me was the visit by boat to nearby Prangli, where we had a campfire, as well as a swim in the sea. We were taken on the back of a pick-up truck around this island where we saw the church and museum. Prangli has no bank and no law enforcement of its own, but the police fly in by helicopter from Estonia’s capital if needed. Does that happen often, I wondered? “Every weekend,” came the reply from the museum curator, with a wry smile. On our day off, while one group went on a day trip to Helsinki, another went on guided walking tour of Tallinn. We were also kept busy in our free time by football, volleyball and jogging.

 

And so my projects ended as they had started a little over a month earlier – in the pouring rain. As I headed, laden with my trusty rucksack, out of Tallinn’s exquisite old town, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, to catch my morning ferry to Helsinki for my first visit to Finland, I felt exhausted but also lucky to have met wonderful people, happy at my new experiences and ready for whatever challenges lay ahead. 

By Barney Smith

Our volunteer Mary on volunteering in a refugee camp in Belgium.

I was able to take part in July 2012 in a short term international volunteer project in Yvoir, Belgium, living and working at Red Cross centre hosting asylum seekers from many countries, with 7 other volunteers, for three weeks. There were about a 120 residents, comprising singles, minors and families. Some were new arrivals, and others had been awaiting a decision on their asylum claim for years.

Our work was divided into two parts. In the mornings, we worked on creating a video that would explain the rules of the centre to new arrivals without using language. This is so that the video would be useful to individuals from any nationality and without the language skills when they arrive in Belgium.

In small groups, we spoke to staff members who highlighted the most important rules of living within the centre. We then started writing scenarios for each rule, to be shot for the video. We then spoke to residents and invited them to take part in the video, playing various roles.

Creating this video allowed us to interact with the adult residents of the centre, find out where they were from, their previous ways of life, and the difficulties they face as asylum seekers in Belgium and as residents within the centre. 

There were many funny moments and many shared laughs during the filming. The residents enjoyed feeling that they were being an active part of the centre, taking part in something that would be useful to future arrivals, and also interacting with us. We were often invited for traditional meals in their kitchens. It was humbling that despite their difficult circumstances, they made time for us, to tell us about the centre, about their lives, cook and eat with us, and even play sport games together.

In the afternoons, we spent time playing and co-ordinating activities with the children of the centre. It was the summer school holidays, and with Yvoir being a small village with very little to do, and their parents being financially restricted, I felt that the children really appreciated having us in the centre. The weather was lovely most of the time, so we played outdoors; many games that brought back childhood memories. We also organised a bread making workshop, parties, and a sports competition day. The children were very energetic and loved to play with us, regardless of whether or not it was officially playtime! They were very sad to see us leave the centre, and took the time to make us individual drawings and presents which they surprised us with on the last day. 

We were a very close group of 8 volunteers, and all got on extremely well. This helped make the experience much more enjoyable; as we cooked and shared our meals together, did our food shopping together, and went on weekend excursions to Brussels and Bruges. There was a real group and community spirit amongst us, and also amongst the residents of the centre as a whole.

The experience was an amazing one for me. As somebody who arrived in the UK as an asylum seeker at the age of 15, I am very much aware of the injustices of the system and the isolating effect it has on people. I wanted to take part in this project to understand how the system works in another European country; to meet new people and challenge myself, as for a long time I had been isolated; to contribute a little to the understanding and awareness of what it means to be a refugee; and most importantly, to help make a difference to the experiences of the residents in the Yvoir centre. I felt that I was able to do all of these things, and now more than ever before feel that I really do want to use my freedom, my education, and my awareness of refugee issues to help create a better world.

I am so grateful for Concordia and the partner organization in Belgium JAVVA for giving me the opportunity to join this project: without their support and kindness, I would not have been able to live this experience. 

Mary, Summer 2012

Olivia Van Den Bergen - EVS in Belgium

My name is Olivia and I am 22 years old. I am here in Marche-en-Famenne a medium size town in Belgium for seven months.

My EVS project involves helping "Compagnons Bâtisseurs" organise their international workcamps

To read more about Olivia's EVS in Belgium please go to http://evsvolunteerbelgium.skyrock.com/

Click here for pictures of projects in Belgium

Click here for a country profile of Belgium

Liz Underhill's EVS volunteering experiance in Belgium

Split in Croatia - its amazing where EVS can take you?

Liz Underhill is an EVS volunteer in Brussels, Belgium for JRS

I arrived in Brussels on 1^st March 2007, not at all sure what to expect from my experience. I would be living in Brussels for one year, working with the Jesuit Refugee Service Europe (JRS) as a Media Officer. JRS is an international organisation with offices all round the world. The JRS Europe office (where I am based) is the head office for Europe. This means the office coordinates the work of offices and contact people in over 20 countries. These offices are responsible for visiting asylum seekers in detention centres, providing legal advice, food and shelter and generally raising awareness about the situation of refugees and asylum seekers.

My own personal role with JRS is as the Media Officer. This means producing a monthly update for all staff, a bi-monthly newsletter, updating the website and assisting with arranging events. As this role suggests, any week can be quite varied and mixed.

I currently live in Brussels in shared accommodation for about 40 people. A few other EVS people live there but it is mainly home to stagières and interns from around the world. It is a very vibrant place to live as it is home to such a mix of nationalities. At any one time you could be sat with Americans, Germans, people from Finland or the Ukraine. However, being based in Brussels does mean you don’t really learn much French or Flemish! The majority of people speak English and are very happy to do so!

Brussels is a great place to live because it is made up of so many different quarters and areas. The European part is a very important part of the Brussels landscape but there is much more to Brussels than the EU.

Belgium is also very central so it means you can visit other European countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg very easily.

I am now 5 months into my EVS placement of 1 year. I am really enjoying the experience of living in another country and meeting people from around Europe and the world. My role as Media Officer means I undertake a mix of different activities and tasks.

I recently spent a week in Croatia with the Slovakian winners of the Pedro Arrupe Award 2007, a refugee awareness award run through schools and organised by JRS. The 16 year old winners designed a DVD about the lives of refugees and together we visited refugee projects and organisations working with refugees in Croatia. This was a truly amazing experience, particularly as the students were so passionate about the plight of refugees and asylum seekers. After learning about the legacy of displaced people in Croatia, the students were shown the current situation for new asylum seekers seeking refugee status from outside Croatia. We met representatives from the UNHCR and the Croatian Law Centre and were given a tour of a reception centre for asylum seekers in Kutina, near Zagreb. We were also given the opportunity to visit the cities of Split and Zagreb. We spent some time on the coast at the resort of Opatija and on the island of Lošinj, experiencing traditional Croatian food and culture.

I’m looking forward to seeing what projects I will be involved in over the coming weeks and months and hopefully will enjoy the remainder of my time in Brussels.

Liz and the winners of the Pedro Arrupe Award 2007


Click here for more pictures of projects in Belgium

Click here for a country profile of Belgium