"Volunteering with Concordia was a wonderful experience"

  Our fully funded ROBBs volunteer Parshant shares his experience of spending 4 weeks in the UK 

Volunteering with Concordia was a wonderful experience. It was my first time volunteering in Europe (England). The work camp lasted for 2 weeks. It took place in a local school for special need kids in Durrington by sea . Including myself there were 7 other volunteers, Marta and Beatrice from Italy, Eliska and Klara from Czech Republic, Anil from Turkey, Jade and Steve (Coordinators) from England.

During the project we worked with students on Horticulture and below are some of the activities we were involved in: -

Cutting plants - Well as the title suggests, this activities involved cutting, trimming and grooming of over grown plants and trees. It sounds quite an easy task and fun which it is but I wouldn’t be sure for those who don’t like bugs lol, even I was having a little hard time dealing with them: ^^ though I don’t mind them at all. It was fun as well. 

Trimming of plants time-to-time is also helpful in their growth.

Weeding – We worked in different groups weeding the ground. Weeds are harmful for other plants. So it’s quite important task or else it would hinder the growth of other plants. This activity helped me to get proper understanding of weed. Earlier I used to think that weed is any wild looking plant with lots of thorn over it but a teacher at the school explained to us that ‘’any plant can be weed if it is something which you don’t want in your garden’’ For example if you are growing Thistle in your garden and out of no where a plant of rose pops up, then that rose is a weed.

 

Green house – They also have a small green house; they call it ‘’Poly Tunnel’’, where they grow vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, pepper, garlic, pumpkin, onion, etc.  Here we helped in planting new plants, seeds, watering the plants, etc with the help of other school children. It was also quite fun and we were able to learn a bit more plants from these activities.

There were other activities we were involved in such as :- Picking up the apple from the school grounds, cleaning the ground, watering plants, joined the cooking classes with the children, enjoyed making of sculpture and art work with the school kids, etc.

Everyday there was something new to learn from each other and also from the children. I might have made it sound little boring as I just talked about different task and work. But believe me it was a lot more fun. We talked to each other while working, shared ideas and learned from each other. Usually, we used to finish our day at school around 2:30 – 3:00 pm and after that it was our free time.

I think free time was one of the best moments during the camp. We enjoyed our small trips to beach with fish and chips (I am vegetarian, so only chips for me lol ) , picnic, visit to near by towns, etc. Free time was quite useful to get to know other volunteers ( now friends^^) .

At the end of the work camp it was kind of sad to say good-bye to each other. For 2 weeks we were like a family. I miss the nice and amazing friends I met during my stay.

After the work camp I came back to Concordia in Brighton and had the opportunity to visit other partner Ngo’s in Glasgow and London.  It was a lifetime experience, meeting young people and other volunteers, seeing how they work, etc. Everyone in the office Francesco, Francesca , Fiona and others  are very kind and smart.  I really enjoyed being with them.

I had other volunteer opportunities in India and Japan to which I am really grateful because each time I was able to grow and learn more. But this program with Concordia in particular somehow helped me to clear some confusion I had earlier.

The whole experience with Concordia was awesome and it provided me with new vision to understand various things, also I feel more certain about the things I would like to do from now on.

 Parshant 2014

Our volunteer Regina from Argentina reports about her volunteering experience in the UK

“If you think you are too small to make a change, then you’ve never slept in a closed room with a mosquito”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              African Proverb

                I’ve been asked by Concordia UK to write about my experience as a volunteer of the ROBBS Bursary Programme. I am a member of Subir al Sur, an Argentine organisation that works in the strengthening of youth groups in different parts in Argentina, by promoting local and international volunteering. It is hard to use words to describe the whole month, but to sum it up I can definitely say: AMAZING! I warn you, reader, this article will be EXTREMELY boring for those who like to read about terrible news or poor and sad experiences, for it will be loaded of POSITIVE adjectives in such an amount that you will start doubting whether everything happened for real or it was just a very pretty dream. Well, let me tell you, and I have witnesses, that this month was enough time to make a change, at least in myself, and this is real, for sure.

                My first experience was at Moulsecoomb Primary School and Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project. We were eight volunteers and a camp leader participating in a 15-day workcamp, sleeping in the School’s gym, joining the children’s classrooms and working in the Community Garden. Well, Moulsecoomb is supposed to be a “deprived area” inside Brighton and Hove, and I could tell that there are many problems such as violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, etc, underneath the beauty of the streets and the important Universities. Nevertheless, I don’t know if it’s because of my extreme optimism or the fact that I come from a country where “deprived areas” are areas where there are not even basic public services, but Moulsecoomb for me is a diamond in the rough. I have to say that the Primary School’s way of teaching, their willingness to transmit to the children the importance of communication, the expression of their opinions and feelings, the relevance of working with and for the community, and actually doing it, teaching it by giving the example, was inspiring to see. Everyone I met working at the Primary School and the Community Garden is committed to the community and is working to make the best out of Moulsecoomb, mainly for the children that live there. All the School and Community Garden’s Staff members and volunteers are so involved with their community and so confident of the fact that the only way of dealing with harsh environments is working together towards a different and better future, which results in stimulating and exciting everyone that joins the project.

                During my second weekend in UK, Concordia invited me to the North-South Training that is held every year for volunteers that will participate in projects on the South part of the world, and for people interested in joining some of these projects eventually. It was an intense weekend where I got to meet many people with different backgrounds but two things in common: they were all from the UK, and all had been wondering about the idea of “change” in a particular way: by volunteering somewhere far from their home country. “Change”, I mean, in a wide and subjective form and definition; “change” conceived in a different way for every different individual. In this sense, it may mean an internal change, a social or a political change, etc. It was important to get to know what their fears and expectations are before leaving to their projects, so as to work on them before they arrive to Argentina. The training is very successful in raising questions that everyone should ask themselves before joining a North-South project: What does being a volunteer mean?, How am I going to deal with cultural differences? If any conflict arises, how am I going to cope with it? How do I think I will be feeling outside my comfort zone? Am I willing to learn from other cultures? These questions help the volunteer reflect upon important matters and situations that may happen during a project. The awareness that naturally comes with the questions help the volunteer be more prepared for the trip.

                The ROBBS Programme is not only a volunteering programme, but has another important objective that is getting to know other organisations in the UK that promote international volunteering, in the way Concordia and Subir al Sur promote it, as an intercultural experience. That is why Concordia sent me to London to meet Nigel from VAP UK, and to Cardiff, to meet the members of UNA Exchange. This experience was enriching in many ways, but mainly in an institutional level. I got to interview members of organisations that work in a similar way as we do in Argentina, and was able to exchange experiences and information, for both of us to improve.

Regina volunteering in Wales

               In Wales, I was invited to take part of a weekend project in the valley, in a place called Abercynon. This project was very different from what I had experienced before, due to the fact that we were only two volunteers and one coordinator, working in a Community Garden, together with its manager and his helpers. It was a hard-working weekend, where I learnt to make a fence, cleared weed from an area full of growing trees, dug a pipe trench and carried 20 wheel barrels loaded with soil to cover the trench to protect the pipe. But as tiring as it sounds the satisfaction of doing it and actually seeing the results of such hard work was more than enough to compensate the effort. It was a beautiful project and I enjoyed it so much!

                There are many, many things unsaid in this short article but I thought that the best way of describing my experience was by telling a bit about the different projects and people I met thanks to the Programme. I want to make a special mention to Concordia’s Team for the support they gave me from the very beginning and their constant motivation. I will be forever grateful!

                If someone is lucky enough to join this programme, I would suggest they seize every day, knowing that every minute is important to enjoy and learn from the inspiring people they will meet during the trip and to let the beauty of the places penetrate them. Everything happens so fast! And you never know how far the impact of your presence in the projects goes and how deep your footprint on someone’s heart steps. It is definitely worthwhile making the best out of the experience, because if you think you are too small to make a difference, then you never slept in a closed room with a mosquito.

                                                                                                                                                                Regina Ruete.