Rich shares his story about his experience of EVS for Volunteers' Week 2014

"Volunteering has had a big effect on my life. After a couple of short workcamps in Slovakia and Iceland, I recently completed a year of EVS in France.

I am now able to speak another language well, and have made good friends with people I would otherwise have not been able to communicate with.

I urge anyone to at least consider the EVS scheme as a fantastic, funded way to discover another country and learn valuable skills for the future"

Rich 2014

Bety reports on the training for the leaders in Slovakia

My name is Bety, I come from Czech Republic and since March this year I have been volunteering for Concordia helping in the office to send volunteers on international projects overseas and as one of the reasons to come to Brighton was to coordinate an international residential project, which Concordia generously offered to me, I decided to go for a training for the leaders of youth projects organised in Bojnice in Slovakia. I got an invitation just a couple of days before the project started, but I decided to go for it without any hesitation, because I knew I have still lot of to learn and I wasn´t confident enough about leading a group of international volunteers. Another reason to take part emerged itself from the description of the project: 70% of all transport expanses will be refunded after the end of the training. Well, interesting, even these possibilities exist within the wide european net of youth projects and training opportunities and everybody can go for that. The only limit is age, but since I´m under 30 I can participace in any of projects funded by european organisation Youth in Action. But the real catching point in terms of inovation was the fact that there was going to be a bunch of 20 participants from differnet countries, and all were going to be trained by experienced trainers, which sounded amazing and all together with the location in Slovakia (my dearest brotherland) I basically couldn´t say no. I bought my flight tickets three days before the project started, that may sound rushed, which scared me a little bit, but all these feelings were absolutely pointless, because one week later I was leaving the project with the notice of complete, deep and cheerfull satisfaction with an expression „I can do it“ on my face.

Having fun during one of our many team building games. Can you spot me?

 

Situated in a beautiful village of Bojnice, which gave us many daily and night opportunities for free time activities, the training was full of enthusiastic and open minded participants and especially with great professional trainers from Estonia, Slovakia, Cyprus and Czech Republic it was one of my best holidays ever. Our main goal was to write an international guidebook for future leaders of youth projects, which was supposed to teach us by the very elaborated method learning by doing how to lead a group of young people. During different sessions such as intercultural learning, conflict resolution, evaluation methods or project managment the trainers teached us how to handle with different (problem) situations, which can occur at a group of young people, how we should behave and act to satisfy the needs of each participant and whether it is possible at all. What I really loved about the project was that besides so much handy information we got something more and it was our self development. This was very insightful and I think all the participants noticed that and it brought all the group together. All the programme was just very well organised, the trainers as flexible as they could be and they gave us the best example. All I can say for the end is that i would strongly recommend this kind of training not only to future leaders but also for those, who would like to learn or reveal some new facts about themselves as personalities.  So if you see such a project is going to take place, don’t hesitate and go for it, because it will rock and I’m sure you will love it!

A bit of Information about Slovakia - Summer 2002

My name is Petya and I'm from Bulgaria. I came to the UK to work at Concordia as a medium term volunteer for six months. I also participated in one of the UK projects in Seaford as a co-ordinator and I will participate in one more, which is in Brighton. I've had a great time here in the UK and for me this kind of work is very interesting and gives you opportunities to learn more about different cultures, to travel, to know how to deal with different situations and people.

In my country we also organise a lot of interesting projects, so if you want to have an exciting holiday and in the same time to do something useful you should think about Bulgaria. It is a very beautiful country with a lot of mountains, which offer excellent skiing terrain, and a big part of the Black Sea coasts if you like hot weather and lovely golden sands.

The geographical situation is very interesting; the country is like a crossroad for the Balkan Peninsula. Serbia lies to the West and Macedonia to the Southwest. Greece and Turkey share the southern border, Black Sea is at the East and river Danube is the natural border with Romania on the North.

The country has a Mediterranean climate and the weather is warm for most of the year, but it also can be very cold in the winter especially in the mountains.

Bulgaria has a very old history; it is more of an ancient Slavic nation than Russia. The country was something like a cradle of civilisation and it is national pride that the Cyrillic alphabet which Bulgarian people use has its origins in Bulgaria and should have been exported to Russia and Ukraine.

Bulgarian people are famous with their incredible sense of humour and hospitality. Even in tourist areas curiosity about foreigners is considerable.

Bulgaria has many different and very interesting folk music and customs. In the Rodopi Mountains you can see people playing on pipe as they do it in Scotland and it is very typical for this region. In the middle part of the country, where Sredna Gora is situated there is very interesting custom to dance over embers. It is very beautiful and picturesque to see.

In March there is one special tradition in Bulgaria – all over the country people make a kind of ornaments from white and red strings - a man figure (in white) and woman figure (in red). They are called Pijo and Penda and the whole ornament is called 'martenitca', which comes from Mart - the Bulgarian word for March. It brings health and happiness and people give them to their friends and family.

Curious to know is that Bulgarian people has opposite way for head movements for yes and no, they move their heads from side to side to signify ‘yes’ and up and down for ‘no’.

Bulgaria is moving fast from the previous communist politic situation to a new democratic future. Soon the country will be a member of The European Community and will continue developing easier and faster.

Viktor, a volunteer from INEX Slovakia, who has also co-ordinated our Peak National Park project this year, explains why Slovakia is an appealing destination for all bear - or maybe beer(!) - lovers

First of all, please, forget Yugoslavia!!! Although Slovenia sounds similar, it’s not what I am writing about. Slovakia (or Slovak Republic) is a former sister country of the Czech Republic and those two countries are still very close to each other: common history, similar languages (in Slovakia you might get by with your Czech...) and the love for the beer (where else can you buy a pint for 20 p???)

Slovakia is very favourable for hikers and “nature-lovers" as there are all kinds of landscape ranging from green plains near the river Danube to the exposed peaks of 2500 metres high Tatra mountains. INEX Slovakia is running more than 20 workcamps all around the country, so everybody can find a niche for him/herself. If you do like wine, there is a workcamp in a small village in the middle of the vineyards near the Hungarian boarders, but in case you prefer more action, you might come across a bear (and plenty of beer too....) in the surroundings of the Lom/ Cierny Balog workcamp campsite in mountainous Central Slovakia. Last year I was co-ordinating the latter project and it was a really extraordinary event for everybody. Imagine being daily driven to the worksite by a small forest railway, taking a bath in a fresh stream or cooking in an old military field kitchen....just amazing.

If you feel more like being “urban-type“ you should definitely come and see Bratislava , the capital, where the INEX ‘s office is based ( sorry , but no workcamps run here....). Visiting its two castles, historic centre and experiencing the pedestrian zone atmosphere with plenty of cafes and beer cellars is what you shouldn’ t miss. Besides calling in our office, of course....

Click here for a country profile on Slovakia

Cierny Balog, Slovakia- Summer 2002

I fell in love last summer. With a small village in the middle of Slovakia. OK, there was a girl as well, but that's another story.

Washing in the river, hill walking, a very 'international' game of football, equally international food, very cheap beer, the cheapest ever haircut, singing round the campfire, sleeping under the stars, cycling up a never-ending hill, and most of all, making some great friends - choosing to do a project in Slovakia was one of the best things I ever did.

My first feeling on reaching Cierny Balog was of relief, at having found the place. It had taken several trains, a couple of buses and a plane, but the hot morning sun and beautiful scenery - the village sits in a valley of wooded hills with a river running through it - made it worthwhile.

The project was two weeks long and split into two parts. The first week we lived and worked at the village football ground. As this was my first volunteer project I was unsure what to expect, but we seemed to have things pretty good, with hot showers, proper beds, and even food laid on. Admittedly the food was of the school dinners variety, but with a Slovak twist, and was definitely edible.

We worked in the mornings, painting fences and doing other repairs at the football ground. Afternoons were free, and were spent walking, playing football and frisbee or just relaxing. Evenings were spent in the bar, where we all acquired a taste for the Czech beer (30p a pint anyone?) and something called Borovicka which some people won't forget.

But although great fun, the first week was just a warm- up for what was to come. We had been promised a 'back to nature' experience and we weren't disappointed. Our home was a beautiful campsite, bordered by a river on one side and a forest on the other. The bathroom was a mountain stream, and the camp had even its own cat.

Every day, dinner was cooked by two volunteers from a different country, with the Spanish omelette and Italian pasta proving very popular. These were of course eaten around the campfire. Accommodation was in a wooden cottage or, for the more adventurous, alfresco under the stars.

Our work for the second week involved various maintenance works on an historic narrow gauge railway. This was more strenuous than at the football ground, but again we only worked mornings, and due to the torrential rain that hit Central Europe over the summer we got a couple of days off.

Our wonderful leaders always kept us busy, organising day trips, as well as afternoon activities, and always had a game ready to fill five minutes or provide a break from working.

One of my personal highlights of the camp was a football match between our camp and another in the village. A pulled muscle (honest!) meant I was forced to play in goal, where I surprised everyone (myself included) with a virtuoso performance to keep the opposition's Italian striker at bay. We still lost but I was the toast of the project at dinner that night.

The best thing about the project though was definitely the friendship and banter between everyone. After two weeks it felt like I had known people for years and I still miss everyone.

Diego (Spain) and myself decided that the hot weather merited a drastic haircut, especially when Toms (Latvia) discovered it only cost 50p in the village. One of the Frenchmen, with the very un-French name of Wilson Dos Santos got Sachiko - from Japan - to teach him some 'useful' Japanese phrases. These were along the lines of 'Can you tickle my belly'. I then taught her some useful French; repeat after me,"Voulez vous couchez avec moi". Lidija (from Croatia)

decided I must be Scottish (I'm not) because I was mean to her, stealing her cigarettes. She changed her mind when I went to stay with her later in the summer though, in fact there must have been something in the water as we weren't the only couple to get together.

Slovakia may not sound the most glamorous or exotic destination, but with beautiful countryside, cheap beer and hot weather, it is one of Europe's hidden gems and a volunteer project is the perfect way to discover it. I regularly get emails from people wishing they were back in Cierny Balog instead of at home studying - guess I'm not the only one that's smitten.

Ian Anstey, Cierny Balog