"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

Teaching English in Ukraine - 2013

Together we are many

by

Barney Smith

International Volunteer Project, Ukraine 2012

It was another sweltering evening at Boiko children’s summer camp, the site of my seventeenth international volunteer project. The volunteers had gathered together with some teenagers from the camp. We were all asked to say something in Ukrainian. When it was my turn, “Together we are many” was the first phrase which came to mind. A line from a song which Ukraine’s revolutionaries would sing on Kiev’s Independence Square in late 2004, it had stuck in my mind. These four words summed up for me the spirit of solidarity and cooperation so important in international volunteer projects.

There were four other volunteers: Karoliina from Finland, Laura from Spain, Nina from Slovenia and Sonya from the Czech Republic. Our group was ably managed by Ukrainian leader Katya. Our work consisted of assisting the teachers in their English lessons in the morning and jointly organising an English club in the late afternoon. Depending on the teacher and group, the lessons tended to be more academic and the club focused more on games. We gave PowerPoint presentations about our country in the lessons and also, one evening, to the other volunteers. As native speakers of five different languages, we made the most of the linguistic opportunities which presented themselves and did our best to brush up our knowledge of each other’s languages.

The volunteers on Kharkov’s Freedom Square

During our two weeks at Boiko we participated fully in the life of the camp. There were sporting activities organised for the whole camp including football between the teenagers in one team and the staff and volunteers in the other. Most evenings there were stage performances given by the children involving drama, music and dance. One evening the six of us judged the talent show. The quality of the performances and the hard work and dedication on display were deeply humbling and moving. I was reminded of these performances weeks later when I was back in the UK listening to a radio broadcast about the Olympics. When the discussion turned to the countries which had performed better than their population size or national wealth would suggest likely, it came as no surprise to me that Ukraine was among them. 

The volunteers take to the stage at Boiko summer camp

 Our free time was also memorable. The camp was situated on spacious grounds next to a small lake and so there were ample opportunities to keep fit, including by swimming and running. Most days, usually after the English club, we went to the shop and to the restaurant just outside the gates of the camp where we would set up our “office”, as we called it. There we benefitted from the wi-fi connection both for doing lesson and club preparation and keeping in touch with friends and family. The staff certainly relished our regular custom; we used to joke that the more we ordered the better the service and faster the internet connection! We also had two memorable trips to Kharkov, where Katya and her father showed us around Ukraine’s second largest city. We enjoyed lunch at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant evocatively named Hut of the Pot Belly on the first trip and, by contrast, picnicked in a city park on the second.

During the project I often had a sense of déjà-vu, when I thought back to the projects in which I had participated in Russian summer camps years earlier. The language spoken at Boiko was that of Ukraine’s larger neighbour, so the terminology used, much of it relating to the army, was familiar: children’s groups were called “detachments” and lights out in the evening was known as “retreat”. Yet there were also differences: some of the children I met in Siberia in the late 1990s had never met a foreigner and used to marvel at my (very modest!) digital watch and film camera, while at Boiko some of the children had already travelled extensively abroad and were completely at ease with modern technology. 

After the project, the volunteers took the opportunity to see more of Ukraine. For my part, I spent a week travelling west across the country before entering Poland. The linguistic divide between the east and west of Ukraine and, below the surface, the political divide, were stark. As I approached the Polish border I found Russian less and less widely spoken. In the west of the country I also saw many posters denouncing the imprisonment of former Prime Minister and heroine of the Orange Revolution, Yulia Timoshenko. Until these linguistic and political issues are resolved, Ukraine will surely continue to be seen by many as a somewhat troubled country, yet one with great potential, hospitable people and astonishing natural beauty.

As I begin my eighth year teaching in Kuwait, an oasis of calm in a region itself rocked by revolution, I often think back to my international volunteer project near Ukraine’s eastern border. I think of the people with whom I volunteered and worked. I think of how together we were many.

 

Group leader Katya with Ukrainian children at English club