Hannah in Latvia on EVS - 2011

Not so long ago, or so it feels, I was saying goodbye to my family and friends, excited at the prospect of a year in another country, where I knew none of the language and couldn‘t even pronounce the name of the city in which I was to live. Like Alex (who was in Latvia last year and who‘s blog entries can also be read here) the time between hearing about this last minute project, being excepted by my hosting organisation and arriving had been a matter of weeks. However, I had known about EVS and had been looking for a project for almost a year by this point.

I’ve been in Latvia for around five months now. Five months of highs and lows, many firsts and new friends, and, ultimately , new experiences and memories that will last a long time. But there’s still just about seven months to go, in which I hope to see and experience many more new things.

My project is in the Language and Cultural Centre “World at Our Home” in Rēzekne, the seventh biggest city in Latvia, not far from the Russian border. Due to this a fair majority of the population are Russian speaking. A language I have only just started to learn. However, in my first four months I had Latvian lessons, and while I’m nowhere near fluent I am able to at least make myself understood mostly and understand others if they speak slowly. Which is a big improvement on when I first arrived not even being able to pronounce the name of the place I was to live in.

“World at Our Home” are involved in organising and participating in seminars and youth exchanges in Latvia, other European and neighbouring countries, as well as this they also hold weekly language lessons and act as a sending, coordinating and hosting organisation for EVS volunteers. Mostly the lessons are English, but recently Spanish, German and French started as well, as in early January we were joined by three new volunteers.

In the past few weeks we’ve been busy writing applications for two seminars and a youth exchange

to hopefully be held at the end of this year. As well as this we applied for a cross-border project between Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus with a very confusing application form.

I’m from southern England, where snow isn’t so common and the coldest I remember it being is -10°C so you can imagine my surprise when I heard last winter here was around -30°C and that it’s normal for snow to last from November to March. So far about half of my time in Latvia has been covered in snow; the most I’ve seen that has lasted longer than a week or two. This has some good points, such as being able to go ice skating and a first for me; sledging! In the last few days the snow has begun to melt and it’s already beginning to remind me of Spring. I’ve also heard much about Summer which I’m looking forward to.

Like many things, being away from home can take some getting used to, especially if, like me, you haven’t lived away from home before. After all that, what I basically want to say is I think EVS is an amazing experience. Yes it has it’s up and downs, but so do most things. So if you’re currently searching for a project I wish you luck in finding one soon and if you’re on your project now I hope you enjoy the rest of the time wherever you may be.

Luke in Iceland on EVS - 2010

Six months down, only two to go! Time has passed so quickly on my EVS experience in Iceland. I have been leading workcamps throughout the summer season, which has now come to a close. It has been a wonderful experience, and I have met so many interesting and enthusiastic people I am left at a loss to describe what I have seen and done in words. Since my last entry, I have seen the summer through with four workcamps. With projects as varied as planting trees in the north of the country, helping to rebuild the ruins of an ancient monastery in the east, conducting two week photography workshops complete with our very own exhibition and helping Reykjavik’s International Film Festival run smoothly. I am also very happy to report that I realised a lifelong dream, I have seen the famous Northern Lights! They are even more beautiful than I imagined.

They were all great, and we had some fantastic volunteers staying with us, however, rebuilding the ruins in the east must be a highlight. We stayed in a remote valley where a huge lake meets Iceland’s wonderful Highlands. Working for a museum and culture house – home of the famous Icelandic Author Gunnar Gunnarson – we toiled with boulders and turf to enhance the site where archaeologists had been digging for 9 years. Each day we could see our work take shape from a hill above the site, the walls, the stone pathways and the turfed gardens. It was incredibly rewarding work, as tourists would view the site and, for the first time, get a good idea of where the old monastery actually sat. Of course, it wasn’t all hard work. Our host Skuli had prepared some special trips to the beautiful east fjords and their sea cliffs which are home to thousands of sea birds and up onto the vast and desolate (and very cold) highlands. Here, we saw a massive and controversial dam, which, when it was built in 2006, created a 50km glacial lake stretching all the way to Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajokull. We also had the amazing experience of bathing in a hot waterfall. At just the right temperature too! We relaxed in its pool, then ran for the freezing cold river into which it drained. Truly an experience to remember!

Now winter is well and truly on its way in the North Atlantic. At the beginning of November, the sun rises after 9am and sets before 5pm. It is confusing for the body clock to say the least, but I have plenty to be getting on with preparing the Seed’s housing for next year’s volunteers! Over the past month we have prepared our vegetable gardens for the harsh winter, having dug new vegetable patches and enclosed them with the traditional Icelandic turf walls. We are also building recycling bins to manage with all waste our 3 houses and one office produces (we recycle everything from old batteries to normal plastic packaging, taking one van load to the recycling centre almost every two weeks). We have also begun repairing our bikes – a mammoth task considering we have around twenty old second hand bikes. We have stripped and painted the windows of our main house, and the improvement is visible. It is good motivation to think we are working so hard to make the experience better for the volunteers of next year.

Even though the season is over, I feel I still have a lot to look forward to and we have certainly been kept busy. Not only do we have four more workcamps from the 21st November right up until Christmas Eve, we have also been planning events for Seed’s 5th Anniversary. Over the course of a week from the 11th of this month, we will be host to long term volunteers from Seed’s past years. With several events planned, it will culminate in a conference on the environment where several guest speakers will give talks in their field. I am very excited to meet previous volunteers, to share experiences with them and to have a good time.

The past week has been spent organising and preparing for the annual Akranes Day of Nations organised by the New Icelanders Foundation. It was fantastic to see the cultural diversity of a population as small as Iceland’s, and to taste the foods from as far afield as India, Hungary, Nigeria and Palestine. The event was a great success. We represented Seeds with information on our work through the summer, and with foods from our countries. I chose to hold a vote with the visiting public to see whether Icelanders loved or hated Marmite. Served with a bit of bread and cheese, it was great to interact with the locals and see the faces of those who clearly hated it! Though I am happy to say, Iceland officially loves Marmite!

Despite all the fun I have had over the past month, it has to be said that it has been a difficult month of goodbyes. Much of the team of leaders have now left, and it has been difficult to say goodbye to so many with whom I felt so close. Our house doesn’t quite feel the same without them. Still, I am happy to have met such wonderful and inspiring people. Though it is sad to say goodbye, I feel I have learnt a great deal from working with them and now I can honestly say I have friends in nearly every European country! So it will be a bitter sweet final two months. I am very much looking forward to the shortest day of the year, the snow and the renowned Christmas and New Year celebrations here in Reykjavik. I intend to make the most of every minute!

Adrian in Spain on EVS - 2010

Half-way through my EVS in Asturias, Northern Spain, at Libelula Huerta (dragonfly market garden). It´s a community-supported agriculture project that grows vegetables for 22 families on the outskirts of Avilés, a small industrial port with about 80,000 inhabitants. Most of our work is in the garden, tending to the vegetables, harvesting and managing the soil. In the process we are learning all about agro-ecology (small scale, locally produced organics) and the need to re-skill a new generation in how to grow good nutritious food sustainably. We have also done a number of workshops with kids, sometimes in schools and sometimes in the garden - taking them round and showing them what a tomato plant looks, smells and feels like. I am also just about to embark upon giving a series of workshops on organic gardening, with the aim of creating a ´forest garden´in the centre of the city with a piece of land that the local council have granted us. Nervous doesnt even come close. I have no idea how it will turn out, nor if the trees will even survive the first winter!

I am here with another EVS volunteer from Italy, Arianna and another volunteer from England who has stuck around in Asturias and still helps out in the garden. Has been a great summer, with trips to the beach after work, hikes up into the stunning mountains to the south and long drawn out lunches (we always eat at the garden, cooking together after we finish at 1230). For the colder months I have just taken up a woodcarving course and have been to visit a baker in the mountains who has shown me all about artesanal breadmaking.

Would recommend highly this project. The values it promotes are focussed on a very practical aspect of social change: that of changing our diets and system of food production, and of becoming more politically aware of the implications of our choices and the way we organise society for what will become of our future.

Joe in Austria on EVS - 2010

So that's it - an entire year in Austria finished. It's hard to believe how quickly the time has flown by! My last week in Austria was fairly frenetic, spent as it was running my final project - an international youth exchange with 35 participants from 5 different countries. I don't think I've worked harder in a single week before, having to be on call and ready for any questions or problems from breakfast until bedtime; nor do I think I've ever enjoyed myself at work so much before! The young people taking part were absolutely brilliant, always ready to get fully involved in all the workshops and activities, and I made some really good new friends among the participants, colleagues and youth leaders. It was an absolute blast and the perfect way to mark the end of my time in Klagenfurt. I've attached a few pictures to give a flavour of the week.

After that, all that remained was to say goodbye and get on my plane back to London. What comes next? I hear you cry. Well, my plans are currently very open but I know one thing for sure - this definitely won't be my last international experience if I can help it. EVS has been a great opportunity to get a taste of life abroad, to learn new skills, meet new people and see new places. It's been an amazing learning experience and I can't wait to get out and explore even further!

Dana in France on EVS - 2010

Hello from La Rochelle! I’ve been here for 5 months now and the time has just flown by! I’m here volunteering for a community centre called ‘Le Pertuis’ in a quartier sensible [sensitive district] in La Rochelle. The people that live here are quite disadvantaged, and there are a lot of associations in the area that work with different parts of the community – children, adults, the elderly. My work at ‘Le Pertuis’ is quite varied, but I mostly work in their Social Café in the mornings and in their Children’s Centre in the afternoons. The Social Café is a little house in the local park that welcomes all members of the community for hot and cold (non-alcoholic) drinks during the day and late into the evening. As well as being a nice little place to drink coffee with friends, the café serves as the reception of the community centre, so visitors can become members of the centre and take part in activities and events organised by the centre. The Children’s Centre is a place for young people aged 11-17 to come to after school to play with friends, take part in activity clubs, get help with homework and to enjoy an afternoon snack. Last month I spent 11 days on a camp, organised by the Children’s Centre, with 22 children. The camp encouraged children to live with others in an environment of mutual respect, where each person participated in the different tasks (setting up and upkeep of the camp, cooking, cleaning etc.) that took place in the daily life of the camp.

Alongside this, the children took part in a number of activities. The camp was on a nearby island called île d’Oléron, which had stunning beaches. There, the children could try out surfing, catamaran sailing and land sailing. It was so great to see the children having so much fun, especially as many of them wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to try out activities like these – even a night out bowling was new to most of them.

The camp also gave me the opportunity to get to know the children a bit better, and for me that was really important. Both the café and children’s centre help to bring members of the community together, and it’s this that I really like about being here. I live in the district where I work, and I love walking around and knowing so many people in the community because I’ve served them a cup of coffee or because they’ve come by to the children’s centre for help with their English homework. ‘Le Pertuis’ also works with a number of other organisations in the area and I’ve met so many people from these organisations whilst working on joint projects. So, although not without its problems, the centre really does serve the community and being around French people all the time has definitely been a great help to me language-wise. Being in La Rochelle itself has also been great. When I got accepted onto the EVS project here I had no idea where La Rochelle was, and discovering that it’s a beautiful seaport with an annual average of sunlight hours that’s on a par with the Côte d’Azur has not been a disappointment!! Being from Birmingham, I’m in no way used to a beach lifestyle, but here the beach is like a second home! My actual home is a cosy apartment, where I currently live with a Polish EVS volunteer. When I first arrived there were 5 of us on EVS in La Rochelle (there are 3 of us now), and so it was really easy to meet people at beach picnics and cliff-diving contests! All the EVS volunteers here are also given bicycles by the host organisations, so it’s very easy to make the 10-minute journey into the centre to socialise or to just hang out on a bench and read.


Last week a group of us even cycled to île di Ré – another nearby island – cycling over the longest bridge in France! I really feel so lucky to be in such a beautiful place, working on a worthwhile project, and I can’t believe I’m already almost halfway through my EVS...