Laura shares her experience as an MTV for Volunteers' Week 2014

Laura shares her experience in a Montessorri Kindergarten in Vienna from Feb-June 2013

 "I spent 5 months living and volunteering in Vienna, Austria in 2013. I worked in a kindergarten for children under 7 years. Although I had a lot of experience working with children beforehand, the experience really broadened my views. I had to quickly adapt my ways and teaching methods to suit Montessorri values. It was hard to take a step back and observe at first, but after a few weeks I was settled in and felt like part of the team. One of my main roles was to speak to the children in English at all times. This one was of the hardest challenges, as the more I learnt German myself, the more I wanted to practice it! At first, the children thought I was very strange, as to them I made no sense! But by the end of the project it was so rewarding to hear them speaking little phrases and responding to questions I asked them in english. I felt so valued to know this was all down to me and my perseverance! We went on regular trips to local parks, museums and even the zoo. This helped me to find my bearings around the city, and the more beautiful tourist attractions. 

I got to learn a new language for the first time, and met people from all over the world. I lived with Italian, German and Spanish students, and later shared a room with a Moldovan girl, whom I am still good friends with.

I am now applying to paid positions abroad, and feel my experience with Concordia and Grenzenlos has enhanced my CV, whilst giving me the courage and confidence to go anywhere in the world! In a few weeks I am off to stay with a friend in Berlin that I met whilst on the project. I spent new year in Wales with a Welsh friend I met in Vienna, and am hoping to re-visit the beautiful city in the autumn (before the snow starts!). Thanks to everyone at Concordia and Grenzenlos for giving me this life changing experience."

Laura 2014

Alistair in Austria on EVS - 2011

sJust as I thought, the first few months of my EVS Project has been a true roller coaster and a mixture of highs and lows.

From my journey down to the Concordia office in Brighton to the many train journeys I have enjoyed in Austria, it has all been a great challenge so far.

Duties at the youth centre include playing video games with the teenagers who can freely drop-by whenever they want (when the youth point is open!),chatting with them (in German) and generally being there for them. They really appreciate having somewhere they can come to meet their friends and to relax.

In my free time I find myself often cycling along next to Lake Wörthersee, the most popular lake in all of Austria. I have also taken to climbing up a couple of mountains here in the beautiful Alpine air and who can miss Monday night’s show, “die Millionenshow”, Austria’s version of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’, I never miss it for sure when I have a say over it!

As I write this in mid-October, the sun is shining once again and the trees have a lovely colour. The only problem now is deciding where to cycle to in this bike-friendly country.

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!

Joe in Austria on EVS - 2010

A little over three months from my last update, and I'm now on the home stretch of my EVS. The major item to report since then is that the application for the youth exchange that I described in my last post was accepted by the Austrian National Agency for Youth in Action and will definitely be going ahead. We'll be working with partner organisations in Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary and will be hosting 35 participants in total, so it's going to be a big project. In fact it's only now that I've really sat down and considered what needs to be done that I'm able to appreciate just how big! It's daunting, but I'm excited about the challenge too. The fact that it will be taking place in my very last week in Klagenfurt means my EVS will be finishing with a bang.


In terms of what's been going on outside my project, by far the most interesting event was my television debut. The local TV station in Carinthia were filming an EU-themed quiz show and as part of this wanted to include a citizen from a different EU country on each participating team. They got in touch with my boss, who forwarded the email to me, and next thing I knew I was in front of the cameras answering questions with Irmgard and Max, a pair of medieval re-enactment enthusiasts whose team I'd been assigned to. The best part? We won! The prize was a holiday to Brussels, which I got back from last Saturday. That in itself was an interesting experience, in that I got a tour of the Parliament, sat in on a meeting and even got to meet an MEP. I appreciate this all sounds very far-fetched, but the attached picture will show that I'm not fibbing. The whole experience definitely has to rank as one of the most unusual and memorable things that has ever happened to me, and just goes to show that an EVS project is anything but predictable...


See Joe on TV again reporting on his trip to Brussels: http://kaernten.orf.at/magazin/studio/fernsehen/stories/453527/

Joe is spending 12 months on a European Voluntary Service (EVS) project in Austria. If you are aged 18-30 and would like to spend 6-12 months volunteering in Europe: http://www.concordiavolunteers.org.uk/volunteering-overseas/european-voluntary-service/how-to-apply/ to find out more.

Joe in Austria on EVS - 2010

Back in Klagenfurt after my mid-term meeting in Innsbruck, it seems hard to believe that I'm already halfway through my EVS. However the six month mark seems like a good time to stop and take stock of what has happened so far.

After a slow start I've settled into my project and now have plenty to occupy me. I work for the youth department of the regional government, which is responsible for coordinating the various strands of the Youth In Action programme on a local level - not just hosting or sending EVS volunteers but also helping to organise youth initiatives and democracy projects. They also run several of their own initiatives outside of this, such as debating and music contests. I'm mainly involved in promoting and contributing to Youth In Action, but my host organisation has also taken care to give me an insight into a wide range of work areas, as well as giving me the opportunity to run my own project - a youth exchange based on the events of the 10th of October 1920, which was an important date for the region. After the first world war, Carinthia was invaded by the forces of what would later become Yugoslavia who wished to absorb the Slovenian speaking minority living in the south of the province into their territories. The Carinthians mounted a defence, but it was only when the League of Nations stepped in that the conflict was resolved through a referendum, whereby the Slovenian-speaking areas would be able to choose whether to remain part of Austria or to be united with the rest of Slovenia and the other Balkan countries. On October 10th 1920 they voted to stay with Austria, and as a result this display of unity is commemorated locally every year.

Politically, however, this is still a sensitive topic, as tensions still persist between the Slovenian and German speaking communities. The situation is not helped by the fact that the current ruling party in the regional government is very conservative - even right-wing - in outlook. This is after all the very region where controversial politician Jörg Haider was elected to power. However it has been completely fascinating to get an insight into the political and social landscape and to be offered the opportunity to make a difference by encouraging young people to think critically about themes such as democracy, minorities and social inclusion. Personally also it should be an exciting challenge, as I have next to no experience of organising events of this kind!



All that is still in the pipeline, but even now I can look back and see how much I have learned. Although I already knew some German before I came out here, I am already speaking far more fluently than when I arrived and have made a similar improvement in terms of my listening skills too. I've been put into (and coped with!) a number of challenging situations - from spending a morning entertaining 100 ten-year-olds to giving speeches in German at EVS publicity events in front of live audiences. I've made friends from all over the world and travelled to so many interesting places. In short, I've already gained so much from my time in Austria so far, and am excited to see what else is in store!

Joe's arrival to EVS in Austria - 2009

"Doing an EVS really makes you feel part of an international community, and already I feel like I'm making some great friendships through it."

Hello all, my name's Joe and I'm currently doing my EVS project in the town of Klagenfurt, Austria, where I'm working for 12 months in the office of the Landesjugendreferat Kärnten - the youth department of the regional government. I got here at the beginning of September, and was welcomed by Heidi, my boss and mentor, who picked me up from the airport and showed me to my accommodation before taking me out to try some of the local cuisine (which is amazing, I hasten to add!). I'm living in a student hall attached to the university in the town, and my room is basically a small studio flat - bedroom, bathroom and a little cooking area are all included.

At the project so far I'm mainly helping out in and around the office, doing odd admin tasks related to the office's work as the EVS sending organisation for this part of Austria. I'm in the fortunate position of having studied German before, so the language isn't posing too many difficulties - although I am having a bit of trouble getting the hang of the local dialect, which is idiosyncratic to say the least. I've also had the opportunity to take a 3 week language course at the university, which was really useful and has also helped me make friends among the Erasmus students studying here. The hall where I live is very international, full of students from across the world, and it's been really interesting to get to know them all. I've also been attending far too many dodgy student parties, but that's neither here nor there...

I've also managed to do a bit of travelling, with visits to Graz, Salzburg and most recently Vienna for my on-arrival training. The latter especially was really rewarding, as I got to meet volunteers from all over Europe working across Austria. Doing an EVS really makes you feel part of an international community, and already I feel like I'm making some great friendships through it.

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“Paths of life”, ciononstructing hiking paths stats in Austria - Summer 2005

The ‘Paths of Life’ project in Styria, Austria, offered the chance to live and work with people from all over the world, including local youth and disadvantaged people, with the purpose of constructing hiking path stations. We were in charge of 2 stations; a small part of a large hiking path which was designed in the shape of a human figure. The main station formed the elbow section, and we had to dig a really big hole to stand a huge stone sculpture in.
The sculpture was designed as an outdoor water basin in which you could dip your elbows following a hard days hiking as it is supposed to be a good cure for headaches.
When we weren’t getting muddy, we were getting hot (the weather was lovely) and covered in paint, as we’d been asked to clean and paint the water hydrants in the local area. Consequently there are now some very fine efforts ranging from a variety of influences (postmodernism, free love and ‘Finding Nemo’) (!) to brightening up the village.

(Fay posing behind her piece of art!)




















Although I grew quite fond of my spade and shovel, I found the work on the project was the least challenging or rewarding part of the experience. Far more important was being able to live and work together with 12 people from different countries who had never met before. Whilst the facilities in the hostel offered squash, tennis, internet access and a reliable source of ice cream, we slept on the floor in the old sauna with a small outside kitchen. Initially, it was quite a bizarre experience, with not much room for personal space. After a while I got into routine, and developed affection for the marathon snorer who I discover (thankfully) has other things to offer too.

As well as getting to know people individually I also had an education in culture and best of all, in foreign food. I can’t cook and I was put to shame by some of the delicious national dishes other volunteers made for the group to try. In our free time we swam in the local open-air swimming pool, visited the beautiful Styrian capital Graz and were encouraged to get to know the picturesque region we were staying. I did this through working for the local people and exploring it by bike. The locals made us feel welcome and the Mayor baked us fresh bread every morning. I feel privileged to have been part of the mini-community of the Austrian work camp and have fond memories of work and leisure but especially of the lovely people who contributed to it.


(Fay Crowther, Austria 2005)

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