The end is nigh….

Do you remember our EVS volunteer in Romania? Catch up on her story below...

I write this blog entry just as I am about to leave for my last travels around Romania, across the country to explore the Danube Delta and (finally) its capital Bucharest.

All project activities with the kids came to a close at the end of last week. The final two weeks of the summer camps were devoted to primary school aged children in the villages. For the most part, it was a lot of fun-particularly the first week, where we were in sole charge of the kids.

The first week and into the second we prepared (quite last minute but thankfully successfully) activities with the theme ‘Discover Europe’, with the aim to introduce the children to the culture, history, geography and language (a little) of different European countries. The first day was focused on Romania and we then branched out to present our own countries and others.  I was in charge of British and Romanian culture, as well as preparing French activities-for the Romanian activities we decorated clothing patterns, made bookmarks and vampire masks amongst other things, and in the British activities included split-pin soldiers (thanks Mihai for finding them!) and loo-roll bagpipers. In the afternoons we played fun games outside and in with the kids.

The second week was slightly disappointing in comparison as we were slightly usurped by another lady running a camp-to her credit she managed to hold the attention of 60 kids with her voice, however a little less shouting at the youngest kids wouldn’t have gone amiss. Despite only assisting for some of the week, we still had fun being with the children, accompanying them on walks around the village and teaching them English and German songs.

The rest of our time in the week was filled with cleaning the flat before the imminent departure of two of the long termers the beginning of this week-(cleaning a kitchen thoroughly takes a long time but I was successful at getting the grime off the oven) as well as recording and filming for our end-of project music video to present in the closing event. With ingenious lyrics by our resident song-writer Mathias, improved singing to last time and an easier rhythm, as well as some fun scenes to accompany the music, I think it fair to say, it was a success and our audience were thoroughly entertained!

The week culminated in the closing event in which we presented on our EVS experiences and a meal followed at the weekend by a full-blown trip of Maramures all together featuring a chance to try on traditional Romanian clothes, a horse and carriage ride and hike to the Horses Waterfall in Borsa as well as a delicious meal in a shepherd’s hut in the mountains.

Thanks for organising AIST staff-was a lovely way to spend our last few days together as a full team

Annika Mathews

Barney Smith's project in Romania

Walking Wounded in Romania

My route to this year’s international volunteer project in Cluj Napoca, Romania, was as exciting as it was unconventional. Keen to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, the only former Yugoslav republic where I had yet to step foot, I found a cheap Ryanair flight to Zadar in neighbouring Croatia a few days before my project was due to start. Two bus journeys later I was in Sarajevo and had soon checked into my night’s accommodation with a local couple in their city centre apartment. As I strolled in this quiet, low-key, almost provincial capital city, it was hard to believe that this was the scene of so many atrocities in the violent break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Eight decades earlier it was another death in Sarajevo – the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria – which would be one of the main causes of the start of the First World War. As the reassuringly familiar sound of the call to prayer echoed around the city at the end of an afternoon of sight-seeing, I was reminded that this country boasts one of Eastern Europe’s largest Muslim populations.

From Sarajevo I took an overnight bus to Belgrade, a city I knew well from last year’s international volunteer project, the renovation of a school in Kragujevac, Serbia’s fourth largest city. From Belgrade I took the daily train to the Romanian city of Timisoara before boarding a connecting train to that country’s fourth largest city, Cluj Napoca. After a well-earned rest I met up with the two Italian group leaders and the other volunteers: as well as a fellow Brit there were participants from France, Germany, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. Our work consisted of organising and supervising activities for children mostly from poor families at a centre which was funded by the European Union and located in one of the city’s more deprived suburbs: these varied from table tennis to origami, from painting to English lessons, from Monopoly to football. There were also day-trips: to the city’s Central Park, as well as to the Botanical Garden with over 10,000 plants from throughout the world. We were joined at the centre by the Romanian staff, as well as by long-term volunteers from Azerbaijan and Germany. Despite the poverty of the children’s families, there was never any hint of envy, nor did we have any worries about showing valuables such as cameras. We encountered only friendliness, humour, helpfulness and an overwhelming sense of hospitality.

It was during one the football sessions that I was left in agony by a tackle which went badly wrong. For the next week I was limping and had to get used to the idea of limited mobility. As I looked around enviously at people walking or running effortlessly, I saw this as another reminder that physical fitness can never be taken for granted. Three years earlier I experienced a far more powerful example of this. That summer I left for the first of three consecutive international volunteer projects in Turkey. Little did I know as I waved good-bye to my mother from a National Express coach on a rainy Friday afternoon in June in the English seaside town of Dover that on my return she would be fighting for her life in the Intensive Care Unit at London’s King's College Hospital, a life which, tragically, would be cut short by cancer nine months later.

As in any Romanian city, there were constant reminders in Cluj Napoca of the country’s revolution, from the 21 December 1989 Boulevard, named after the day soldiers opened fire on protesters opposed to the regime of dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu who would be toppled and executed days later, to the Anti-Communist Resistance Monument which stands proudly next to the city’s Central Park. During the project we made the most of our opportunities to experience Romanian culture and visit the local area. On the first Sunday we hired two cars and drove to the Turda Salt Mine, one of the largest such mines in Europe. Later we escaped the summer heat by swimming in a nearby lake. The second weekend, as I nursed my horribly bruised toe in some of Cluj Napoca’s coffee shops and pavement cafés, made my first steps in learning Romanian and listened to podcasts downloaded from the BBC World Service, most of the other volunteers visited the cities of Sighişoara, considered by many to have the most beautiful and well-preserved inhabited citadel in Europe, and Braşov, widely known as the Jewel of Romania.

As I boarded my Wizz Air flight home, I reflected on how, in the era of budget airlines, international travel has become so much easier and more affordable than it once was. What a delight it is to be able to print your boarding pass in the comfort of your own home the day before, and to be able to go straight to the gate on the day of the flight. Whatever the occasional discomfort of budget travel, these airlines have undoubtedly made a huge contribution to bringing the peoples of Europe together.

As I start my sixth year as an expatriate teacher in Kuwait, I look forward to my next international volunteer project with excitement and enthusiasm. Who knows, I might even be persuaded to play football again. But maybe next time I’ll stay in goal.

Barney Smith, volunteer in Romania, 2010

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Linden Farrer - EVS update from Romania

Linden is in Romania for one year on an EVS project, this is his second update:

We are now just over half way through the archaeological project. The weather here is baking most days, and I have had the chance to meet loads of people from all over Europe. In addition I have been helping out with archaeological work which I enjoy a lot, and have made some great friends. My Romanian is still at a basic level, but I can get by well enough with what I know.

The city now feels like home, having visited most nearby cities and checked out almost all of the restaurants and bars that the city offers. It is a nice place to live, generally quite relaxed, though there are definitely some things that I miss from the UK: live music (bands), club nights that don't play Phil Collins, Indian food, and my bike!

The main project, Citadora, has been a great experience for most of us and in particular the short term volunteers who come for a month. Many of them are in in tears at the prospect of leaving Oradea. But for us long-term volunteers who are co-ordinating the activities it has also been very challenging.

Apart from the long hours (that we usually make up by taking mornings off work), there is also the relentless pace of meeting new people, getting to know them, and then saying goodbye to them with almost no break before the next camp begins. So we get to make some great friends, on an almost monthly basis, and then say goodbye to them. In a way it is the year of
goodbyes: firstly saying goodbye to the people in England, and then saying goodbye to people all summer long!

Some of our team found that they didn't like the experience of living in Romania and felt homesick and longed for family and friends. Others have found the work too stressful. So our team of co-ordinators has gone from eight to four in just one month, which has been a bit of a shock.

The four of us who are left though work really well together though. And now that we have completed two workcamps we know exactly what it is that we need to do. In fact the pace of work has slowed to a much more pleasant pace, and we're able to cut our hours down. Later next month we are going to a festival in nearby Hungary, and I am planning a trip through the Balkans in September, partly with friends from England, and possibly partly on my own. This should be really exciting because all of the people I have met from the Balkan region have been great fun and it is an area that I have never been to before.

Linden at work











Click here for a country profile of Romania

EVS in Romania

Linden Farrer is in Romania on an EVS project. He is going to be there for 12 months. This is his first account of life as an EVS volunteer in Romania:

I've been in Romania now for just over a month – and I can't believe how much I have done already. It's May the 1^st – a national holiday here – and I now have some time to write something.

The project I am volunteering for is based in the city of Oradea. It's a city on the border of Hungary, a couple of hours drive from Transyvania plus the cities of Sibiu, and Cluj Napoca. Although it's about the same size as Brighton, it has a completely different feel – far less nightlife, but a really good public transport system, lots of parks, and quite a relaxed and laid-back feel to it. I already feel I know my way confidently around the city, and am looking forward to discovering some of the more hidden away places that I have heard about, and see some local bands.

I am working with a team of volunteers from quite a range of countries: Georgia, Albania, Portugal, Austria and Denmark. Because I am staying for a year, I am involved in more than one project, but the main one that I am working with the others on is quite enough as it is. In just less than a week about 18 other volunteers arrive from all over Europe to begin archaeological digging at the local 'citadel' (fortress) for a month; they will be followed by three other groups of the same size, with the last digging volunteers going home at the end of August. Our longer-term team has to coordinate activities for them, and make sure that they have everything they need to survive for their month's stay.

In between planning sessions, and securing accommodation, we have been organising visas, debates in schools about the citadel, a sports day, and a whole range of other activities that are supposed to attract the attention of a total of 20,000 people. It seems ambitious at the moment, but at least we are busy. On top of this we have Romanian language lessons out of work time plus the homework. Although most of us like the challenge of learning a new language – and Romanians are really understanding of mistakes – it would be nicer to be able to get by on a survival basis from the start because it is harder to meet people when you cannot speak a word. Nevertheless, it's a personal challenge to see how far I can go (from zero knowledge) in one year!

In addition to settling into life here, our team visited the region of Maramureş which borders the Ukraine in the north of the country. Here we got the chance to see some spectacular scenery, stay at a local guesthouse and eat a farmers breakfast and dinner (accompanied, as all meals are there, with the locally distilled palinka), and visit monasteries and the harrowing prison at Sighet where opponents of the communist regime were kept out of public sight. I've also had the opportunity to travel to Craiova in the south of the country to visit some people I met last year while on holiday, and as a group we plan more visits to other nearby cities in the next couple of months.

With our main project hitting the ground (running or not) in less than a week I think the next month will bring lots more experiences and be lots more fun. I'll try and write more then.

Click here for a country profile of Romania