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Hi everyone! We are Concetta and Laura and we’re writing to you from Arad, in Romania. We “landed” here in November in 2016, to undertake the European Voluntary Service (EVS).
The choice wasn’t easy; it took us some time to research the perfect place and the perfect project. After a careful analysis and some interviews, we chose the six months project “VIP’S IN ACTION” (Visually Impaired Persons in Action), pointed to blind and partially sighted people. Our sending organization, “Attiva-mente” of Modica, took good care of us with daily support and formation.
During our “adventure”, we did various activities regarding the topic of our project. We promoted trough a social campaign some tips for becoming a good guide for blind people among high-school students. We created an online petition for pointing out the absence of sound signal in traffic lights (unfortunately, the streets still lack of them). We also did some workshops and cultural entertainment with disabled and non disabled children in primary and middle schools. We hoped we can spend more time with blind and partially sighted people but reality isn’t always up to our expectations. All in all, we’re very satisfied with our work.
Adaptation is essential to fully understand a complete different reality. We were lucky because both Romanian culture and language are very similar to ours and this made easier for us our integration with the locals. We also had chances to travel and visit Romania, using holidays and days off. In this way, we discovered Romania’s marvels, its people and traditions.
The EVS provided us with two trainings: an on arrival formation with the other volunteers landed in Romania in the same period, which we did in Sibiu, a beautiful city in the Transylvania’s region, and a mid-term training, an evaluation meeting of the first part of the project, which we did in another city of Transylvania, the beautiful Brasov. These activities gave us the chance to get to know better EVS’s traits and all the opportunities European Union offers to young people. At the same time, we meet youngsters from all around Europe, making possible a comparison between different cultures.
Working and sharing the apartment with the other volunteers is surely a complex yet fascinating experience. You have to adapt yourself to different cultures, foods and habits, forcing yourself to communicate in English. This experience allow us to increase our language skills, a competence we sure can use in the future.
The EVS is a unique experience. We highly suggest to all youngers to do it, especially for broaden your horizons and becoming independent.
Concetta Sergi and Laura Zubani
Translated by Maria Marra
