Paul

Oekraïne

Paul

9 maanden in Oekraïne

Mijn verhaal:

I worked primarily in project coordination, content creation for media and teaching. I manage a photography club, for a magazine, and blog, give intercultural language lessons and with administration and promotion. My final project was a 6 month research project called Uncovering Vinnytsia’s architectural heritage. Together with Vinnytsia History centre, Local Government and local Universities I lead a team that conducted, processed and translated interviews with local experts with the aim of publishing research through our partnering organizations.

I learnt many hard skills like photography, editing, book design and social media management. I also practised many soft skills mainly in people management, communication and working in online teams. I also learnt to teach and plan lessons while also getting university skills in researching the city’s history.

It was a good and interesting learning process and I am happy I participated. Though there were some things that I will differently look back at with frustration there were many joyous moments as well.

You can read more about it on my blog: My Journey as a ESC Volunteer in Vinnytsia (escvinnytsia.blogspot.com)

It was a good and interesting learning process and I am happy I participated

Hoe was je woonsituatie?

I lived in a shared flat with two other volunteers, we had water, internet and good heating. We shared a nice kitchen and bathroom and had separate rooms.

Hoe was het contact met de andere vrijwilligers?

The contact was good in the beginning however, with the arrival of the new volunteers the group dynamic changed and more conflicts arose as well as disruption to work flow and productivity.

Hoe kijk je terug op de trainingen waar je aan deelnam?

It was unhelpful and designed for children who just left home for the first time. Having to do these training was the biggest frustration of my whole project.

Waar moest je het meest aan wennen in het land waar je vrijwilligerswerk deed?

That people were late, unorganized and that personal connection and not merit was how work was done.

Hoe was je contact met Eastpackers?

Good, very supportive when I needed them to be. Issues solved quickly. Very happy to have had a Dutch sending organisation after hearing the stories of other volunteers.

Welk advies zou je toekomstige ESC'ers willen meegeven?

Take your time to enjoy the experience. Set goals but also let things happen. It’s really hard to plan anything and sometimes the things you don’t plan end up being the coolest aspects of the ESC experiences.