In that sunny white winter, Alexander climbed the mountain for the last time. He’d had to leave soon. This was his good-bye to those such wonderful mountains and green forests, familiar places, friends and family… his old life and old thoughts.  After three months on the road, backpacking through all the Europe, he’d be on the road again, this time with a purpose. A purpose that will change his life…a purpose that will change the life of all the people which he will encounter.

   He had his first contact with volunteering activities exactly two years ago, when together with an unknown multinational group, decided to make a great hiking trip for a weekend in Carpathian Mountains. There is where those people all around the world talked about ideas, ways of living, ordinary people with simple lives, but with amazing ideas about freedom, most of them volunteers or nomads that ‘get lost’ in Romania, people that want to bring their contribution for the world to be a better place. In that moment he realized that he wants to be more, he wanted to be like them, the moment when he realized that in order to do that he will have to break the corporatist chains, and get out of the crowd, get out of the society with its strict and stupid rules and let himself evolve. That was the moment for a change. So right after that amazing experience, he got involved in some volunteering activities around Brasov city, together with seven European volunteers, who would later become his friends. Together with them he could rediscover his city, his country but more than this, he could rediscover himself among them.
Finally, when the time came, Alexander quit his job and left to the sunny island of Cyprus. For one month, together with volunteers from Romania, Italy, Slovenia, France and Cyprus they were helping the villagers to pick up their products in the fields, they were helping them to cook traditional Cypriot products, they were painting stables, but moreover, they were helping to develop themselves into better persons and to promote that further around them, to make the world a better place, for them and for the others. When he was back on Romanian soil, he understood how happy you can be when you are living a simple life and when you are enjoying the little things. So this is how he decided to get lost in the small Europe. With a small amount of money but with a big heart and lots of hope, with a backpack, a sleeping bag and a tent, he started the journey of more than 10 000 km…only by hitchhiking.

That was the begging of his new life, but the real story was just about to happen.

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-I would have a croissant and a coffee please, he said, while he was starting the integration process in the French culture without knowing it.

-Can you please put your seatbelt monsieur! We are preparing for landing.

“God, those air-guardians they can see everything! “

  Although it was the beginning of March, the weather in Paris was warm, the fields were green, the people were nice and the french language it was tickling his ears. All of this was reminding him the beautiful adventures he had passed through in this marvelous country, not so long time ago.

    Dijon was even nicer, a place that fit perfectly to his needs. As it’s a medium size city, Dijon is one of the most appealing cities in France. Filled with elegant medieval and Renaissance buildings, the lively center is wonderful for strolling, especially if you like to leaven your cultural enrichment with excellent food, fine wine and shopping.

   “On va se voir plutôt just a côté de la boulangerie” was the message he just received on his phone, which in his translation was: “Probably we will see each other somewhere in an undetermined period of time in an unknown place for you”. This and the bomb alert that just happened in Gare Ville de Dijon while he was in the arriving  train it was what intrigued him even more. But the hope that in a very near future he could speak with some completely strangers in an unknown language, strangers that later they will become his new friends.

    This is how the beginning of Alexander’s adventures as an EVS volunteer for the City Hall of Dijon started.

 What is EVS thing, you might wonder!?  The acronym refers to the European Voluntary Service. This is a program set up by the European Union to promote youth mobility. Especially for this famous lost generation Y, who’s hanging on their smartphones all day long. If their flaws start from a foundation of truth, for Alexander was impossible to deny the effect of the meetings he was able to do across the continent, meetings that have given serious ass kicking to the prejudices that he had himself.

    Meetings, small projects, big projects, conferences and seminaries, unknown people that he will meet, all of this things will change Alexander’s perspective about the world, will change his life principles and his way of living.

  Finally meeting the coordinator of the project at the train station after one hour and a half delay of the train was the best thing that happened the all day. After a weird French-English conversation, he manage to find out the first things about Dijon.  Exhausted but really excited about the new city that will adopt him for the next seven months, finally he found the peace in his new bed, in his new house. A new day in a new city, in a new country was just about to start.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

   Six months passed like the wind and here he was, again, at the beginning of a new adventure. No fixed destination, just the road in front of him. Six months living a new life, with new friends, old friends and…future friends!

  You might wonder if it worth it!?  It totally did. He discovered within himself new skills that he had no idea before, skills that he could use and apply in a totally different language. He felt in love with an amazing girl…a happy story with a sad end, again! But they will meet for sure at some point in their life and they will rememorize their summer love. They lived!

 “It is amazing how this experience can change you” he’s saying. “If I would have the chance again I would totally do it one more time. Living alone or with other volunteers, being on the road traveling with friends or unknown people, all of this improve your social skills and your self-confidence. You get out of this experience a brand new person, richer, for sure not wealthier, but happier, that you brought your small contribution to the world, to make it a better place”

The bottom line of this story is: DO your own EVS project! Write your own EVS story!

By doing so, you will change people’s life without knowing it, and they will change yours. Take the challenges and use them in a constructive way, build something. Go above your limits and you will grow. Use your skills to do well, use other people’s skills for making yours better. Share and receive wisdom, share and receive kindness, that’s all about being a volunteer!!

That is the road…to another me! A better ME! 

*  Alexander :  Latinized form of the Greek name Αλεξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant “defending men” from Greek αλεξω (alexo) ”to defend, help” and ανηρ (aner) ”man” (genitive ανδρος). In Greek mythology this was another name of the hero Paris.

More to discover about Andrei’s EVS journey:

http://www.erasmusplus-jeunesse.fr/blog/192/17/La-chronique-d-Andrei-un-jeune-volontaire-europeen-a-Dijon.html

https://www.facebook.com/914304171923509/videos/939649966055596/

The second step was selecting the fitting ideas and search for a way to promote them; that field was fitting my graphic skills, so I had the chance to create poster, flyers, header events and of course set up the design of the brand new Mirakolix blog http://cdjmirakolix.blogspot.ro/.

We finally started our activities: I’ve been the master of two different work-out workshops per week (one high intensity interval training and another one based on strenght skills), and of course i helped with the other activities, that were:

-Cineforum (all year long)

-Spanish lessons

-Body percussions

-Board game nights (in team with the volunteers of the other Mirakolix’s projects)

-Slacklining workshops (just during summer)

-international cooking (with the Mirakolix’s group “Inside Reshape”)

Of course during that period we didn’t stop communication: at each event we took photos and posted them on FB, with a brief description of our adventures; another good experience was  when we went to several schools to have my workout workshops and promote EVS and our activities.

When spring arrived, we set up an outdoor event called Brasov De Poveste  in collaboration with the volunteers of the other Mirakolix projects; We had the chance to have slacklining, games and DOY workshops in parks, and these events granted us a big participation.

For the Main event of the Year (Ceva de Vara Festival) I did a huge communication work, passing by flyers, posters, email banners and of course facebook, with the Ceva De Vara page.

The 2 Ceva de Vara days (18-19 –July) were for sure the highest peak in my developing process; except helping with the organization of it, I had 2 workout workshops per day, integrating the help of  the teenagers of Brasov Street workout, and I also could have every days some face painting sessions: it was really nice to communicate with children while painting on there faces anymals and monsters!!!

For the dissemination part i couldn’t do a lot  -since I’m leaving before the EVS end-, but  i provided some descriptions of what I did for the website and I will of course write articles for my sending organization blog; i will also have chance to make some speech in Bologna for people interested in doing an EVS.

Overall it was a wonderful experience, and I feel that we fulfilled the main aims of the project.

Brasov,               12/08/2015

Although I was born in Barcelona, I feel a citizen of the world, perhaps because I have been living also in Belgium and China. I did an Erasmus programme in Antwerpen, Belgium for a semester, and an intensive 3-weeks English course in Dublin. I have also been living and working in China for almost 2 years, where I started to host a weekly CouchSurfing meeting with two friends, and where I met people from different countries and cultures.

I was monitor in a scout group for 4 years and a half, with children and teenagers from 5 to 16 years old, dynamising activities with educational background.

I consider myself a pro-active and responsible person, eager to learn and to help in everything I can, who enjoys working in an international and multicultural environment. My philosophy consist on trying to change the world and leave it better than how we found it.

I love travelling, hiking, reading, meeting people from different countries and discovering different cultures.

It’s only few days since I came back to Barcelona after my 12-months EVS project called “Inside Journey” which took place in Braşov. At the beginning we were 4 international volunteers from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Catalonia, although for different reasons we lost some members on the way.

To be honest, when I landed in Romania I didn’t know so much about the country, its traditions… (in 3 weeks I applied to the last call, did a Skype interview, got accepted to join the team, signed all the documents needed, packaged my luggage and flew to Dracula’s land). However, I guess it was better, as I didn’t have time to create expectations and I could enjoy better this amazing experience that the EVS is.

Besides “Inside Journey”, there were other 2 projects in Mirakolix: “Inside Ride”(IR) and “Reshape Urban Places”(RUP), with whom we collaborated in different activities and events. So suddenly you found 12 volunteers from 7 different nationalities, new in the city, with different expectations, backgrounds and habits, but willing to enjoy and take advantage of the 11 months of their EVS in Braşov. With the time passing, we became a family and we were spending more and more time together in the terrace, sharing nice dinners, hiking and travelling around Romania…

The beginning of our stage was a little unclear as we didn’t have a fixed target group, so we went to different high-schools to introduce Mirakolix and the activities we were planning to start. Maria mastered a body percussion workshop (with its Christmas flash mob) and Mirco trained us and other youngsters in his work’out. Also, played different board-games and traditional games from the different countries we are from and we learned new techniques of handicrafts within the “Sezatori Urbane” of RUP.

The new year came with lots of new activities: we watched movies and documentaries in the cineforum and discussed them with Thomas and Pierre; Mirco added a strength workout to the conditioning workin’out; we discovered the gastronomy and traditions of different countries in the International cooking workshop I was doing with RUP; I started to run Spanish lessons for beginners; Thomas and I did different team-building games and emotional intelligence activities with youngsters in Colegiul Grigore Moisil, and I collaborated with IR for the hiking day in Întorsura.

Also, when the warm of the spring arrived at Braşov, all three projets went to the park to do different activities and workshops, as well as to play some board-games and to walk on the slackline, as a previous step to the 2^nd edition of the festival Ceva de Vara.    

During 4 days, Eglé and I organized the Fest-camp in Acriş, in which local volunteers from Braşov, Întorsura Buzăului and Predeal took care of the decoration and the area of the festival while sharing a nice experience, building new friendships and enjoying the nights around a bonfire.

Just after the camp, it took place in Întorsura Buzăului the second edition of Ceva de Vara, a two-days alternative festival in which more than 750 guests had the chance to play board-games, do different handicrafts and active workshops, do an orienteering and bike contests, climb a tower of beer boxes and cross the area of the festival in a zip-line, relax in tires-seats or slack-line and enjoy different performances and concerts. It was a lot of preparation but the result was a success and many local volunteers were already asking for a next edition.

To sum up the three projects (IJ, IR and RUP) we adapted the idea of “Braşov de poveste” into “EVS de poveste: the story of international volunteers”, where we challenged our guests to experience different activities and workshops in the different lands that represented the different stages of our EVS and the projects. 

Finally, in September, when the other volunteers left Braşov, I wrote the youth exchange project “Traditions cross the borders” with the help of Alex. With that project I wanted to bring to Romania a space where young people from different European countries could experience outdoor activities to promote Cultural Identity, Multiculturality, Participation and Volunteering.

Looking backwards I realize that I did many things in the last twelve months, I’ve learned a lot about myself and also new skills, and I’ve met a lot of people from around the world (my “Brasovian” family, volunteers who were doing their EVS around Romania, people who were attending the CS meetings I was organizing, and the youngsters from Braşov, Întorsura Buzăului and Predeal who came to our events, the camps and the festival Ceva de Vara). Moreover, I had the chance to visit many places in Romania, to hike different hills and to enjoy the amazing landscapes that Romania offers.

This is an experience that I’ll never forget and that I would repeat without hesitating. Because I fell in love of this country and its people, and I’m looking forward to come back again!

My name is Thomas, I am 27 years old.

In the morning after brushing my teeth, checking my mail and playing some online chess, I refrain from having a breakfast because I seldom feel hungry in the morning.

In the shower I use a deep pore cleanser lotion and a honey almond body scrub. On the rare occasions I do shave my beard, I use a after shave lotion with little or no alcohol because alcohol dries the skin and makes you look older.

While I prepare the rest of my routine I listen to music, “Stabat Mater” by Pergolesi and parts of the “Mattheus Passion” by Bach are among my favorites.

Ideally after that I would cycle to work and enjoy the hot Romanian sun.

My passions are about:

-       Cycling

-       Music

-       Literature

-       History

-       Chess

Sounds depressive? No, it’s not. EVS gave me an opportunity to work with youngsters and I discovered that I like it. I had work in office and I had work with people, and I discovered that I like it. It gave me opportunity to hike in mountains and travel around, and I discovered that I like it. It also gave me opportunity to learn a bit of new language, and I like that one as well.­

]]> http://mirakolix.org/2015/09/10/maija-skripste-letonia/feed/ 0 http://mirakolix.org/2015/09/10/daniel-hofmann-germania/ http://mirakolix.org/2015/09/10/daniel-hofmann-germania/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2015 10:40:38 +0000 http://mirakolix.org/?p=4381 Continue reading →]]> The European voluntary service has been a great experience for me and I am very happy about the decision to come to Romania and discover this to me unknown country. We started with settling and getting comfortable in our new home, new to all of us international volunteers. Discovering Brasov and its surroundings already made me aware of the impressing beauty of the place where we were going to spend the next 11 months. I quickly realized that I enjoy living together with the other volunteers, sharing consciously and unconsciously our cultures, languages and personalities. This made it much easier to find my place here in a new country and environment, far away from family, friends or everyday life in Germany. Soon, we started to also get to know our project environment, a smaller town called Intorsura Buzaului near Brasov. Working here with teenagers and children of different age groups taught me a lot of flexibility and an open attitude. It was great for me to discover differences and similarities between the people and conditions in a big city like Brasov compared to a remote town. I got the feeling to really grasp life reality in my host country with its many different facets. The time flew with our regular activities and when it got warmer and warmer and the days longer, it was time to think more about another aim that we as volunteers had set ourselves: to organize a summer festival with the name Ceva de Vara. This moment of working together with all 9 volunteers demanded a lot of structure and communication among each other but after the long preparation phase, we all could see the result, curious and happy people, giving our activities a go and experiencing a new kind of spending leisure time for them. With this in mind, I can happily prepare myself to leave after 11 incredibly eventful and perspective-changing months. I had the possibility to discover and experience situations which give me more self-confidence and plenty of new ideas for what there is to come in my future.

Since, I came to Romania; I couldn’t stop wondering. Firstly, about the group of volunteers with whom I lived and worked. New fellows were from different countries, with various experiences to share and stories to tell. So that was already everyday learning process. Secondly, the big wondering was coming after traveling around Romania – it is so beautiful and diverse country. With its friendly people, various landscape, rich culture. Thirdly, the EVS opportunity itself let me to understand that there is a possibility to realize ideas that I have in mind and those ideas are worth to realize. Only if I really want it. Before I came here I was feeling aware about who I am and what do I want, but after experience in Romania, I have to admit, that I had to learn many things about my own way of being, how I see things, how do I work, how I react. To say things in 1 sentence, this year was fool of learning everyday about various topics, because that was very different surrounding from the one I was used before.