Portraits of volunteers (9)

Meeting. Appreciating, loving each other (or not!). Sharing this incredible adventure that is our EVS in Moldova. And returning enriched by all these meetings.

I decided to keep a mark of all these faces through a collection of  portraits and interviews which echos my own questionings. Family portrait.

 

Rosa, 18 years old, Karlsruhe (Germany), Weltwärst 11 months

Can you explain what you were doing before Moldova?

I just finished high school, and I was doing a lot of stuff unofficially (culture work and things like it).

Why did you decide to do a voluntary service and why in Moldova?

I wanted to work in a social field, because I've done this before, but not really officially. I wanted to do something that I could do without qualifications and without money. So I realized that I could do a voluntary service, and Moldova just happened. I looked on the Internet, and found a nice sending organization. They had a project I liked that was in Moldova. I googled Moldova, and really liked it, because it seemed… strange.

What was your project in Moldova ?

I worked in integrative day centre, for people with disabilities but also without. Mainly, people with disabilities come there in the day for activities. When it's not holidays, kids from an orphanage which is also a school come there after school, three days a week. A big part of my job was to do little art craft, stitching, little animals, things like this. We also did some sport sometimes with the kids with disabilities. We had some game days and had a lot of "sarbatoare" (parties). And the biggest thing for me was that I did a theatre workshop with them: once a week, I met with disable children and we made theatre together. First we did some exercises and then we created a piece out of stories from the kids. We showed this to some little groups, it was nice!

What will you do when you will be back? This EVS changed something about your plans for the future?

I will probably study sociology with something else, in Germany. I applied but don't know yet. Because of this EVS, I met a lot of people through travelling, through Moldovan people and volunteers, that have different lifestyle than what is usual in Germany. Everything is not so normative (you go to school, you study, you do this, you have children, you buy house). I never wanted to have this, but for the first time I got in contact with a lot of people who have a different lifestyle.

What are your dreams for your future?

I don't know, I want to go somewhere where I can be useful and I really want to continue what I always did with squatting and things like this (subculture and all these stuff). I also would like to re experience this in different places of the world because I figured it's very different than in Germany, and I liked it better in some places. Maybe one day I'll go on a farm and live with some people and do this kind of stuff… maybe in the north of Moldova.

What will you remember from this experience ?

I think I will remember all the things that I liked, more than the things that I didn't liked (I lived in different places in the past and it always have been like it for me) and I think I will remember the chaos, everywhere in the streets, in markets, in every part of life. I really like it.

I will remember that here, the people are more self determined: they don't depend on so much things. Maybe they have less but they just find a way to do things: they don’t have so much state or social welfare to rely on so they find their own ways. I know it's not only good but I like this because I feel that they more think of it.

I will remember the food and vegetables, the people, the volunteer community, my flat and flat mates, the squat and "piatza centrala" (central market).

Eric, 24 years old, Germany (Weimar), EVS 12 months

Can you explain what you were doing before Moldova?
I was working in a pharmacy. I worked for a big company as a producer. I didn' t study and in Germany you have the possibility to make an apprenticeship, to work and to split the time with school. That lasted 3 and half year.

Why did you decide to do an EVS and why in Moldova?
I was pissed about this system, about the work, about hierarchy. You have a boss and you have to follow this leader: it's not possible to think on your own, you have to do what the plan says. I was pissed that my creativity and individual decisions were totally killed. I wanted to be free and wanted to do what I wanted, so I decided to quit my job and not to work anymore in this system. I wanted to have a new experience in another field. Not to work with machines, but work with humans, with children. I wanted to see if I was able to work with people and not anymore with just machines.
I arrived in Moldova by accident, because I never heard about this country before. I was curious about it. I also wanted to leave Europe, to go far away. But EVS is just in Europe. So I applied for Iceland, and East part of Europe. Moldova is the only place that answers so I decided that I will go there, whatever it will be. I didn't know exactly what I will do here. I applied for a project in an animation centre for children and ended up in an animation centre for disable people.

Tell me more about your project in Moldova ?
My project was to organize activities with children, like knidling (and I actually learned to be patient because of that), origami and outdoor activities. It gives the possibility to disable people to see the real life. Because a lot of disable people in Moldova are hidden, in some rooms at home where they never see the real life outside. For example we went with them to the cinema and it was the first time for some of them who were already 30.
We also organized a theatre workshop and we had a German day, to show them our traditions, and other things.

What will you do when you will be back? This EVS changed something about your plans for the future?
I have some dreams. I am sure that I will not come back to the pharmacy; I won't work for a long time again in a system like this I had already. I may will work some month to get money, and then I will travel. This is my dream: travelling. To South America, to New Zeland, and to a lot of other places.


What are your dreams for your future?
My dream is to see different places, to meet different people. What I really know is not to stagnate.

What will you remember from this experience ?
I will remember that I had this EVS experience with a lot of different people from Europe, which is unusual. You can exchange a lot of thinking and mentalities. I learned that our thought about Europe are different compared to what it is now: Europe is a fortress, and a lot of young people want in the future to have a free Europe for everyone. They want to have a free world, not closed with borders. In Moldova, you don't have this possibility to travel in Europe. You don't have the possibility to be free, and a lot of people have to live illegally somewhere.
I will remember that people in Moldova lost there believing and trust, their faith in politics. A lot of people are resignated because the fight is really complicated.