The month of colors, joy and plans
It seems that this month is all about happiness, the carnival and the changes. A lot of work is ahead and I have to find my motivation and my tools to get results because my time here is pouring with an incredible rapidity.
Now I am involved in two projects and this meant separate and different approaches for each one. In the KIN center I have had to learn how to ask for help, to organize the classes and to try to provide proper lesson for each level and each person. It has been hard and frustrating in the beginning, but I have learnt that if I ask for help, I will receive it, which has been a revelation for me. The coordinators of the project have been supportive and the only thing needed has been a bit of moral support and some pieces of advice. When I have learnt to do this, I have realized that I can solve much more issues than I imagined and I left behind a lot of frustrations.
In the role a teacher I am in a continuous process of learning about how to explain and to get the best results in terms of methods of teaching, but lesson by lesson I think I learn more and more. I am not a teacher by profession, but I love with all my heart what I am doing and I hope that in the end this will matter. Now I feel more confident about my role there and I feel that I can move on to my personal project. I wish for my personal project to leave behind a method of evaluation for the upcoming students which from my point of view will be more and more, taking into the account the actual political situation.
I would like to leave a touch also in my work with the children and because in Greece one of the most problematic issues that I always spot is the lack of proper recycling and as I know that the most powerful impact that you can have, especially taking into account the future, is educating the children, I hope until the end of my stay here to be able to teach them something about recycling, proper recycling, it. Maybe I will not be able to change radically their approach in this matter, but at least I would be able to seed the first idea about this aspect. Later with proper pieces of advice I hope that they will understand the dimension and the importance of recycling.
Taking about recycle, I have also been seeing this need when we have stared to do some costumes for the parade that is held within the carnival frame in Greece. I have realized that they are enjoying doing the costume, but do not really relate themselves to the topic. For sure that this is a little aspect, but the ecological education is important for a healthy future.
February is the month of joy and colors tanks to the carnival that is run in the end of February until the beginning of March. It is a very interesting fact to know that this kind of celebration is typical mostly to the catholic countries, but Greece even if is an orthodox one is paying a lot of attention to it and it is a period of excitement and very nice traditions. The carnival represents mainly the preparation for Lent and a cleaning time. It starts on Thursday when all the people eat the meat that they still have in their homes, preparing for the time of Lent when they are not allowed to do so and after a week they are eating dairy products and getting ready for the Clean Monday when they lunch kites. Also there are parades and the children are extremely happy to wear costumes and have fun with the kites that Monday. So, during February together with the social workers and the children from the center we have done a lot of crafts to get ready for the carnival. We have made muppets to decorate the rooms, masks that we have painted in children’s favorite animals and have had a nice time for fingers painting.
We have had a really great time and a lot of fun and the result of the finger painting is a marvelous character that serves now as a guardian for the door of the social worker’s office. For sure we will do much more things in March or at least I will do for putting into practice the plans. So let’s hope that the colorful plans become an enjoyable reality!
Corina Chircea,
ESC volunteer in Arsis (October 2019 – April 2020)
