Going out of the comfort zone while staying indoor
Well, this is the phrase that can describe the month of March. It started full of enthusiasm because it was supposed to be one of the last months spent as a volunteer and because it should be full of retrospections regarding my work and my experience, but I did not consider the risk of an international virus in my plans. Starting from the very beginning, the month of March was full of joy and happiness. In the first days of this month, there were still some activities going on. All these activities were colorful, expressing the delight of the children and reviving my childhood memories. Inside of House of Arsis, we did some crafting activities, as there was planned a bazaar in the month of April, we started to manufacture some nice designs for candles. It was a nice experience and I really enjoyed rediscovering that the art is part of all of us.
In my English classes, I applied for the first time a feedback paper for the class and I could understand better in this way the needs of the people from the class and their expectations for the next lessons. I tried to prepare the necessary materials, but on the 12th of March, the activities were suspended for safety reasons. And from these date, it stated the research of tasks that can be done from home through online means. We found some and we continued to develop also the ones that were still unmarked on our “to do” list. For example, during the month of March, I gave myself some feedback for all the experience that I had as a volunteer and also I succeeded to finish my personal project. I did a model of an English test that can be used and maybe it would be helpful for the others volunteers or teachers from the center.
Of course, that the situation is not so pleasant and sometimes it can be challenging to stay inside for so long with an uncertainty of the things around, but I am sure that this will actually help us and make us going deeper in the opportunities of this century, discover and rediscover new alternatives. This time should be the era of solutions. Also, as volunteers if we could overcome in the beginning the language barrier, the fear of unknown and the frustrations encountered, for sure we can overcome several weeks spent in the safety of our homes. I hope for good!
Corina Chircea,
ESC volunteer in Arsis (October 2019 – April 2020)
