My name is Dorothy, I am 29 years old and I come from Macao. I decided to volunteer because, although travelling is exciting, I cannot truly experience the most local life that volunteering can provide. While I am offering help to others, I am also enjoying my stay in a new country.
The ESC VJF 2.1 KiEZ Hölzerner See Recreation Centre project is an international project where we had one German, two Ecuadorians and one Ukrainian as our camp leaders, and eleven volunteers from Italy, Hungary, Serbia, Armenia, Russia and Macao. We were divided into groups and helped with the construction of a walkway outside the bathroom, the building of fences for an open space, the renovation of a mini-golf field, and assisting in the Kinderfest. Most of us switched tasks and tried all the work. My favourite activities were working on the walkway and doing face painting at the Kinderfest. Our team completed all the work with satisfactory results, which were recognized by the KiEZ team and other stakeholders.
There were some challenges I experienced. The first was my sickness during the camp. I am usually a healthy person, but sometimes things just happen. I had to stay in bed for a few days at the beginning, but all the camp leaders and volunteers were very supportive. I recovered soon and everything went smoothly afterwards. During the camp, there were also some conflicts between camp leaders and a few volunteers because of misunderstandings and lack of communication. Since this was the first time for the camp leaders to guide an international camp, there might have been some room for improvement in organization. Despite these small quarrels, we were a very nice and friendly team, open to conversations. Every time we had an argument, we would bring it up during feedback sessions to look for a solution.
In addition, there were some special moments I experienced during the camp. I come from a very developed city with heavy light pollution, so I was astonished by the starry sky at night, where the Milky Way could be observed so clearly. I really enjoyed my nightly walks with my volunteer friends. Apart from that, we had international dinners where volunteers from each country cooked their local cuisine. I prepared Macao fried rice, and I was so glad that people enjoyed it. Furthermore, I had the chance to try amazing dishes I had never tasted before, such as Ukrainian pink soup.
Although I learned many meaningful technical skills during the workcamp, I do not think they will be directly useful in my career. Instead, these skills helped me to see things in a more philosophical way. It was a good time for me to forget about my own life and experience the lives of others. It helped me to understand harmony and peace within different cultures. Some of our volunteers could not speak English well, but language is only a tool—sincerity and eye contact tied our hearts together.
I would very much like to recommend this experience to others because it was a perfectly imperfect workcamp. The quarrels we had in such a calm campsite made the whole experience memorable and special. Many of the arguments arose because everyone gave their best to the work. Moreover, the progress we made on the construction sites really made a difference to the recreation centre. People will enjoy the results of our hard work, and we felt a great sense of accomplishment. If this is your first time applying for a volunteer project, my only tip is to forget who you have always been and embrace all the new things during those two weeks.
We got along so well during the workcamp that saying goodbye was truly difficult, and everyone felt a little sad as we parted ways. I believe this bittersweet feeling is something common to every workcamp. To comfort my fellow volunteers, I shared one of my favourite phrases from a Chinese actress, and now I would like to share it with you: “Reunion is the most romantic thing in the world; saying goodbye to those still alive is the second. Because from that moment on, every meeting becomes a reunion.”
