Cézembre’s Testimonial as ESC Volunteer at CAG IRDA in Milan

Firstly, I feel so glad to had the opportunity and the chance to experience this volunteering in Italy. I couldn’t imagine a better volunteer experience, so thank you for your trust. When I’m going to start a new project or an adventure I love to have no expectations to surprise and challenge myself. In this project, everything was great.

My work at IRDA was really good. My colleagues welcomed me into the team very quickly and I felt comfortable there right away as well and also with the kids. It was the first time for me to work with kids and it’s impressive how much we grow alongside them. Thanks to this experience, I know that I love to work with kids and use my skills to help them. Working with them every day showed me how can we have a real impact in their life, in both way, even with simple activities and that’s really meaningful for me. It was more challenging at the beginning because I was alone for 2 months and half but I love the fact that I had the chance to experience that alone and also with someone. Working with Helena was such a great experience for me, I couldn’t imagine a better partner. I also had the chance to organize an hiphop workshop for the kids in the center and for some events with others centers of the neighborhood, it was great to saw the kids going out of their comfort zone.

Then, my daily life in Milano was amazing. It was the first time for me to live in a share house with six people and I couldn’t imagine a better team! We get along so well and I feel so lucky to have them in my life now. I used my free time to explore Italy, through the culture, events, many roadtrip and gastronomy. Thanks to the training week in Rome, I’ve met a lot of people who have become my friends. I’ll never forget this incredible week in Rome with all the volunteers.

During those five months I learned and discovered a lot of things, I improved my italian and I followed what I wanted to achieve in my letter that I wrote during the first house meeting. My colleagues wanted to extend my volunteering until december but it was not possible, so something different is waiting for me but I’ll never forget this “incredibile” experience in Milano.