The ESC Team project “Team for Healthy Life – T4HL”, financed by the European Solidarity Corps programme and run by Associazione Joint in cooperation with Cooperativa One in Italy, has come to an end!
The overall objective of the project, in accordance with the priorities set for 2021, was to promote well-being and a healthy lifestyle for the volunteers and local communities. It was an opportunity for participants to reclaim a space to socialise in a healthy and safe manner, while engaging in volunteer activities that promote the inclusion of vulnerable groups, health and wellbeing in communities.
Project activities touched on specific themes, in accordance with the host organisation and the needs of the local community:
Hello, my name is Asur, as everybody knows right now. I never had an objective in my life, i had always been going with the flow and barely thinking about a long term future. Once i thought i had everything planned, my life suddenly change on a 180° spin. Then, was when i thought about applying for a project like this. Along the project we had been taking part on a lot of different activities as simply and calm as painting walls, or more complex and enjoyable others like deal with children and create/provide them activities to do. I’ve learn lots of skills such as gardening, drawing, and plenty of personal abilities like doing the laundry, or just to be calm on stressful situations. My general opinion about the project, is that, even though the project is not what you spect or is harder than you firstly think, you should keep on, because this kind of experiences always show you, an important and beautiful side of life, the side in which you are free and discovering the world. I really recommend this kind of experiences to the youth, because nowadays, young people don’t see further than their country, and they should change their perspective in order to grow and become better people in the future.
Since I was little I dreamed of going to Italy and I always wanted to work in the social and shared strong moments in a community so for me this experience was a perfect mix of the three: be in the country of my dreams and do what I did with many people. What attracted me to this project was the values and objectives of the association. In addition, the activities offered were varied and enriching socially and humanly because we give, share and see the fruit of our work. “Aspetta!” is probably the word I heard the most and which summarizes what I learned here. Wait, slow down, go slowly and enjoy the wind of Dolce Vita that blows. I had to get used to another rhythm of life where we take the time to do things, without pressure, quietly. In a way, I learned to let go and take the time to do things. The best example is that of walking, we not do just the grocery, we take the time to look at the products, the different colors, the fruits of vegetables, we listen to the sellers promote and shout their products, we feel all the smells, we enjoy the moment. On the other hand, I also learned a lot about the history of Italy and its close relationship with the mafia. I spoke with people who shared their stories and their feelings about it. The meeting with the different professionals was really very rewarding since we learned about the
culture, history, food, customs that shape this region. I had the opportunity to do many different activities, varied and enriching both socially and humanly like do activities for environmental protection with the cooperative Terre Joniche and WWF, taking care of the hostel and of the tourists, group activities with minors, creation of videos and pictures for the promotion of the territory on social media, clean up of the beaches, local pastry workshop, comics and cocktail workshop, participate in activities with local community, promoting the program Erasmus in the local community. Personally I loved this project, whether it was life in Italy, the landscapes of the region, working with the various partners of the association, the professionals we met and life in community. In addition, I felt useful and proud to help people who put their heart and energy into their actions.
Community life is an experience to live at least once in your life. Everything is more intense: laughing, dancing, singing. All these improvised moments have a particular and unique flavor. The moments when we all laugh together about the things that separate us: our accents, our differences, our customs, our clichés. All this with lightness and kindness. Laughing brings us together and finally erases what seems to separate us. One can feel unity in laughter. When you are a band, the one who begins to sing brings with him all the others by sharing his madness and we find ourselves inventing a band of music the space of a moment where everyone makes his melody. When it comes to dancing, the kitchen and the time to do the dishes turn into a real dance floor, the fork becomes an instrument, the sponge becomes a microphone and the ballet a pole dance bar. Living in community is intense and it makes you discover things about yourself, about others, it is humanly and socially very enriching. To conclude, I recommend this project to all those who wish to feel useful, share with people who have different mentalities, backgrounds and nationalities intense and unique moments.
Doing a project of this type had been in my head for some time, and after a few months of accelerated life in Madrid, I decided to jump into the pool. I chose Italy, a beautiful country with which I always had a certain obsession and curiosity. When I did the interview and I
saw that I had been selected for the project, I felt some doubts. Was I getting mistaken leaving Madrid behind? Was this project made for me? Was the adaptation going to be easy? But I really knew what I needed at this vital moment, so I grabbed my bags and ventured out. These months have been healing. I have found a place where I have felt at peace, a place that has made me more curious and from which I have learned a lot. I have felt welcomed by the culture and in harmony with the experience. The group of volunteers, although very different from each other, has been perfect, we have been able to get along with each other and we have been able to share easily. We have had the opportunity to get to know the pleasures of Italian gastronomy, to swim in the crystal clear and incredible beaches of the area and to do our grain of sand in those tasks that were presented to us. Today is my last day here, and even though I am already feeling nostalgic, I am totally grateful both to myself and to the European community for having been afforded this opportunity and for accepting it. I can definitely say that it is something I recommend to get out of your comfort zone, get to know new cultures, and learn more about this world and yourself.
I read the description and knew I wanted to do it. The diversity and wide range of possibilities is extraordinary and appeal to me on all levels. It combines all the important areas that I am passionate about. Working with other people, learn from different cultures, languages and get the chance to learn more about the world. Each of the tasks described would be wonderful to carry out. The exchange with tourists in the hostel from all over the world, the organisational part, which I have done in the last few months as a project manager at MDI. Working with children is also wonderful, as I can also make perfect use of my education as a primary school teacher. This gives me the chance not to “unlearn” my profession. 😉 But I would also enjoy doing something new and focus on the environment, like working with WWF at the sea turtle recovery center. I would be very happy to get the chance to support this great project.“ My expectations at the beginning were to come to an open-minded place, where they used to live with many people from different backgrounds and cultures. I expected a welcoming and friendly environment. I expected to work in the hostel and with WWF (like being on the reception, make breakfast, help out with workshops, get in touch with WWF and help out with the turtle recovery…). The reality was different than the proposal and as the general expectations of all 15 of us volunteers. Our tasks were mainly cleaning in the hostel and working in a farm. Great have been the wide range of tasks and to experience every day a completely new program. Through the many different tasks, I could try a lot of new stuff like gardening, cooking with local products, get to know the culture and habitats in South Italy. As a big group we had to learn to take responsibility for each other, make compromises and help each other out. We carried each other in hard moments and spent all our free time together. My learning for this project: Accept the things you can’t change and make the best out of it. My volunteer friends from all over Europe were excellent in making the best out of everything. We spend a lot of hours every day of waiting so we entertained us in this time by singing together, having nice and deep conversations or playing small games. As we are the first big volunteer group there were many organisation and communication problems between the organisation and the volunteers. We had the possibility on our final evaluation to speak our mind and find some new ways to make this project better for the next group. I personally would not recommend this project to a friend of mine right now because I am not
sure if I would made it through the two months if I had not the support of my lovely roommates. But the project has a lot of potential and with our honest feedback plus our critical points it will develop into a nice project in the future.
The special feature of the ESC Teams is its short duration, ranging from 2 weeks to a maximum of 2 months. This aspect makes it accessible also to young people who work or study and cannot dedicate a whole year to travel! Despite the brevity of the projects, Group ESCs offer meaningful and intense life experiences, during which numerous professional skills can be acquired. Moreover, by sharing life and work with a group of people, similar to a community, lɜ participants have the opportunity to create strong bonds even in a short period of time.