ESC Team at Fattoria L’Arca in Italy | Irene, Freja and Jonas Share Their Experience!

The ESC Team project “Team for Healthy Life 2 – T4HL”, financed by the European Solidarity Corps programme and run by Associazione Joint in cooperation with Agriturismo L’Arca 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:

  • nature and outdoor life
  • mental health
  • health prevention/health promotion
  • conscious nutrition

Let’s see what participants have to say about it!

Irene’s Testimonial

From the very first moment I arrived in Belvedere, and especially at L’Arca Farm, I fell in love with it. That’s why, when I heard about this opportunity, I immediately made myself available to participate. Being part of the ESC T4HL project allowed me to experience so many things for the first time. I lived in a community with many people, 24/7, sharing spaces, meals, fun moments, and even the more challenging ones. It wasn’t always easy to immerse myself in a routine completely different from the one I was used to, but I think it taught me to trust and open up more to the people around me. When living with a large group, you have to meet each other halfway and seek compromises that can lead to unexpected and even better solutions than what you had initially envisioned. I tried new creative and manual activities, like weaving wicker baskets and working with ceramics, thanks to local artisans who guided us step by step. I’ll always carry them in my heart for their kindness and the passion they put into their work. I saw breathtaking landscapes during the rafting experience on the Lao River and the group trip to Matera. Living in Turin, I’m not used to seeing the sea every day, and for this reason, whenever I have the chance, I feel incredibly grateful and can never take it for granted. Living at the farm, where every day I could look out at the sea from the little terrace near my room, made this experience even richer for me. The climate in Belvedere made every activity more enjoyable—not only because it’s warm but because there’s never any fog. Even when it rains, the light reflects everywhere, and everything appears clear even from afar. Working in the fields was demanding but also fascinating, and I learned a lot from the physical labor. Collaborating with other volunteers made every task less exhausting, and even activities like fertilizing could turn into something fun. I am incredibly satisfied and grateful for this experience, and I would recommend it to anyone ready to embrace it fully and “go with the flow” for two months.

Freja’s Testimonial

I graduated high school in June and had the chance to do something completely different before continuing my studies. I have always loved to travel and experience different cultures and new places outside of what I’m used in my life in Sweden I found out about ESC and immediately started looking for different volunteering projects. Luckily, it resulted in me getting the opportunity to work at a farm in the south of Italy for two months. Before arriving, I was a bit nervous because I had never done anything like this before and I was going on my own, not knowing how it would turn out. The first week was full of new impressions but soon enough I started to feel comfortable, enjoying being in another country and living in community with 20 other volunteers. We worked at the farm for 6 hours per day, five days a week. We did different tasks, for example harvesting, planting, weeding, fertilizing, painting fences. I enjoyed working outdoors in the beautiful landscape. Apart from farm duties we were offered to participate in different activities and workshops, something I really appreciated. My favourites were the ceramics workshop, making tortellini and when we went rafting. Throughout this experience I have built amazing connections with people from different countries in Europe. I was the only one from Scandinavia, but that didn’t matter at all. Even though I couldn’t use my native language, I built new and close friendships with volunteers from different cultures and in different ages. It is beautiful to know that it is possible to connect to new people who have a different background compared to myself. The friendships I’ve made is one of the things I cherish the most with this project. My expectations were met beyond far and I am very happy that I took this opportunity.  I would 100 percent recommend other young people to volunteer through ESC. I believe it is important to go outside your comfort zone, see more of the world, get new experiences and interact with and learn from new people. 

Jonas’ Testimonial

It’s June and I just finished school. I was sure that I don’t want to study yet but that I want to go to another country to get a new point of view. At the beginning I wasn’t sure how to do it. Luckily I found the website of ESC and the opportunity of l’Arca. Consequently I applied and after some time I received the message that I’m selected to go there. Before the arrival I didn’t really know what to expect. I just knew that it is a farm and that I will work on the farm with other volunteers. But I expected a nice landscape, the sea and very nice weather. Luckily these expectations became true and I really liked the environment at Belvedere Marittimo. Since I lived together with around about 20 people I learnt what it’s like to live in community. Especially the fact that I lived together in a quite small room with another guy was a complete new experience for me. At the beginning it was a challenge but after some time I learnt how to deal with it.During the two months I worked mainly physical. I started working at 6:30 and did several different jobs at the farm. From harvesting, to weeding to cutting bamboo I did many different jobs that have to be done on a farm. In total I’m proud of my decision to participate in this project since I met really cool people, experienced a completely different life than I had before and got to know what it means to work on a farm. Thus I’m very happy that I did it but nevertheless I wouldn’t do the same ESC again since the jobs became a little bit boring in the end. Still I would absolutely recommend to do such an ESC to young people. You see a new country, get to know new people and you live a completely different life compared to your life before, what showed me a different way to look on my life in a positive way.

ESC Teams with the European Solidarity Corps

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.

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