Greta Minkevičiūtė
Volunteer from Lithuania
Hi! Sveiki! Bună!
I’m Greta from Lithuania (our capital is Vilnius, not Riga) and I’m a volunteer in an EVS project ‘Youth Initiatives for Community’ facilitated by AIDE.
I chose to participate in this project because of the need for exploration and change of environments. I knew I could use my previous volunteering experience in a local NGO so I took a gap-year after finishing high school and headed here. ‘Give me time to fly’ I said to my family, when they questioned my decision about not going to university straight away. And, in fact, it has been a rather interesting flight so far.
For an international volunteer in a different country everyday seems like an opportunity to encounter something new – people, places, phrases, cultural-social differences and, sometimes, pretty entertaining misunderstandings with couriers. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Meeting local and international volunteers has probably been the most rewarding experience during my stay here in Ramnicu Valcea. I have built close friendships and it is probably the best feeling to be understood by people from completely different backgrounds.
Not to mention that I have the opportunity to work with the people I love, I can also pursue my personal interests and have support from the coordinator, mentor and others, related to the EVS project. The possibilities are endless!
I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the EVS program and I am excited for the future adventures ‘Youth Initiatives for Community’ holds.
See ya!
Testimony of Greta after volunteering
I had the opportunity to be an ESC volunteer in Romania for 8 months. This time was no less than an experiential rollercoaster, which left a lot of good memories, friendships, personal realizations and, most importantly, challenges that deeply changed the way I see myself and others. A big part of my experience was the Covid-19, which greatly shaped the format of volunteering activities.
Most of the workshops, meetings, lessons were held online and that wasn’t easy to arrange. Fortunately, we did create a few lasting relationships with kids and teenagers through those activities. Even after I left the project, we keep contact with some of them, which is very rewarding.
Of course, there were days, when I didn’t want to go online for another zoom meeting of the week, but looking back, if you put every effort, difficulty together, it made me more considerate towards the ways children and youngsters think and act, more thoughtful about the ways they deserve to be treated and taught and made me realize that I’m not that grown-up myself.