“I AM A VOLUNTEER” is an EVS project hosted by organization EUROSUD. Our organization – EUROSUD is established in
the small city of Triggiano. Close countryside and rural area around Bari. Southern Italy, a region which faces many challenges such
as youth unemployment, organized crime, economic recession, and refugee crisis. Besides our experience, qualitative youth projects would help the community to address these issues in a more efficient, coherent and creative way.
One volunteer from Georgia took part in the voluntary service for one year long .
Volunteer organized several non formal activities for young people (coming as well from Georgian , Romanian and Chinese local community in Bari)residing in the city. 
As example the activities included environmental, ecological, photography and other workshops with similar topics in order to develop their abilities and potentials for their future lives.
The priority is given to volunteer possibilities to express themself and have meaningful experience while leading the activities. In order to realize the main, volunteer was supported by tools and resources the organization owns and ensured to get the following learning outcomes:
social and civic competences, entrepreneurship and initiative-taking, learning to learn and cultural self-awareness.
The local community benefit from the additional activities and opportunities for non formal learning. This is particularly key for young people who get few opportunities for enjoying the modern world possibilities and we anticipate an increased engagement in our future European activities.
The newly-acquired skills of the volunteer and the involved fewer-opportunities youth are the key elements for sustainable effects: broken stereotypes, new and deeper understanding of the concept of European Citizenship, methodologies and tools for inclusive youth work and entrepreneurship and initiative.
February_02
I’m Darina Kamadadze from Georgia. next one year I’ll try to done well my volunteer project “I am a volunteer”, which is implemented within the framework of ESC program. It was first month of my volunteer project. Or rather first second half of month since I arrived in mid-February. There are a lot of innovations and challenges ahead. It’s my first time in Italy, everything is new, interesting and full of surprises for me. I’ll live and work in Bari.
There are other two French volunteers with me. These two weeks were about clarifying situation and shifting duties.
My primary duty is site management and relationship with partners via mail. Besides twice in a week I go to work at Italian language school, where I work as FB group admin. This group is for Georgian migrants who are interested in learning language. So I give them all information, I also help them when they come to the place.
One day in a week is dedicated to the student radio UNIBA.
Our organization’s volunteers invite students to talk about their experience. Working in live is interesting. There are trainings planned in March. Waiting for the news. So far this is what I can tell you about my first month.
March_03
This month was full of new experiences and new relationships. We had training in Barletta – little seaside town near Bari.Training name was – Get In – inclusion of youngsters in community life. So there was young people from different countries –Poland, Armenia, Romania, Croatia, Italy, Hungary.
We represented Italy. It was one week training and lot of information, innovation and sharing information.
There were countries that already has community centers and has some experience in this matter, but there also were countries which doesn’t have centers and were interested in everything. So most important part of this training was sharing experience.
Besides there was teaching how can community centres be set up and what you need to consider. One day we spent in Bari to visit community “SPAZIO 13”.
Our host explain how does their centre works, what opportunities do they give to youngsters, what benefits do gives such a centres. Practical visualization was really helpful.Non formal education is a big part of work of our organization and I like it.
Apri_04
April also was month of trainings. It was again in Barletta at the same place. This time we have had longer training. Most part of training was practical – each participant came to their own conclusion about what was good and what was bad. It was well organized training. Each day we were getting new information and ne knowledge. Participants were from 8 different countries but we all had a feeling like we knew each other long ago. It was a merit of common vision to the extent that we all were against any discrimination. We had a planned day in Bari this time too. We were divided to the groups, each group has own topic and questionnaire relevant to the topic. We did and interview and created small-scale statistics. At the end of training we created Instagram profile and uploaded our small creative videos about combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination.
This month was more new people, more new information, more new emotions and more expectations that every second month brings better experience.
EUROSUD organization with Agenzia Nazionale Giovani prepared for me on arrival training for ESC volunteers in Bari . I understood is an essential part of European Solidarity Coprs and an undoubted highlight of this experience for many volunteers, the training brought a number of insights and thoughts to ponder upon. Hereby are the main takeaways of the training.
Just Imagine finding yourself in a room of over 45 volunteers from 13 different countries who undergo their projects in 15 cities all around Italy. It might feel like seeing an open book of human personalities and experiences where every single one with its unique experience.
Each one with their life story to share, a set of plans to follow, a range of dream to pursue. And, as you discover different pages and paragraphs deciphering their meaning, by the end of 5 days of spending time together, you would most probably realize that every single one finds a place in your heart, bringing on something to either to admire, think about, or learn from.
Being curious about others was one of the most rewarding for me – it brought many unexpected discoveries of others’ lives and thoughts.
Apart from the great opportunity of networking with other volunteers, the training (of course) provides educational/theoretical background which might help to improve the project and respond affectively to the present issues.
In frames of the agenda, the training was vastly focused on problem solving and crisis management, key takeaway of which its all about the attitude. The way you perceive your project, the way you deal with unexpected situations, the way you communicate the problems with others – it is all about the attitude. Whether you respond with either critics, negativity, aggression or an open mindset and solution-oriented attitude – the outcome would be strikingly different, and it depends on you.
So you can either sit down and complain about every single thing you don’t like – or think how you can the most out of what you have. Look how the disadvantages can be turned into benefits, and don’t simply take for granted what is good about your experience. Feeling grateful for even small things – a cup of Italian coffee espresso – prepared by your new colleague, a smiley face of the locals you teach Italian, a message “Come stai?” from a local friend you met randomly somewhere – and the small things like these matter as they create impressions which finally make up the perception about your project here. In many cases, if you change the attitude, you will forgot the problem itself.
May_05
A few words about our radio. Kulturama is the radio where our volunteers invites students and they are talking about their experiences. Bari university it the famous in south Italy and a lot of foreigner students are interested in. some of them coming here for on semester, some of them for year. In any case they get good experience of living and study in Italy.
These radio live is really interesting. If you listen it, you’ll see the difference of between imagination. For example for someone even speak aloud which is really typical in Italy is cultural chock, and for someone Italy immediately becomes second home. There are also students who already has experience living abroad, in such a cases they get every news quietly. And for someone Italy is pasta and pizza and can talk about it for one hour.
During radio live students are talking about their country and culture and they share us their national music, which is chosen specially for our broadcast.
They are talking about difference and similarity between Italy and their homeland.
This radio is one of the best activity of our organization. Our local volunteers are also involved. This project is really interesting and varied.
Your ESC experience is what you make out of it, that’s the fact. Surely there are coordinators, and mentors, and organization members to set your work up and help you out with your tasks, but if they are not well, then it’s entirely up to you.
It’s up to you whether you settle for wasting your time or take the initiative into your hands. There might be a lot of opportunities which you might not even think of.
June_06
It’s summer. We are staring to work on our Autumn plans. You know there was training in March. This will last more then one year and will be planed different activities. So we had to plane one of the activities for September. We was working about it and we planed it. It’s about community centers. In Italy there are already such a centres and we are going to use it productively. We decide to plan educational training about cyber security and using social networks. After training participants will get special certificate. Participants will get theoretical knowledge and will use their knowledge in practice.
I think this is the topic which is really useful and actually in 21th century. And which should know everyone.
July_07
Summer is a passive season, so my activity was limited to connect with other organization via mail and Skype and to plane future activities. In addition training was provided in July for volunteers from across Italy.
Training was five days long and it goals was to communicate with volunteers and improve the ESC program. More activities was dedicated to talk and work on what volunteers themselves can do to help improve the program. It turns out that first problem was language barrier. 
There are organizations which are working with big groups, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, kids, who don’t know English.
At the initial stage before volunteers learn basic Italian, they communicate through gesture. Even after few months it’s difficult to communicate because as you know few months and one year isn’t enough to learn language. So volunteers find the solution – download the language application and study basic Italian before coming here. After they will improve their skills. I don’t know how it will works but it’s just an idea and let’s see how it’ll work.
It was interesting these five days, because participants themselves were trying to find the solutions of problems. It was also funny moments when volunteers were inviting each other in their cities like their own home.
August_08
First of all I would like to say that south and north Italy is totally different. I discovered it when I was on training in Rome. If in the south people are more noisy, emotional and they use gestures, northern Italians are more quiet and they can balance their emotional level. And there are more cultural monuments in north than in the south, but the south has different and beautiful architecture, especially seaside towns.
This summer I traveled to Rome, Florence, Venice, Bologna, Verona, Lecce, Matera, Polignano a Mare, and few little cities in the south.
Rome:As we all know Rome is a city of ancient Roman culture. I just had two days, which means I couldn’t see everything but I saw coliseum, Trevi fountain, pantheon, and other sightseeing near city center. Rome is big and noisy city, also dirty and dizzy. But full of impression. Whole city is history, everything is important, everything has story. There are not minor places, in every place you can discover something interesting. And overhead from Borgese park at sunset – the best thing which you can see and enjoy.
Florence:City of museums, city of paintings, city of sculpture, city of art. What to do in Florence? – visit museums, visit museums and again visit museums. After museums go in Michelangelo park and at the end of day see sunset – amazing view. Visit Florence means feel soaked with art.
Venice:Should I ever go back, seat near river and watch colorful houses reflected in water. Venice is city of noisy tranquillity.
Bologna:I spent 4 days in these two cities and I think they both are great places for living. Bologna is red city in the green, because there are lot of trees, which I appreciate. Red – almost every building has red roof. People are polite and attentive, they are ready to help you. And if you go up to the hill of Colle della Guardia to visit San Luca’s Basilica you will done your martyr’s way through the more then 600 portico. But on the way back you will use hitch-hiker, priest will take you and you will have English-Italian conversation without knowledge of language. Funny adventure.
Verona: isn’t only city of Shakespeare’s tragedy, it’s not even city which you have to visit because of Romeo and Juliet. It’s a city which you have to visit because of Amphitheatre, because of theatre, because of overhead, because of beautiful architecture, because of wine and because of good people.
Matera: City of stone. Great, amazing and impressive city of south Italy. Live in south Italy and don’t visit Matera is a crime. In this year Matera is European capital of culture and there is exhibition of Salvador Dali. It was good chance to see original artwork of Dali. There was also reproductions of Dali’s sculpture in the city, for example melting watch. I’m really lucky to see his creativity.
Lecce:If you read about Florence, you can imagine what is Lecce , because it’s Florence of south Italy. It’s a city of ornament, decoration, carving, Amphitheatre and green streets.
About other south Italian cities I can advice you, don’t trust people who says that visit 2-3 towns is enough to get acquainted with Italy. Italy hides the novelty everywhere, you will never find similarity between two cities.
September_09
Month of new activities. In this month we have implemented our project about cyber security and social networks. At the end of training participants ask let’s plan another project like this, because it was useful and needed.
Besides we had intercultural meetings with students and other organization.
We gathered at the table and we was talking the language we were interested in. also we was talking about our countries.
For example I presented Georgia and non of the participants know that first Europeans was living on the land of Georgia. in 1991 years scientist have discovered the remains of woman and man body, these remains were 1.8 million years ago and they call them Zezva and Mzia. Also they didn’t know that the highest populated village in Europe is in Georgia, in Tusheti region. Village name is Bochorna. We were talking about Georgian music and polyphony and one of the student from Chile know Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili. And finally proudly told them that Georgian polyphony is heard in the cosmos.
October_10
In September there was big exhibition in Fiera del Levante. We presented our organization and we were trying to find interested young people. Several of them came to us this months expressed their desire to cooperate. So now we have other young volunteers. Some of them are involved in local training, some of them are abroad for to get non-formal education and some of them participates in radio live.
After returning from abroad they write article their experience which I publish on our website.
Besides we are looking for a young people to send to Georgia for one year. We communicate with Georgian organization and trying to find good candidate because volunteers need to work on the theme of conflicts. And they need to be interested in country and conflicts. Hope we will find worthy candidate.
November_11
I started writing report about my experience. Little bit strange feeling, I have been here for 9 months. When the time has pass, why I feel like I just arrived, is it me who met lot of new people? Is it me who travel in Italy? 
Is it me who discover similarity of difference among the countries of the world? How will continue my life and what will I after returning to the Georgia? I’m confused. Maybe upon completing of report I will better realized that I lived in a completely different environment, I was doing different thing for one year and finally I found new self.
December_12
December is a month of Christmas and New Year preparations.Illuminated streets, decorated Christmas tree, and lots of fun.I celebrated Christmas at church because I like hymns songs accompanied by organ. As everywhere I saw two different Christmas parties here.
The one that was in the temple and other one that was outside with lots of food, lots of drink, lots of noise and lots of joy.
January_01
In a month my project will complete. I can’t even believe that I’ve been here for one year. How many people I met, how much emotions I had, how much I traveled, how much I learned, how much experiences I gained from relationships and collaboration.
As I’m leaving soon we have no planed long activities for the next month. Mostly we recruit new volunteers and trying to increase their involvement in our projects.
We sent two participants abroad for training and now they have to plane summery activity, so we are currently working on this. In addition I finished writing my final report and I began to care about it visual side, hope good will come out.
In this report you will read everything what I was writing briefly before.
