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Listen to your heart, EVS in Poland

My EVS project in Poland, Lodz is coming to its final stage. I am a volunteer at a work therapy center for people with disabilities ‘Listen to your heart’. The project idea is to share the stories of people with disabilities who attend this center as well as provide photo, video workshops for them. For instance, I conducted workshops with a fantasy photoshoot, taught participants to create scenarios and small films in Movie Maker, painted Petrykivla with our fingers and much more. With other volunteers we prepared a cultural evening, poetry evening and were searching our inner clown. ;)

Project gives a lot in professional growth. Being in foreign environment you learn how to be understood by everyone. You learn to find ideas, connection with others, not to be afraid to develop your ideas with complete strangers and to be self-confident in new unusual situations. Time management skills are something completely essential that you try to develop as soon as possible as well as balance between work and free time.

The things I’ve learnt and understood, the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had are the most valuable things that I will always remember. You learn not only to be excited about new unusual things but cherish old ones. EVS gave me a chance to meet so many different people with different culture and mentality I would never imagine I would be able to. And also, most important is that it is not official meetings where everyone hides behind a certain mask. They become part of your environment and sometimes even family. I understood that whatever problems there are in your home country, no matter how much you grumble about it your culture would be dearest to you. And you would try to find bits of it in any part of the world. And for sure you need someone to understand you and enjoy this moments. Still it is also pleasant to share your culture with others as well as open new cultures for yourself.

And what’s next? Next, in the last part of my project, I am planning to enjoy each moment of spring, implement my projects and plans, dream and walk towards my dreams. The latter is not just a saying but rather a very concrete plan, as first you need to dream, have motivation and inner fire and also make at least a small but a very confident first step. That’s where all good things start. This world is built by active dreamers! This way I see my further activities!

Here is the Facebook page of my project and Youtube channel where we tell the stories of our particiants.

Vladyslava Yeruslanova