Romain and Kaire from France joined a short term ESC voluntarism program in Ioannina, at our organisation, Youth Center of Epirus. The project was coordinated and supported by the organisation Pistes Solidaires, based in France.
Their main activities were to implement recreational and non-formal educational activities for asylum seeker children and teenagers, and to work on digital content creation on asylum seeker integration related themes and cultural heritage of the region of Epirus. Below, you can read some of their testimonies and see photos of their experience in Ioannina!
When I arrived I was very well received by Teo, by the volunteers and by the office staff.
There is a very good atmosphere, working in a good mood at the organisation. We always have time to work on our personal project, without being stressed, sharing just joy and good mood whether at the office or the facility for unaccompanied asylum seeker minors.
I learn a lot in the office with the staff and the minors.
I discovered different cultures everyday through the interaction with diverse people and the activities that we were implementing.
This experience will certainly help me in what I would do in the future. It was one of my most memorable experiences and I say thank you to everyone who made it possible for me to have this incredible trip but also to everyone who helped make things work and for sharing so much happiness with us.
I arrived on July 26 in the organisation, and I was very well received. I met Teo who explained to us how the organisation works and how it was going to be our stay in Ioannina.
I was able to meet the young people of the facility theweek I arrived. The next week, I was injured which prevented me from participating in the activities. I couldn’t participate much in the facility but I was able to finish my content creation about the migration in Greece. I was also able to discover Ioanninaby walking thanks to Mathys, another french volunteer, and his drone. We had the opportunity to make a trip to Parga, it’s a beautiful village.
In the blink of an eye, my stay comes to an end.
I’m happy to have met the young people of the facility as well as to have worked at the office despite the fact that I wasn’t able to participate much in the facility. I’m happy too to have met the other volunteers of the apartment who were super welcoming. I'm happy to have worked with all of you.
Thank you for everything and good luck for the future.
This project was co-funded by the European Commission.