When I think about my last year, being volunteer in Ostrava, I always have a smile on my face. It was an amazing year, full of joy, of fun at work, of meeting new people, of travelling, of discovering different cultures. I came in Czech Republic by hazard, but if I will have to make a choice now, I will do the same project in Ostrava, again and again!
The first month has been a little bit hard, mostly because of the language. Czech language is beautiful but when you never heard it before, you think that you never will be able to learn it! Before to come, I bought a book to learn few sentences, and on the first page was written: “if you compare French and Czech, it is like if you compare day and night”.
The second day after my arrival, I went to work and I really realized how true was this sentence. I could not understand anything when the kids were speaking with me! But we found a way to understand (at least a little bit): we were drawing to communicate. Children were drawing and telling me the word in Czech, and I was translating into English. At the opposite, when I was drawing, I was giving the word in English, and kids were translating it. I still remember the first words I have learned by drawing (dum – hvezda – svicka – balon).
I really enjoyed working with kids. I woke up every morning happy to go to play with them. We also went to some trips, which mad us closed from kids.
My project was focus on health, and life-style. According to this theme, I had to prepare some activities. After few months, I started to cook with kids. It was really great experience. We were cooking typical French food and also Czech food. I get to know some good recipes that I’m still doing home! Children were interested of learning, of using ingredients they were not used to, and of discovering specilities from another country.
I also have organized a day about health and healthy life-style. I prepared different activities: what is health for you?, at which season can you eat which fruits/vegetables?, a game with questions about decibels, another one with questions about the danger of the sun, and the last one with questions about health in general. The objective was to teach some basic information to the children, in a ludic way. After the games was a capoeira demonstration, and degustation of French/healthy food.
This year gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of persons. First of all, my colleagues, with whom I worked every day and who really helped me to enjoy my volunteering. I also had the chance to live with Pia, a volunteer from Germany, with who I developed an amazing relationship. I also played volleyball when I came, and get to know some other nice Czech persons. Being volunteer is also going in training with other volunteer, and discover a lot of different cultures. We had really good relationship all together and enjoyed travelling.
This is a really short resume about my volunteering! But I wish to everyone to have an amazing year as I had. I really want to say a big THANK YOU to all the persons who mad my year, and to all the persons working for Diecezní Charita (and a bigger one to Veronika, who has accepted my application for the association!), thank you to the kids to accept the volunteer as they are doing it, thank you to my friends to be so crazy, and thank you to all the Czech people to be really nice and welcoming persons.
Thank you to Diecezni Charita, to keep taking volunteer, to be well organized and to let the chance to young people to have this crazy experience in the beautiful Czech Republic..
Marie
