ESC is a European union program, launched in December 2016. It aims for persons under thirty, to give them the opportunity to take part in a volunteering activity abroad. This is a chance to have a positive impact, develop new skills, meet people from all over the world and, of course, build unforgettable memories. Every person that wants to be part of it has, at first, expectations met or not afterwards. In this text, I am going to talk about my own experience, as an ESC volunteer in Slovakia, research, and testimonials from other volunteers, to provide some answers on how to prepare for this experience and manage the gap between expectations and reality.
In my case, when I applied for my mission, I instantly had a lot of preset ideas coming to my mind, about the country. Mainly about the people and mindset, but also, politics, life in the city… As a quite recent country, created in 1993 after the separation of Czechoslovakia, into two countries, Slovakia remains not an easy place to find information about. Still, I have been able to know what the political situation was, the general weather conditions throughout the year… It is good to be aware of such basic information about the place you are going to live, to be prepared mentally, and, for example, in the case of the weather, to have good clothes according to it. Also, being far from your home, many times means being far from people you know. It was my first experience abroad, so I knew from friend’s experiences, I would meet people within my project but that was only information with no certainty. Also, the role of the supporting organization is to give advice and help the volunteer to get ready for the project and help to bring clues to answer those types of questions.
Briefly, the expectations are important as well as research to find first answers, accurate or not, and then getting ready to go.
After the expectations, and the preparation, the project begins, and life in a completely new place starts. The first reflex I had, and I assume a lot of other persons as well, is to compare the projection I made by my previous research and ideas, to the reality I am facing. Then, sometimes, expectations are met, and in this case, if you have been well prepared nothing to change or adapt to. Of course, there are also variables mis-predicted. It can be due to cultural differences, lack of information on the internet or in books… Adaptation is therefore important. Not about changing all your habits but small awareness about it. Again, I am going to illustrate my point, according to my own experience. I arrived in Slovakia, with good preparation about the weather, the residence I was about to live in. Nevertheless, I faced details that changed my daily habits. For instance, I found out that cash is more used to pay than in my country, and, in certain stores, only cash is allowed. Also, Bratislava is a city built to facilitate car traffic, with a small number of pedestrians crossing compared to French cities, usually more or less designed for pedestrians. So, the way of walking in the city has been a change for me. Such little details that are different from where I lived and are unpredictable.
To summarize, after choosing wisely the project and applying, the preparation is not a step to neglect. In this process, the support organization is responsible to give advice and use his previous volunteer experiences to help the volunteer to start the project in the best dispositions. The work of research and projection is very important as well. Then, the volunteer might be aware of the possibility to face cultural differences and gap between his/her expectations and the reality of the situation and adapt to them, to have the best experience.
Text: Matheo Penard
Fotka: Dobrodružstvo
Matheo je dobrovoľníkom programu Európskej komisie Európsky zbor solidarity na dobrovoľníckom projekte v organizácii DOBROdružstvo. Projekt bol podporený Európskou komisiou z programu Európsky zbor solidarity.
