When doing an ESC project, you get food and pocket money. It depends on where you are volunteering, some countries have higher budgets, some lower. In Slovakia we get a total of 380 euros per month. For some people this may be enough, but for a majority, I would say there are months where you will go quite over this budget. It is not only advisable, but necessary to come here with some savings. Say 1000 euro minimum for a long term volunteering. All in all it's a good way to learn to become more humble and try to get used to living on a budget. So, maybe sometimes you have to skip buying that souvenir you really wanted or maybe skip that trip to Prague. But maybe then you will find something much more meaningful and cheap in your surroundings. Meet new people, which is free! It's also kind of realising that your role currently as a volunteer is not one of a tourist, who spends a lot of money. Volunteers really shouldn’t be materialistic people.
I always say that experience is much more important than money. And in ESC, there is really a lot of experience you will get, while meeting new people, living in another part of the world and trying to be a helping hand in a different community than your own. Also, you will get to live on your own, as ESC does in fact cover your living rent! You will either have your own room, or share it with another person. Both options are cool, because when living alone, you have your own space, maybe for the first time in your life, and you really need to learn to be alone sometimes. Or maybe you will share your room or apartment with more people, which is also a very nice learning experience, to get to know how to set up borders within a small space and create this nice harmonious living situation. Also, when living with other people, it enables you to make lunches together, which is another great way to save money.
There are not only benefits to the volunteer, but also for the community itself. For instance, I myself volunteer here in Bratislava as a circus instructor in the organization CirKusKUs. Firstly, we are working with a lot of kids and in this way the children have a very good chance to be in contact with people from other cultures and therefore learn to communicate with people from other cultures and overcome some prejudice, which they may have. Secondly, we also do workshops and performances outside our school and in this way share our positive and creative vibes with various people from the streets of Bratislava or sometimes even from other cities, because in the spring and summer times we travel around Slovakia a lot!
Text: Fedja Saksida
Fedja je dobrovoľníkom programu Európskej komisie Európsky zbor solidarity na dobrovoľníckom projekte v organizácii Cirkuskus pod koordináciou Bratislavského dobrovoľníckeho centra. Projekt bol podporený Európskou komisiou z programu Európsky zbor solidarity.
