Six hour train
ride from Valcea to Brasov then to Pradeal and a about 30 – 45 minutes’ walk up
a hill to Hotel Eden was the beginning of our one week on arrival training by
the Romanian National Agency.
The weather upon arrival in Predeal was
somewhat depressing as it was so cold and limiting. Some volunteers had plans
to go to the mountains, go ice skating and maybe just take a tour around the
town but to no avail.
The fun packed
week started at a rather annoying point after having to walk a so called ‘walk
able distance’ that left us all wondering why we did not take the taxi but once
we got there, we stopped with the complaints and embraced the place and the
many different experiences we had.
Being in an
intercultural group can be complex and worrying to start with but with our
group, everything just fell into place. We had a short meeting in the evening
where introductions were made and we were given an idea of what would follow
the next day and what we should expect.
The training
kicked off the next day at 10AM; it may have started off on a rather boring
note as the beginning introductory games seemed more or less redundant and the
fact that we had to start getting used to the new people in our various groups
added to the dull start of our training.
Later that day,
friendships started developing and by supper time, we were already mingling and
yes, moving towards the crazy days and nights to come.
We were all
naturals, blended in the group, carried out our group tasks and cooperated well
with everyone. We built each other, discussed sentiments on different training
topics and tasks, had debates, challenging tasks that we had to do as a group
to succeed, and also shared our cultural values with each other.
We were tasked
to go on a Predeal rally in order for us to practice our Romanian and also to
get some information about Romania from the locals. This task was to be carried
out in groups of five and we were given a set of questions to have answered by
the local people. It was a very fun and different experience for us as we got
to work with different volunteers; it was more of “journey to the centre”
experience.
It was a
refreshing experience because we got to go outside and walk to the city looking
for people to give us answers to all the questions on our question papers, we
even had to ensure that we got satisfactory answers from our audience because
we were presenting our findings to everyone later on.
All in all
Predeal for us was very educative and enlightening on so many issues, we had
enriched our knowledge as well as our social circles and so bit by bit, Romania
is starting to feel like home with the family we are creating.
From the
horrible hangovers that made us feel like “the walking dead” in the morning, to
partying hard every evening and working hard during the day, it was an awesome
experience that we cherish and love.
Thank you all so much for making this experience better for us.
We love you!!
Zece tineri din Europa, Africa şi America de Sud au început un stagiu de voluntariat finanţat de Comisia Europeană, prin care vor încerca să rezolve problemele romilor din judeţ. „Creative Youth Entrepreneurship in Roma Communities 539896-2-RO—2013-R1 ” este numele noului proiect de voluntariat ce a debutat la începutul acestei luni în Vâlcea. Coordonată de către Asociaţia ATRV Vâlcea, iniţiativa propune un stagiu de voluntariat european pentru un număr de 10 tineri din Polonia, Turcia, Portugalia, Zambia şi Uuguay. Pentru un an, voluntarii străini vor lucra în comunităţile rome din judeţul Vâlcea, unde vor realiza o serie de activităţi inovative menite să sprijine cu precădere tinerii romi aflaţi în dificultate. Folosind experienţa lor anterioară, dar şi sprijinul organizaţiei coordonatoare, voluntarii vor pune la punct o serie de programe educaţionale remediale pentru tinerii romi. În parteneriat cu Inspectoratul Şcolar Judeţean Vâlcea vor organiza o grădiniţă de vară pentru copiii romi şi vor ajuta la implementarea activităţilor în cadrul acestei iniţiative. De asemenea, tinerii voluntari vor co-organiza activitatea „Şansa a Doua”, dedicată tinerilor şi adulţilor din comunităţile rome ce nu au avut oportunitatea de a merge la şcoală. Astfel, voluntarii vor desfăşura acţiuni de informare despre comunităţile europene, drepturile cetăţeneşti şi importanţa participării la alegerile europene. Ca parteneri în proiectul Creative Youth Entrepreneurship in Roma Communities sunt următoarele organizaţii din străinătate: Audele – Uruguay, Universitatea din Zambia şi Unza Radio din Zambia, East West Mutual Understanding din Polonia, Asociaţia de Tineret ProAtlantico din Portugalia şi Canakkale Goza Genclik Dernegi din Turcia. Proiectul este finanţat de către Comisia Europeană prin intermediul Programului Tineret în Acţiune, Acţiunea 2 – Serviciul European de Voluntariat. Informaţiile ne-au fost oferite de doamna Georgeta Mureanu. Mihaela Muscă