By Nicoletta Baldo, EU Aid Volunteer
Last Thursday, the 26 of October, I participated to my first field trip to Berat where I had the opportunity to meet the students of the Professional high school Stiljano Bandilli. NCCS organized these meetings to talk about the importance of volunteering, in particular of thinking outside of one’s personal space and of offering one’s time and skills to others. As I always like to say, “sharing is caring”!
In this frame I shared my personal experience with the students: last year I worked in Kenya as a volunteer for the Red Cross. Among my tasks there were also weekly sessions with students from two schools in Nairobi, hence I already felt comfortable in talking to teenagers. What I tried to convey is that volunteering and spending your time for others can be challenging sometimes (most of all if you’re abroad and far from you loved ones) but it can be a lifechanging and exciting experience, as it has been for me! Actually, my experience here in Albania is linked to the programme of the EU called Humanitarian Aid. It is co-financed by the European Commission and after an online and in presence training, it gives you the possibility to apply for projects even beyond the EU borders.
After these meetings, we met with two groups of people belonging to the Roma and Egyptian communities in the context of the project “Expanding of the services of free legal aid for women and men in Albania”.
As the meeting ended, we decided to take the chance to visit the fortified citadel of Berat, a World Heritage Site protected by the UNESCO. While I was wondering around those streets and watching the landscapes I thought about how lucky I am to be able to travel, visit and discover new places while offering my time and skills in my volunteering work. Something to try at least once in a lifetime.
National Center For Community Services 