The first time I thought in doing an EVS volunteering the idea of learning a new language was one of the main attractions and reasons to join this experience. How you pretend to life in a foreign country for a long period of time without wanting to learn their language and communicate with the locals. Even when almost every romanian person that I know has the skill to talk in more than one language from English to Spanish, they are really good with the languages. Also, the more languages you know the best for you professional and personal life. However with the children it is completely another story. The first time I worked with the kids I felt completely useless because I could not communicate or help them. In the past, from my priori work volunteering I was able to explain the subject we were talking about, to express myself, un general to be capable of make a bound with the children and the teenagers trough the words. So at first I saw this like a handicap making my task...

Hello everyone, the last time you read our blog, my project was the summer school. Here are the following of my adventures in Romania : The summer school having finished in the middle of July, it was necessary to tidy up and clean the center, before finally leaving for new adventures but this time with the library. We were in the park and this adventure allowed me to meet Maria, a very exceptional woman. For this adventure I worked in partnership with another association named eiva, we were 4 French and here are some examples of our work with the library: Three times per week we offered 2 or 3 games :   Then we proposed a story in French and English, the children had to read in English one after the other:   Then to finish manual activities, like created landscapes of the sea or knight's suits :   We also had the exceptional presence of another association, the smiley club, ...

Hello everyone, My name is Chrystelle, I'm 24 years old and I come from France. I arrived in Romania in early May and since then my experience has only improved. In our project we are 3 volunteers from Italy, Spain and France. We work in different centers like Curcubeu, Copii Vis, Centru del criza and Aspis. Since the beginning of the summer, I have been working in a new center, the summer school, where we welcomed children between 5 and 11 years old for two weeks and at the present time teenagers aged between 11 and 15. We carry out different activities, Manual activities:  Cinema :  To meet the horses: Or games to develop team spirit and benevolence: And all this while having fun and learning to respect each other.

Traveling in Romania is going back in time. Most of the time, people have negative image of Romania. An unfair image that does not reflect the reality, because Romania is full of wealth.  In 9 months in Romania, I had chance to discover many things... 1. A generous nature :  Romania contains lots of mountainous areas, forests, natural parks, lakes .. where you can still find bears and wolves. Romanians like flowers and plants : many city where you can go are full of green. The Danube delta : one of the great deltas of Europe. This protected natural area is home to many species including pelicans. You can be tempted by a kayak ride...  2 .  The monasteries and castles  : Fan of monastery or castel ?  Mostly in the north of the country, in Moldavia and Bucovina, you can visit a group of orthodox painted monasteries.  About castle, direction Transylvanie ! Where you have the legendary Bran castle. Legendary but m...

The summer cradled and took care of our expectations, confident we were waiting for the arrival of September and psychologically we were preparing to face an experience that would allow us to help children and young people from the lower classes of society to become integrate into this. Everyone with their convictions, with their methods, with their skills, with their studies; all those securities that have grown over the years and that have made believe them special; each of us, thought to come to Romania and change the lives of these children. As soon as I arrived, i found the first observation that clashed with the idea of starting, I expected to find poverty and desolation at every corner, I found endless fields of sunflowers and characteristic villages along the road that led me to Arad. The city then, between underground bars, clubs, rock concerts, had nothing to envy to so many that i already visited even in my country. The first times, with the other volunteers, it was a contin...

A few hours before getting on the plane, goodbye, rush, curiosity and exciting nerves are your traveling companions. You're going to catch a plane bound for a lifestyle completely different from the one you've had until now. You didn’t have time yet to realize the 360º change that your routine has given you when you see yourself immersed in an intercultural adventure. You no longer live with your family or your friends, you live with strangers each from a different country, you do not hear the alarm saying it's time to go to your usual job or your university with little desire, you wake up in the morning without knowing exactly where you are going, but being sure that it will be a great day. First beers of presentations, What's your name? where are you from? What were you doing before coming? why are you here? At first you feel a little confused with all those strange accents trying to communicate in English, you are very concentrated and you think ‘how can I survive...