My name is Raluca, I’m 22 years old, and I’m one of the increasing number of young people who decide to volunteer abroad. I made this choice with the aim of helping others, gaining life and work experience and, most of all, finding some autonomy and independence in my personal life as opposed to finishing university faster. In the meantime, I study whatever captivates my interest, mostly connected to social studies. With the privilege of European citizenship and some will, since last September I have been volunteering through the European Solidarity Corps.
Helping Others, Building Europe
Originally from Romania, I am currently in a small Swedish town enjoying the opportunities that come with working with youth. With a little under 50.000 inhabitants, Östersund is neighbouring the 5th largest lake in Sweden and is the most important cultural and economic landmark in the region of Jämtland. Thanks to the organisation I am volunteering for, Navigatorcentrum, I work daily with youth with the goal to get them more active in 4 areas: mobility, health, culture and community life. We organise activities to stimulate our participants’ motivation for personal growth, improve physical and mental health, raise awareness on crucial matters and enjoy the cultural mix we’re in.
I have a lovely German partner also my age, Eva, and together we are adventuring into the learning process of our lives. Our motivation to make a change in the small community we’re in and our values in our lives are keeping us together and are making us stronger. This experience is also shaping us more and more every day. Our goal is to share our knowledge and skills and help youth find their way to the labour market, a healthier more balanced life and eventually to their dreams. Together with our supervisors in the organisation, we are a fantastic force. Between Swedish, Romanian, German and Italian, we can enjoy a variety of interesting exchanges about our cultures and the things that we have in common.
A Swedish Fika
Culturally adjusting to a more relaxed work environment, a linear hierarchy and toned-down organizational culture with a strong focus on work relationships have opened a whole new world of productivity for us. During fika, which in Sweden is a small coffee or tea break usually accompanied by something sweet, we gather by the couches in the lunchroom and everything becomes 70% cosier. We get new ideas, find out insights from our colleague’s work, share movie recommendations or events we’ve heard of and, most importantly, our opinions.
In the beginning, the days were much shorter and with a warm cup in hand and dim lights you could take the perfect 20-minute break. We found ourselves admiring our coworkers’ relaxed attitudes, and their habit of walking around the office in socks became our own dear habit. I guess it takes at least 3 to fika, but we do our own fruit plates in the office when we want to work through it.
My country? Europe!
As well as improving the employability of youth in our Swedish community, we also periodically invite new people to hang out and learn new things about each other’s cultures. The most recent event we’ve had was an International Café. Here, we talked about the myth of Europe, the forming of the EU, and learned some interesting facts about the continent we live in. Did you know there are fragments of temperate rainforest in southern Norway and northern Spain?
We also reflected upon hardships that come with the complexity of the EU and acknowledged the opportunities we benefit from. There was a mutual unspoken agreement that even far from perfect, the EU is a good place to live in and to strive for growth. Before everybody goes home, we ask them to write down a thought, a wish or an opinion about Europe and leave it with us.
Act of Solidarity
Five months into my one-year-journey, time is measured in learning experiences, in small changes in my daily life and in big perspective shifts. I have ice skated on the lake, disagreed with my partner only to find new ways of working, started yoga and changed my eating habits. It is time for a lot of new beginnings.
I chose to volunteer here because I felt that this is a setting where I can be myself and contribute to something meaningful. Solidarity is a two-way road: you give and you receive. Along with the game of expectations and reality, I started playing with my hobbies and interests, joining them with work, developing workshops and activities for our target group.
Volunteering for me it’s the chance to explore my interests in different work environments without having the same rigour of a job. I’ve worked more as a volunteer than I did for money so far. I am becoming the best possible version of myself. Having the time and space to discover my qualities and make mistakes (which happens a lot) is very precious for development. I work around 34 hours a week, and at least 17 of those hours are spent learning something new. The other 17 are spent using improving skills I already have. It’s something a hefty salary for fresh-out-of-university-graduate can’t buy.
In the spirit of solidarity, I leave you with a song about the Swedish fika.
