About struggles

Yepp you read correctly.. believe it or not, a volunteer's life does not only contain jumping around in the sunshine full of inspiration and creativity. To get there, possibly with teenagers and/or children around you, an idea is needed. An idea? Nothing easier than that, you hear one voice say, look at all the things around you, how easy it would be to make something out of it. The other voice just wants to open a new tab and watch videos on Youtube. 

So you force yourself, aware of your great responsibility as EVS volunteer, to keep on trying and finding something, if not the final idea for your next activity then at least a topic to base the whole thing on. 

Your eyes wander through the room.. a pen.. why not write a wonderful fairytale story full of cute fantasy creatures with the children? Hm, some are in first grade and your Romanian is just good enough to express basic human needs.. a spoon.. hey, what about a great international cooking together with all the teenagers where they'll get to experience cultures from all over the world? Damn, you got no cooker and 40 stomachs are way too many to be filled. 

Well, you think, luckily there is Google to help me with a whole range of exciting yet demanding proposals. You start to search: "funny games with youngsters"... 

No, of course, you are taking part in an EVS! "non formal funny games with youngsters". Suddenly, you find yourself in PDFs hundreds of pages long, stating the superior effect of non-formal education on the developing brain of a teenager. But where is the funny game? Ok, there we are, not really smarter but at least aware that non-formal education has a superior effect on the developing brain of a teenager. 

Out of pure desperation you decide to go for a walk, maybe inspiration will pervade you here, outside. Way off the mark! While you pave your way through the late February snow and ice, proceeding hand over hand along the fences you got better things to worry about than a creative method for children in a semicerc. "Amazingly refreshed" you return home, one unread mail by your coordinator. Apparently the school decided to take winter holidays a bit earlier so all the teenagers and children are already enjoying their time out of school. 

Hmm, what a symbolic EVS moment. Problems appear out of nowhere and disappear in the same way, sometimes unnoticed, sometimes the work of hours seems to be for nothing. In these moments, you'll get to realize that worries do not get you any further, for (almost) all situations there will be a solution in the end and the more relaxed you approach these situations the more likely you are going to end up with a nice and satisfying result. It is obvious that some factors can change your whole plan, so how to react to them? In my opinion, the thing you can do is to welcome the surprise in your work and life and make the best of it, maybe the change is just what your idea needed!

Daniel