A MONTH FULL OF CHANGES AND FAREWELLS

With the arrival of spring, we have welcomed many new volunteers and said goodbye to others. I’ve never been a big fan of farewells, but with this experience I’m learning a lot to live in the moment and take farewells as something beautiful, because each person who has gone through this volunteering has left a part of themselves with us, and that’s something that I think is wonderful.

The arrival of new volunteers has given way to the emergence of new ideas and projects, Alexis (“silly sausage”) came for only two weeks but planted seeds (literally and metaphorically) everywhere she could. Among the seeds that are beginning to blossom is a new activity for the community about hosting campfire talks about organic gardening and other topics, as well as creating an intercultural environment where we can share and get closer to the community.

In addition, Marc has come back for three weeks, and I have been able to help him with his robotics club, which although it is not my favorite subject of knowledge, I am always willing to learn new things and participate in different activities.

On the other hand, the English club is becoming popular and the last few times we have had more than twenty people, which is impressive. It is giving us the opportunity to meet new people and make the English club more enjoyable and bearable.

This month I went to some of the foster care homes and schools that I had not been to before and I fell in love with the sweetness of some of the children. I’ve learned that many times the people who have the least are the ones who value things the most and thinking that I’m doing something positive for them makes me feel really good about myself. I have also faced the intercultural night, after having dedicated many hours of work to it, I can finally say that it is finished and that everything has gone very well. I cooked potato omelet and “tapas” with prosciutto, tomato and olive oil for the attendees to try some of my local food. And you can see that they liked it because there was absolutely nothing left.

But without a doubt my favorite activity is the art and mental health workshop that although it is a very powerful source of stress, because sometimes I am very critical of myself, it is definitely an activity that feels great every time I do it and I really feel that I am doing something positive and creating an impact in the community with it.

We’ll see what the next few months bring!

-Africa