Dzien dobry, everyone! My name is Vicente Vicario, I am 23 years old and I come from Spain. First of all I have to say that becoming a volunteer here in Poland is a dream coming true and I couldn’t be happier right now. The city, the volunteers, the kindergarten where I work and the STRIM organization are all awesome and supported me since day one. Now that you see everything from a really positive view, I will tell you that not everything is easy in this journey. Every day you face a lot of different challenges and you have to be brave enough to overcome all of them. Some might be little things, like losing the bus that goes to work and getting late to work or big things, when for instance your phone dies and you are on the other side of the city and you don´t speak Polish to ask for directions. However, all of them make you tougher, smarter and way more experienced to deal with everything in your life.
Leaving the “negative part” aside, I will tell you that talking about my work also is talking about my interest in learning new methods and strategies for teaching. Since the first week I started noticing thousands of differences in between schools here and in Spain and I simply fell in love. In my kindergarten they believe that freedom is one of the main tools for the kids to learn by themselves, they work without pressure from the teachers and you can see them evolving and growing in every aspect. All materials and games are at the reach of children’s hands for them to use it.
In the end my last thought about being a good volunteer or better said, for you to feel comfortable in the project is to remain active in every possible initiative, to have motivation for everyday tasks and be open-minded to accept the culture and make others accept your differences. Of course, you have to believe in what you are doing and have enough self-confidence to consider yourself as an important part of the project.
Anna, the teacher