I always said that I will
only write a blog when I feel there is actually something to write
about. Well, it seems now is the time. This year has been a year of
milestones and challenges. Graduating from University and moving back
home have given me the time and incentive to take a better look at
myself and figure out what makes me happy and what I would like to
change. I've been toying with the idea of international volunteering
before, under different circumstances, but it took time to shape
entirely and then it hit me one day: I want to go to Africa.
I've heard about different
options and decided to to go to the Gambia through a Slovenian
non-profit geared towards helping children called Kids Are the
World (Za otroke sveta ). Teaching in one capacity or another has always been an
important part of my life so the idea of working at a school strongly
appealed to me, though I didn't have previous experience with the
preschool age group. I applied for their Summer camp project in May
and from then on everything moved very quickly. Visa, plane ticket,
seminar for volunteers … It seemed more and more real every day. It
also came as a complete surprise to my family and friends.
I would lie if a said that
making such a decision isn't scary. We're all afraid of the unknown,
but I decided to take it as a challenge and see how much I can do to
prepare myself before my departure in August. Number one: experience
working with this age group, which is about 3 to 7, maybe 8.
Being the child of a
teacher has its perks, one of them spending a week with 2nd
Grade children in class at the primary school. It was amusing for me,
because most of the teachers have known me since I was a baby and
they were surprised to suddenly see me there in the morning going to
class. I think I explained it at least 10 times and got a good laugh
out of it.
As cliché as it sounds,
it was in that classroom that I found myself. I was a bit
apprehensive at first not being in contact with children much before.
There were so many doubts flowing freely in my mind: will I even like
it, are the children going to accept me … The children did away
with them quickly. They were curious, accepting, mischievous and
hungry for knowledge. I also bonded with their teacher who took me
under her wing and became my mentor helping me make my first steps on
this unknown territory. I was surprised at the ease with which the
little ones accepted me and it was actually rather difficult to leave
on my last day. I promised to come back in September and make a
presentation about my month in the Gambia.
More about my next steps
in this preparation journey in my next blog post.
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