Each last Thursday of the month, our group of volunteers meets and makes activity altogether.

This monthly meeting was opened by Aytakin, the new ESC volunteer. Our group has just welcomed her, and thanks to her we travelled with our minds. She presented her country, Azerbaijan. It was part of the Soviet Union and its capital city, Baku, has both modern and older buildings, so that skyscrapers and traditional houses form a unique skyline.

Then we had to struggle, because the Marshmallow challenge was ahead! In this game, we were divided into four teams and we had to build a tower. The team with the tallest won. To make this special building, we were given string, tape, a pair of scissors, spaghetti and, of course, a marshmallow! The marshmallow had to be put on the top of the tower. Khatia, Antonia and Mariam won. Congratulations! Then we discussed the fact that for each team it was possible to actually build a tower only listening to each other and collaborating.

Since most volunteers are at the end of their projects, we spent time talking about Youthpass. Youthpass is a useful tool for participants in European Solidarity Corps projects. It is an instrument that attests the actual participation to the project and where are stated the key competences acquired. The outcomes achieved during activities and the tasks carried out are gathered in this final document. It makes the youngsters more aware of what they actually achieved and gives a comprehensive idea to other people, institutions or companies of what has been done.

In teams, we got acquainted with the eight types of competences that each volunteer can gain through the project. It was important for us to be able to think about how we grew up during the project, in which areas we have actually achieved new skills and in which way. Then, we presented our thoughts to the whole group, so that a wider and collective debate could take place.

How we gain competences during the project is really important, because we do that through non-formal education. What does it mean? It means that we are not sitting on desks and taking notes while a teacher, a professor or a trainer is speaking. We learn by doing, through direct experience. Sometimes we overcome challenges through the tasks related to our volunteering activities, sometimes we acquire new skills just because we live in another country. We do our best to adapt to another country. Most of us have really basic Polish knowledge, but we try to learn to classes. Every day we grow up a little bit and we acquire our competences.