Good morning dear readers! Today I want to tell you about my mid-term training experience. My project with Internationaler Bund Polska is coming to an end and it is now time to think about the future. In fact, this will be one of the main themes of this training; unlike the previous one, the aim of which is to help new volunteers to better integrate into their new living environment, the second one is focused on what will happen after the project and to look back on our experience as volunteers.

The traning took place in Toruń, a lovely city in the north of Poland, best known for the Copernicus House and gingerbread. I and 11 other volunteers stayed in a hotel in the city centre, where most of our meetings took place.

Through walks around the city and fun games, I got to know the other volunteers and the city itself better. But there was more than just fun during this experience. I would define this training as a walk down memory lane and an awareness of where we, as volunteers, are today with respect to the project. The training encouraged us to think about ourselves and what we would like to do next, gave us a lot of advice and allowed us to express our expectations and fears out loud.

During this week I was able to focus on myself, what really matters to me, and meet wonderful people with whom I hope to stay in touch. An important lesson I learnt is that it is important to try to visualise yourself in the future, once the project is finished, but even more important is to try not to forget the present, the activities, the work and the experiences we still have time for.

Thank you from Alessia. See you! 😉