September 2023 began by welcoming our new ESC-volunteers. They appear one after another.

On the last day of September, Friday, we had “Thursday meeting”  with our newly arrived ESC-volunteers. We were lucky enough to catch the last sunny days in Krakow and spend time at Park Jordana, in nature. It was the first part of our meeting – offline.

Before we started we asked about their mood and level of energy – we were different kinds of flowers.. yes, yes, flowers. This can help each of us better understand the person, to see needs, conditions..

Everyone shared their first impression, thoughts and ideas about the project, their life here, tasks, friends.. As coordinators we are always trying to maintain the friendly atmosphere,  equality and open mindset. 

We discussed our fears/ expectations/ needs and even more. Supported by words and mutual opinions.

We were playing ”Human BINGO with a fun twist!” What do you think: – “Who plays on a musical instrument?” or “Who can tell a joke in English?”. It was funny. And our volunteers decided to stand in the circle and do this game together, without approaching one by one and without asking. They were smart 😉 

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Last part was devoted to the topic of challenges and timeline in the European Solidarity Corps project, which everyone will be faced with; when you go out to another country you will be faced with different stages of emotions and needs; steps of adaptation in the project.. and even more.

In the evening we logged in to the Zoon link and had a pleasure to meet with ALL of the volunteers. Bcs some of them are still in the process to come 🙂 By the way, we spend good time all together having different activities; one of them – “Let’s draw the Best Volunteer! ”.

By summarizing the results of the meeting, outlining ideas and intentions for the new project year, we hope that together we will create an excellent team. 

And we will do our best!

Kristina Murog,
Coordinator of ESC project.