Author and photos taken by: Dimče Trajanovski
My EVS Story
To be young brings many challenges: trying new things, meeting new people, learning new cultures, and in a way building your individuality and finding your place in this global society. Being young also means a desire to travel. I think by traveling and living abroad we are becoming more open for new horizons and perspectives in our lives.
To be young means to be a volunteer too. I think the best feeling in life is when we are giving something from the heart without asking anything in return. Actually, that’s the biggest reason why I decided to become a volunteer and in my own way contribute to a better tomorrow in this global society.
Many people ask me: ”Why EVS in Poland?”
Curiosity, discovering new cultures and the need to search for something new are some of the reasons that made me go to Poland. I think any country on Earth has its own beauty and has something unique to be seen.
Wrocław – the city where I live now is the fourth largest city in Poland. I can say it is the most beautiful city in Poland. It is a historic city of Silesia, and today is the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city was part of Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Prussia and Germany, but in 1945 it became again part of Poland as a result of redrawing the borders after the Second World War. Wroclaw was also chosen as European Capital of Culture for 2016. Different styles of art, such as Baroque, Gothic and Flemish renaissance can be seen in the architecture of this city. You don’t need much to fall in love with Wroclaw.
Daily activities in “Multicultural Language Cafe”
I have been in Poland for 7 months now. My coordination and host organization is Semer Avanti and I work on a project called “Multicultural Language Cafe”. I create and run workshops in the area of human rights, intercultural dialogue and tolerance.
Through organizing various activities like: watching short films directed by Youth for Human Rights International, making discussions and presentations, I am trying to give and clarify what human rights actually are and why they are so important to all of us. The concept of my workshop is based on the idea of human rights, a look at the background of Human Rights, a brief history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Universal Declaration and the people who promoted human rights.
Within the project I cooperate with other EVS and Polish volunteers to create and run the activities. Aside from those activities, we are running workshops in high schools in the area of volunteering and various presentations about the countries the EVS volunteers are coming from.
Also, I took part in several international youth meetings. It was good chance for me to help young people and to animate them in their free time. We organized local cultural events such as little theater performances, making movies, photography, painting exhibitions, karaoke; in one sentence, we gave them a chance to experience the diversity of Europe.
It is really challenging to work with teenagers.
For the first time in my life I work on issues that I find really fulfilling. Human rights are important pillar for the formation of one’s character and I have the task to commemorate them and convey the meaning of human rights using different methods close to youth. I am happy with my everyday work with students and my efforts to raise awareness of the problems related to human rights and to clarify all ambiguities through different methods.
I hold conversation classes in English and teach Macedonian folklore dances to the elderly in “Sector 3” which is an organization that works mostly with helping older people. I am glad that in Poland the interest of the elder population to build on their knowledge after retirement is quite high and that many organizations are working in that field.
I also hold lectures in Serbian language for beginners in “Mediateka” and help at the orphanage “Family house” by organizing various leisure activities for the children.
I am living in a private apartment with my EVS colleagues form Turkey, Georgia, Austria, Spain and Belarus. We are like a family and we are learning many things from each other; from cooking different typical national recipes to how to live in spite of worries. However, one thing I will never forget is our young spirit and the lifestyle of helping one another we as volunteers have.
Being a volunteer and helping children, teenagers and adults brings me a lot of useful experience.
Macedonian Cultural Evening “Club pod kolumnami”, Wroclaw – Poland
I have always believed that Macedonia has something to be proud of and whenever people ask me where I come from, I always respond with love for my country. Although our country is small in surface, everyone should know that we are people with kind heart and soul. Thus, on the seventh of December in Wroclaw, Poland at “Club pod kolumnami ” with the help of my host organization, I organized Macedonian cultural evening. My role was to lead that cultural event. Through the presentation of our natural resources, cultural and tourist attractions, our well-known cuisine and wine; our rich folklore, music, tradition, hospitality and kindness, I tried to capture Macedonia’s spirit for an audience from across Europe . It was certainly an evening to remember.
Please take a look at the video of our Macedonian Cultural Evening.
I am glad that I have had the opportunity to be a volunteer. I sincerely believe that the more people try to volunteer and see how charitable activities can change their lives, the better.
