European volunteer in Molfetta, Italy. Volunteers say

Hello everyone, my name is Sarai, I am 26 years old and I am from Galicia, Spain. After finishing my studies I knew I wanted to volunteer and I found a project that took place in southern Italy, more precisely in Molfetta. This was based on the fact of working for a year in the Municipality of Molfetta and I must admit that, even if at the beginning the idea of ​​going to volunteer for a year was very scary, I can say that it was one of the best decisions I have ever taken in my life.

The first months are always complicated, adapting to a new place, new people, a new job ... It is not easy and yet in Molfetta it was very simple. Both my tutor, Enza, and my roommates made sure I felt at home from day one. Also, I always had the organization behind me if something happened and they always helped me with whatever was needed. Over time, the project has done nothing but improve, we have carried out very interesting projects and activities. About halfway new volunteers arrived and we became about twenty distributed between Molfetta, Ostuni, Bitonto and with them came two of those who I consider my best friends here in Molfetta. However, as new people arrived, my first friend, whom I met here and who I consider very important, also returned to her country. It was probably the low point of my project, but I know we will meet again. Saying "see you later" is something I also learned during this project.

On the other hand, with this project I have not only learned things about myself and have grown a lot as a person, but also at a professional level I believe I have done it. Thanks to my tutor, I had the opportunity to work in the law firm of the Municipality of Molfetta, which helped me improve and expand my knowledge of law, a subject I had studied at university. Furthermore, with this project we were able to carry out other projects and activities such as the "Twinning between cities", which was attended by people from Croatia and Romania, we read poems in our respective languages ​​or learned to cook typical recipes of the city, among many other projects. But the project is not just always staying in Molfetta or working, during this year I was lucky enough to be able to travel not only in Italy, but also in other countries such as Malta, and see many friends I met during my Erasmus who live in other regions of Italy.

I can therefore say that it was one of the best life experiences I have ever had, because thanks to this project I have grown very professionally, I have met great people and I am a very different person from what I was before. As the film Welcome to the South says: "When you come to the South you cry twice: both when you arrive and when you leave". And it is true.