My sunny EVS in Molfetta Volunteers say
From September ´19 until June ´20 I was participating in one of the Erasmus+ programs, the EVS. I got the chance to volunteer in a Secondary school in Bisceglie, deep in south Italy’s region Puglia. I must admit that living there, at the coast side with almost every day sunny weather, was one of the most beautiful experiences I did so far.
Before I arrived in the lovely town of Molfetta, I didn’t know what to expect, I just had my memories from touristic visits of the North. Living there, learning the language by getting to know lots of amazing new people as well as having a deep insight in the Italian culture got me overwhelmed. When I think about the months I spent there, thoughts like freedom, happiness and levity come up. Without really knowing about it, I dived in a life full of easygoingness. Compared to the life in Germany, I could really feel the difference within the first days of my stay: An even-tempered, sociable mentality of the people living there together with an everyday siesta were the perfect new conditions of starting an unforgettable new chapter.
During the school project in the neighbor town called Bisceglie, we´ve been working with young students, helped out in their English lessons and created some new project ideas to educate more about environmental protection. We had the chance to implement lots of smaller projects with different classes: Cotton-bags made of old t-shirts, recycled classroom decoration or a “shoe box campaign”, a little donated Christmas gift for kids in need packed in shoe boxes. At the end we were really proud of the results of every finished project, because we could develop more diversified lessons and more important – educate in creative ways about sustainability and awareness.
Though I needed to go back to my home country for two month, because of the closed boarders during corona, we still tried to keep the project ongoing and participated to some online meetings.
All in all I can say that my EVS was surely one of the most transformative and inspiring adventures I did so far. I was more than happy about this chance, because I could spend a wonderful time in a little paradise, where time doesn’t seem to exist, meet so many temperamental people and inhale the unique atmosphere during my journey.
I hope to come back soon!