A little more than a year ago, I was graduating high school and I was thinking about plans for my gap year. I knew that I wanted to go abroad and maybe work or do a volunteering service. I was really excited for the next year but also a little nervous for a year without school. Until then, the longest time that I had off school was six weeks, and now I had a whole year to plan full of things I wanted to do. I was scared I would not find something to do that would make me happy. Therefore, I felt really relieved when I found out that I was going to Greece with the European Solidarity Corps. Now that my project is slowly coming to an end, I realize that this was probably the best decision I made in my life.
During my ESC project, I experienced and learned so many things that I will remember for the rest of my life. I discovered new places, met new people, strengthened different skills, came into contact with new and different cultures, made new friends, had the time of my life, experienced new things, developed old and new qualities, and gained more life experience.
For 11 months, I offered my service to the third primary school of Vrontados (Chios), and I created content for several websites of the hosting organization ‘Experimental Technology, Education, Sports’. Every morning, I would go to the primary school ‘Αγιος Μαρκος’ from 08.15 to 12.30 to help in the first grade. On my first working day, one of the mentors of my ESC-project introduced me to the principal of the school, and he then showed me around the school and introduced me to the teacher of first grade. Her name is Anna, and from the beginning, she was really welcoming and kind. Not only she but every other teacher in school was really friendly, and I got even more excited to help in the school the next year.
During my work in the school, I did a lot of different things for my teacher and the children in my class, as well as for the principal and all the other teachers. I helped my teacher with making copies, preparing the children’s notebooks and handicrafts, refilling markers and water bottles, making decorations for the classroom, and watching the children when that was needed. I also helped the children when they had a question about their schoolwork, and I played with them during the breaks. We also went on a few excursions, for example, to the beach, a playground, museums, a farm, and different cities around the island. I was there to keep an extra eye on the children but also to play with them when that was possible.
At the beginning, it was hard to help the children or play with them because of the language barrier. However, after some time, I improved my Greek, and I found my own way of communicating with the children. I was more able to explain exercises to them or tell them what we were going to do that day. From the beginning, the children were really open towards me, were always down to play something, and were always happy to see me, and I was always happy to see them. My job as an assistant teacher was also to give some children extra help and attention if that was needed. For example, at the beginning of the year, there was a boy in my grade who had some difficulties with the transition from kindergarten to primary school. It was hard for him to express his emotions without having a meltdown or to interact with his classmates. My teacher gave me the tasks of sitting next to him during class, going after him if he ran away, and playing with him and other children during the breaks. After a few months, he got more used to school life and did not have any difficulties anymore.
Together with other volunteers in the school, we made Christmas, Easter, and Summer decorations for the main entrance, repainted the games on the playground, made a good bye video for the sixth grade at the end of the school year, and helped with organizing several celebrations. For example, Ochi-day, Christmas, the Independence Day of Greece and Chios, Easter, and a sports day.
Every evening, I had computer work for two hours during which I wrote articles for curiosity.gr, 4youth.gr, and samos.net and recorded my own articles and articles from mythics.eu for chiosradio.gr. I wrote articles about subjects that you can categorize under science, curiosity, history, and children for curiosity.gr, my own experience for 4youth.gr, and about the island of Samos for samos.net. During my personal project, I translated the website mythics.eu from English to Dutch and wrote a few articles about healthy nutrition for 4children.gr. Every now and then, together with the other volunteers, we also worked on videos about our city trip to Izmir (Turkey), believing in yourself for the international video competition ‘MEDEA Awards’, and our life as ESC-volunteers on Chios. Not only did I improve my English by writing articles, but I also learned how to use photo and video editing programs and how to upload articles and recordings to websites.
During my free time, I did a lot of different things with the other volunteers. We liked to play games at home, go out for dinner or drinks in the city, go on excursions to different parts of the island, and visit different beaches in summer. There are a few moments that are now very special and happy memories, which I will remember for the rest of my life.
During my second weekend on the island, I went to a beach nearby with two other volunteers. There was nobody else on the beach, and after we ate the food that we had made beforehand, we listened to some music. By that time, I had only known them for a week, but it already felt like we could talk and laugh for hours together. While we saw the lights in the sky change into the most beautiful colors and the stars slowly start to appear, I was wondering how much more I would experience during my ESC-project if this was only the beginning.
Another one of those moments was when I went to Anavatos by taxi with four other volunteers. Anavatos is also known as the ghost town of the island and is located on the edge of a mountain. Together with the other volunteers, I climbed all the way to the top of the mountain, where we had a pretty view over the island and the ocean. After we visited Anavatos, we started walking to the village of Avgonima. During this one-hour walk through a hilly and vegetated landscape, we sang songs, played games, and talked about what we wanted to eat in Avgonima. When we arrived there, we watched the sunset outside, had dinner afterwards, and reminisced about everything we had seen that day.
I will also never forget that I jumped off a cliff with another volunteer in winter. Together with four other volunteers, we had been working on a video for the MEDEA Awards for a long time. We only needed to film the last shot of another volunteer and me jumping off a cliff. It is hard to describe the feeling I had while I jumped into the water, but it is the same kind of feeling I have had over the last year. The feeling is a combination of happiness, adventure, carefreeness, cheerfulness, and excitement. Something that I had never felt before.
I have so many happy memories from the last year, and I wish that I could tell you all of them. Before I came here, I did not know what to expect from anything, and if you had told me that I would make friends forever, jump off cliffs, ride a rollercoaster on a different continent, see dolphins from on top of a ferry, laugh until the sun comes up, go on vacation with other volunteers, stargaze a million times, launch a sky lantern and have the best time of my life, I would probably have laughed at you.
My first few days on the island felt really exciting and adventurous, but also a little exhausting and hard sometimes. I had to get used to everything that was new around me. From finding my own routine in the house to getting more comfortable speaking different languages all the time. I was also a little homesick at the beginning, but after my first week was over, I did not even think about that anymore.
It is hard to believe that it is already 11 months ago that I stepped out of the airplane and started my adventure on Chios because it feels like yesterday that I packed my big suitcase at home and left everything behind. After my first few weeks on the island, I had to think about my first impressions and my predictions for the following year. I remember that I wrote down, ‘My adventure has only just begun, but I have this feeling this is going to go by really fast’. And it is like that; it was over before I knew it, and I wish that I could do it all over again.
