I’m Augustin, a 21 year-old volunteer in Romania for the next five months. I joined a European voluntary service Eiva association for six months in order for me to help children with disabilities and to film my trip here to show what a great opportunity a European voluntary service can be.
What made you want to go abroad for a volunteering experience ?
I did voluntary service in France in 2019/2020, at the end, I wanted to work in the audiovisual field, unfortunately I wasn’t able to enter a cinema school so I decided to find work abroad to get some experience. I heard about the European Solidarity Corps and it seemed to be a good opportunity for a youngster like me. I wanted to go abroad to discover new cultures, to meet new people and to learn new skills and languages, so going on a mission with the European Union is a really good idea. I wasn’t wrong about this idea, I wanted to go abroad to discover new places where I would be able to improve my skills and maybe find something to do to build my future self. I wanted a good experience which would allow me to improve myself and my knowledge and this EVS is the perfect experience to do so.
Why did you choose Romania ?
At first, I wanted to go to Greece as I know a bit of the language thanks to my studies, but I was shown the opportunity of going to Romania with one of my friend, it was meant to be a mission with helping children, not what I was looking for but a good experience for someone like me who knew nothing about Romania and how to handle kids. This experience is really nice so far, I can learn a lot about solidarity and interculturalism by working with my fellow volunteers from Spain or Reunion Island. I’m sure that I will remember this experience my whole life, I sure won’t be the same I was at the beginning of the EVS, this is an opportunity for me to evolve and become a greater me.