What have volunteers been up to? — Working on GreenEST
This blog post is part of the GreenEST project series. Check out the series here.
The first part of the GreenEST project has ended. Our volunteers from different parts of the World have been working hard on creating amazing camps for children. For the past two weeks, they have been educating youngsters on food production and consuming, recycling, climate change and, general environmental-friendly behavior. In the next two weeks, they will create a website with resources about climate change as well as showing Estonians their culture at Global Village.
But let’s hear from themselves how has the experience been for them so far.
Camps went well — challenging, yet enjoyable
Zeynep felt that the camp was very enjoyable, she learned new things from the children while spending some quality hours together. She felt a connection with some of the attendees and hopes the camp was beneficial for them. It did get a bit challenging at times though for volunteers. Anano mentions that it’s difficult to keep teenagers entertained at all times while not speaking their first language, which Daniel and Antonio also agreed with, but ultimately it was a really good time interacting with the children. Nihan was a bit nervous before the camps, but she feels like once she met the kids it wasn’t that difficult after all. “Being with kids for two weeks was amazing. It made me understand my limits and my capacity to do anything. I really felt like I was becoming a better version of myself: more patient, more confident and more creative,” says Nihan.
“Being with kids for two weeks was amazing. It made me understand my limits and my capacity to do anything. I really felt like I was becoming a better version of myself: more patient, more confident and more creative,” says Nihan.
What have our volunteers learned from the camps?
The most interesting thing Antonio has learned so far is that all the kids are very different, they grow at different rhythms. Daniel takes with him the skill to turn a topic that can traditionally be seen as boring into something entertaining that children want to participate in. Nihan was surprised to see that the kids here can speak English very well and she was amazed at their intelligence. At one point she felt like the kids should be tutoring them. Anano agrees with that and adds that she learned some things about herself, as well — for example, that she can live independently and make friends pretty fast. The most interesting thing Zeynep learned was Estonian folk dances, although they were quite hard and required a lot of effort.
The most interesting thing Zeynep learned was Estonian folk dances, although they were quite hard and required a lot of effort.
The project has been a success so far, with challenging moments to grow as a person as well as fun. Can’t wait what the final weeks will bring!
The GreenEST project has been sponsored by Lange Motokeskus, Eesti Loodus, Eesti Leivatööstus, Tere and created by AIESEC in Tartu in collaboration with Tartu loodusmaja.
