My name is Marc Gavaldà, I am 27 years old and I am from Roquetes (Tortosa). I have been in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, for more than 4 months, working in a non-profit organization as a volunteer in charge of communication. I will be here for 12 months as part of the European Solidarity Corps program.
After working for more than 5 years in Barcelona I was looking for a change and thanks to this program I had the opportunity to stay abroad, what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It is very enriching and fun experience. Changing country involves many things: new job, new home, new social circle, and so on. Although, at some point it seemed to overwhelm me, the sending organization or the host organization always help me whenever I need it.
Now that I’ve been a few months away I’m enjoying it a lot more every day. At work I feel more confident, with the other volunteers we often make plans and I am already more accustomed to the way of being of the people here as well as to the time. Taking advantage of the fact that volunteering takes 6 hours a day, I am also having the opportunity to start projects that I had in mind for a long time, such as a weekly podcast.
To summarize: volunteering like this helps you get out of your comfort zone and live new adventures. Undoubtedly it’s a highly recommendable experience for all those young people interested in a change in their lives.