Ahoj! I spent five months volunteering with the European Solidarity Corps. My project took place in Kroměříž, Czechia from September 2025 to February 2026. Starting right from the first contact with Klubíčko the whole experience has been full of joy, warmth and creativity. This volunteering project truly introduced me to a second home!
So, my volunteering project was hosted by Klubíčko Kroměříž which is a non-governmental organization. They aim to help the wellbeing of the families in the community. Klubíčk, for example, hosts an open playroom where parents can come with their children to play or perhaps enjoy a cup of coffee for a small fee. Simultaneously, it is possible for them to meet other parents or the staff of Klubíčko who are there to help with different kinds of problems that the families come across in their everyday lives. In addition, Klubíčko hosts musical play and workshops about, for example, wellbeing during pregnancy or first aid skills needed with children. Recently, they also launched an event where elders from a local nursing home were invited around to meet children!
In addition to all this, Klubíčko also maintains children’s groups for children aged 2 to 6. It is somewhat similar to how kindergartens work. Moreover, in the afternoons Klubíčko offers different kinds of activities for children: there are English language clubs, where the children learn English through games, songs, and arts and crafts, there is Folklor dancing, and there are Montessori activities. They have not forgotten the older children either. Klubíčko organizes theme events and also youth exchanges. So, it is not an easy job to summarize what Klubíčko is but all this (and even more) I got to experience while volunteering with them!
As a volunteer my days consisted of mornings in the children’s groups and afternoons in different activities. In addition, I got to fill my calendar with school visits or other events I wished to organize. Given the opportunity to choose what kinds of tasks I wanted to do not only taught me a lot but also made the whole volunteering experience very fun. Most of the time I helped with the youngest children, aged 2 to 3, so as a counterweight to that I also enjoyed going to schools to talk about both the European Solidarity Corps and Finland to the students. I even held a presentation about early childhood education in Finland and in France together with my French roommate! I was welcomed very warmly in every single place I visited. I hope that my presentations were interesting to the students and that maybe I inspired someone to consider volunteering in the future.
I shared my volunteering project with another volunteer which truly was a great thing. I didn’t learn just about Czech culture while working with the locals but I also learnt about French customs while living with a French person. It was amazing to notice how enthusiastic people were to learn about Finland and it made me see my own experiences and culture from a different point of view. However, I wasn’t just a representative of Finland but people were also interested in getting to know me personally. Of course, it was a bit of a hurdle that I spoke no Czech before moving there. Still, the same routines repeat when working with children and so my vocabulary expanded quite rapidly. I started the autumn with walking around the garden with the children and learning different colours by pointing at different coloured flowers. A great question to pick up in the beginning was “co to je?” or “what is this?”.
The biggest surprise for me was how there were no big surprises. It felt easy and natural to be in Kroměříž. I didn’t expect to experience any huge culture shocks but of course moving to another country and working with new people made me nervous beforehand. However, I got all the support I needed from Klubíčko and the people close to Klubíčko. As a volunteer I was able to meet people from different walks of life, as long as I was open to those meetings. I met wonderful and inspiring people not just in Kroměříž but from around Europe. If I was to give tips to people considering volunteering, I would say to just go for it and say yes to anything that sounds even remotely fun! When you give from yourself to volunteering you also get a lot back!
Děkuji moc,
Maria
The photo on the top: Velké náměstí, or the big square, in the city center. In the background, you can see the castle and the tower. The castle and the surrounding garden are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the winter, we got to enjoy some sub zero temperatures and snow!