Hi! I’m Laura, I’m 21 years old and I’m from Lithuania. It has been almost a year since I’ve been volunteering in Finland with the European Solidarity Corps program. I’ve been volunteering as a program assistant in the youth exchange organization Maailmanvaihto — ICYE Finland in Helsinki. My main tasks include supporting the incoming volunteers in Finland and doing social media work.
Learning and growing
I would have never imagined that I would be doing what I’m doing right now. As I’m still very young, it has been a challenging year for me to be living abroad for such a long time away from my home country, family and friends and taking on such a responsible position. Nevertheless, it has been a very transformative experience for me. It might be easy to dismiss the moments of learnings that havehappened throughout the year and say that I have always been the same unless I take a moment to reflect. I can say that I’ve definitely grown as a person and matured. I’ve become more outgoing and comfortable with myself. It has also become easier for me to interact with new people. I’m still learning each day. 19theme: sustainable volunteering
Finding more than I thought
By volunteering in Finland I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and do something completely different from what I was doing. In the end, I gained and experienced a lot more than I expected. I got to know so many people from all around the world by participating in trainings organized by the Finnish National Agency for Education and Maailmanvaihto. I got to exchange experiences, stories and find inspiration from each other. I also broadened my horizons and became more aware of the social and political situations around the world by interacting with other international volunteers. I found a passion for filming and editing by going on a filmmaking course which was covered by my hosting organisation (I’m glad that Maailmanvaihto supports and encourages my learning in every way possible). I got a chance to use my new skills by filming two short videos about international volunteers: one from an evaluation camp organised by Maailmanvaihto, and the other from Tapola Camphill Village Community, which is a vibrant community where people with disabilities work and live together in the countryside. Filming and editing have been one of my most enjoyable activities ever since!
Responsible volunteering
I also got to learn about global responsibility from the viewpoint of an international non-governmental organisation (NGO). For example, how to include anti-racism work in our activities, communicate ethically and give people, who are being represented, a voice and active stance. By volunteering in an international NGO I also became more aware about neocolonialism and its impacts on international volunteering. For me, responsible volunteering means acknowledging your power positions, privileges and taking responsibility to make them visible. Responsible volunteering for me is also about getting to know the cultures of various people and understanding that there are many ways people live, communicate and express themselves and there is no one ‘right’ way. Global and social justice is definitely something that interests me and I want to continue learning more about these fields in the future as well. Looking back at this year, I can say that it has been a challenging one. But I would not regret a thing. I will not say that you should just go for it. But I will say that you should consider it with care and look at international volunteering more than just a year abroad. You will definitely find yourself in uncomfortable and difficult situations but you will also find yourself growing in many beautiful ways you would have not imagined.
TEXT: LAURA RUDZEVIČIŪTĖ
PHOTO: LAURA RUDZEVIČIŪTĖ’S ALBUM
The article has been published in the magazine MaailmanVaihtoa – Volunteers’ Voices 2/2022.