From April 27th to June 7th, ten volunteers from eight countries participated in the Green Fingers project, making up the spring volunteering team of the European Solidarity Corps
Volunteers Roos (Belgium), Léna and Chloé (France), Conrad and Sonja (Germany), Spyridoula (Greece), Sergei (Italy), Agate (Latvia), Emma (Netherlands), and Carlos (Spain) carried out activities in primary schools in Zagreb and Vrbovec: gardening in the school gardens of partner primary schools, maintaining greenery area in primary school Dobriša Cesarić and Davorin Trstenjak, organized and held an Intercultural evening, organized and held workshops at the Garden Festival at primary school M.J. Zagorke in Vrbovec and small garden festival at primary school Davorin Trstenjak in Zagreb, celebrated World Bee day by organizing workshop for pupils. The program provided different avenues for volunteers to embrace and try on various activities, from working on personal projects to watching birds in Maksimir (organized and implemented by NGO BIOM), Blackout poetry (organized and implemented by NGO Ocean Znanja) and participating in meditation with acrylic pouring (organized by NGO OAZA).
Hi, my name is Roos Brems. I’m 19 years old and recently finished my OAZA Green Fingers ESC volunteering project in Zagreb. I found out about the ESC through the organization I did an exchange with during high school. I was immediately captivated by the idea of being able to meet new people and explore new places all the while contributing to society through a meaningful project. Initially I wanted to wait until after my studies to apply, but an opportunity arose and I decided to go for it and do it this year. As I didn’t have a big time frame in which I could take part in a project, I was looking for short term volunteering opportunities that took place in a country I had never been to before. As I was scrolling, the OAZA Green Fingers project caught my eye. Reading through the description, it felt too good to be true. It fit the time frame, the location was perfect and the activities sounded amazing. On top of that, I loved the fact that it would be a group of 10 people and that there was a vegetarian challenge, since I have been a vegetarian for more than 10 years now. I decided to shoot my shot and apply, and a few emails and a zoom call later, I got accepted! I was over the moon the moment I received my acceptance email! I had almost accepted to do another volunteering opportunity, but I am so happy I decided to wait and choose this project.
I arrived in Zagreb by plane one day before the project began and got picked up by two of the other volunteers who showed me the way to the hostel. This was the perfect way to break the ice and get to know each other as well as to see the city for the first time! That day, we went back and forth to the bus station as there were volunteers arriving at different moments during the day. We got to know each other and ate burgers in a weird, little restaurant with the best garlic mayo sauce I have ever eaten in my life. All in all, this first day was exhausting but really exciting! The first few days of the project, we mainly spent in the office. We got a lot of practical information as well as information about the project and played some games to get to know eachother better.
Even though the office is super nice (especially the terrace!), we were dying to go to the schools to start doing some gardening or meet the children. Once those days came, they never went away. At the end of the project we were telling each other that we took our office days from the beginning for granted :).When we were in the school, we were either doing gardening or doing some workshops with the kids. These workshops were workshops we created ourselves and ranged from workshops about volunteering to workshops about bees! It wasn’t always the easiest to create them, but we always felt like our hard work paid off once we got to actually do them with the kids. The things we had to do for the gardening part of the project would vary as well, but the main part was cleaning the gardens by pulling out weeds. This wasn’t always the most interesting job to do, but we always managed to entertain ourselves with plenty of “would you rather’s”, “would the person you’re thinking about do…?” or discussing a questionnaire we came up with ourselves with some fun questions ;). All in all, every day of work brought the group closer to each other.
I think one of the best, if not the best, part of this experience was the people I have met along the way. I could write a lot of things about our volunteering group, but to keep it short, I will just tell you that I am so incredibly happy and grateful that I met them and I cannot imagine having done this project without them by my side. I will never forget our logbook, our little expressions we used way too often, the sangria nights, the ‘hot goss’ talks in the bedroom, our trip to Split and Plitvice, the secret friends, our adventures with Anton, and so much more! I think I could write a novel about all of our adventures in Zagreb, but that would take too much time for you to read ;).
If you have come this far in reading my testimony and feel as excited as I felt to come to Zagreb and experience this amazing opportunity, I could only recommend it! These two months have been two of the most exciting, educational and fun of my life and I am forever grateful to Jasmina for having given me the opportunity of participating in this meaningful project.
– Roos, Belgium
In July 2023, I received confirmation that my gap year had been accepted by my school and so I began to find out what I could do during this year I was taking for myself. One evening, while scrolling on Instagram, I came across the reel of a girl who was presenting her experience of volunteering in Greece with the European Solidarity Corps. I thought it was a great program and went to their website to find out more. I spent a lot of time on the site looking at the different types of volunteering because I wanted to do a project with concrete activities and that wasn’t too long. At the end of February I came across the Green Fingers offer. After an interview with Jasmina and Mireille and receiving confirmation a few days later that I’d been accepted, my volunteering project became more and more concrete.
Finally, at the end of April, I arrived at the Zagreb bus station with my big backpack and a lot of stress. Jasmina accompanied me to the hostel where I would be staying with the other volunteers for the next 6 weeks. When I arrived at my destination, I was warmly greeted by those who had already arrived and later we went to the station to meet those arriving in the evening.
During the first weekend we started to get to know each other and explore the city together. Getting to know so many people so quickly was a bit of a challenge for me, as I’m rather reserved by nature and need time to open up to others (which everyone respected and accepted). I was also afraid that my English wasn’t good enough to communicate, but in the end I managed to make myself understood and I think I’ve also made progress in English.
Then, after that weekend, our volunteering began. We learned a little more about our two main missions: workshops for children in schools that have a partnership with OAZA, and gardening in these schools. Unfortunately, we started our second mission rather late in our volunteering, due to bad weather which prevented us from gardening.
For the workshops, we had some time in the office to prepare them in advance. After several hours of brainstorming and preparation, we had two types of workshops to offer the children. The first focused on the presentation of ESC and the volunteer opportunities available to them later on, and the second consisted of different games, which we later named “mini Olympics”. We presented these activities several times during our volunteering and although the very first time was quite stressful for me, but everything went smoothly and I felt more at ease by the end.
Once the weather was more pleasant, we were able to start gardening in the schools. This mainly involved removing weed, trimming hedges and removing ivy from trees. It was more or less physical, depending on what we were doing, but it was nice to be outside together.
Our weeks were also punctuated by activities proposed by our supervisor Jasmina: a hike, a Croatian lesson, intercultural night, acrylic pouring… all of which were very interesting and amusing!
Apart from office and school hours, we spent a lot of time together and explored a bit of Croatia. Some of us went to Split for a 4-day weekend. Even if life with 10 people wasn’t always easy, for me it was a very enriching experience where I met lovely people, very open and attentive to the needs of others and open to dialogue, which made these 6 weeks very pleasant. I learned a lot from them !
I left with a head full of good memories, more maturity, autonomy and I think I learned new things about human relations. I think I can only recommend volunteering to someone who is hesitating to do it because there’s always something to learn from it.
– Léna, France
Why did I decide to take part in the European Solidarity Corps Program ?
Last September, I decided to go on a gap year and take a break from studying as I truly wished to do something more meaningful and useful not only to me but also to others. That is why taking part in the ESC felt like the perfect fit for me as it implies core solidarity and human values. Therefore I did not hesitate and started looking for volunteering opportunities as soon as I finished my previous volunteering in my home country.
What was my life line in ZAGREB ?
Regarding the volunteering :
The volunteering activities were spread out throughout the week and mainly divided into two categories : office days and gardening/workshops with children at schools. We mainly stayed at the office to prepare for future workshops. The goal was to agree on which games or more generally speaking, which activities to implement with children in order to share a specific message or raise awareness of a particular topic such as the importance of volunteering and the ESC for instance. Besides, to fulfill all the activities we wanted to provide the children with, we prepared all the necessary material which required manual and creative work such as drawing, cutting out paperboard, painting and so on…I particularly appreciated this part as I was able to reconnect with my creative self. Other workshops implied simple games allowing for volunteers and children to connect and learn from each other. Children were incredibly eager to learn from us, showing interest from our native language and culture which was very sweet and rewarding. These types of moments were also the perfect opportunity for us to learn Croatian phrases and practice the one we were taught. Children really appreciated that I tried communicating with them in their native language and were excited to teach us anything we wanted. Gardening activities also made most of the time we had at schools besides workshops. Most of the time, we were to clean out gardens and green areas which was quite satisfying once we finished picking out all the weeds and cleaning out everything. The trip we made to Petrinja was, in my opinion, the most rewarding experience as we got to experience many different sides of gardening which I deeply appreciated. Besides, the school teachers and students showed great interest and gratitude towards us. To finish, we participated in two different garden festivals by preparing various games which was not only the opportunity for us to further bond with children but also to meet other local organizations.
Regarding co-living as a volunteering team:
Before going to Zagreb I was a little apprehensive about meeting nine other people and more particularly about living with them 24/7. But, as soon as I met my volunteering team I felt at peace and I knew everything was going to turn out great and I was right. I have met wonderful people I am glad to call friends and I am very thankful for sharing this experience with them. We had great moments both during the volunteering activities and outside work and I have great memories with all of them. Regarding the accommodation, I was also a little nervous before going as I did not really know what to expect since we had to share accommodation with guests outside our volunteering team but everything turned out amazing and I found it nice to meet people from all over the world outside of the group. In my opinion, it was a very rewarding experience on a personal and cultural level as I got the opportunity to meet many different people from various countries and backgrounds with whom I truly bonded and to whom I really opened my heart.
What did this volunteering bring me ?
As above mentioned, this volunteering experience brought me a lot on a personal level. In my opinion, it was a unique human experience that I would recommend to people once in their lifetime. I have learnt so much from other people and learnt so many things about myself I didn’t suspect. This experience granted me with greater self-confidence as I managed to overcome some of the fears and apprehensions I had by stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things I didn’t dare to do before. I would highly recommend this type of experience to introvert people who are willing to overcome their fears and become their better selves! Besides the personal takeaways I had, I am thankful I got the opportunity to gain knowledge of gardening as one of my goals was to become more familiar with manual work including more largely more tangible ways to act up for the environment by learning how to take care of it and protect it. I was also thankful for taking part in the vegetarian challenge as I was allowed to taste some delicious vegan food and recipes which really enticed me to switch to a greener diet, which also forms part of a more sustainable lifestyle.
Finally, I was thankful for the children ‘s welcoming attitude and interest in us. It was truly refreshing and rewarding to see how happy they were to meet us and I truly hoped they enjoyed meeting me as I enjoyed meeting them.
– Chloé, France
This volunteering was the third of this kind for me. I just applied via the portal to a few projects about 2 months ahead and was accepted to this one as well. The good thing for me was that it was really cheap to participate because most of the costs were covered by the EU and the program.
The main factor for me to apply to this project was the cooperation with the OAZA Joyful kitchen which meant that we received a free vegan lunch every workday which I saw as an amazing opportunity to explore vegan food and get some recipe ideas. That worked quite well and I received a big variety of inspirations for my daily cooking as well.
Our group of ten people was accommodated in a hostel outside the city center. The hostel itself was quite nice and colorfully decorated, while the owner was something I never really got used to because of his passive aggressive manner in the beginning it was a struggle for some to be able to live in such a small space for so long but you got used to it over time and found a balance to spend some time alone.
In general, I find the social aspect of the projects to be the most important. You get to meet so many amazing people from all over Europe in your group but also in the hostel. Especially the bond you make with some of the people in your group is something you can rarely find anywhere else. Some of these friendships are ones for life.
The project itself consisted of two main tasks. Firstly, the workshops. We created many different workshops for children from ages 6 to 16. Therefore, we prepared many workshops with the topics: sports, bees and volunteering in the plant-filled OAZA office. Doing the workshops with the children and them laughing and having fun is one of the best feelings in the world, especially when they hug you goodbye.
Secondly, we go to garden in different schools in and around Zagreb. After some gardening you realize that it is not always easy or entertaining, but some things like plucking weeds are just necessary to do. On the other hand, planting trees and making cement flower pots is a lot of fun, especially doing it with other children.
In total I can say that this volunteering was, while not always easy and sometimes exhausting, was a great experience. I learned so much about myself, others, gardening and working with children. I therefore highly recommend participating in ESC projects, but especially this one!
– Conrad, Germany
