Bericht von unserer Freiwilligen Suada
On December 2021 started my volunteering journey in Halle and my place of assignment would be KindsElternCentrum in Lieskau.
From 13 of December up to now I have been working with kids from 4 up 6 years old.
The first day I was a bit stressed because I didn't know what to expect, how the kids would be with me and my colleagues too. Even though I had previously worked with kids in Turkey for almost 4 years, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it. I was afraid that my lack of understanding german would make it harder for me.But with the time I saw that my fears were a bit baseless! There I found a very good environment full of very nice people and amazing kids. At first I had to get accustomed with the kindergarten rules and where everything was and how to acquire stuff.
My volunteering program started in November last year at Passage 13 in Halle. The first months were spent adjusting to new social and work environment and meeting new people. Colleagues in the organization and other volunteers helped me in facilitating this process. However, the biggest problem that everyone faces is language - it limits the possibility of a normal social interaction. Nevertheless, after a few months, I learned a basic knowledge of German and that helps me communicate and interact with the young people I work with.
Seit mittlerweile über drei Wochen halten wir auf dem Markt von Halle täglich eine Mahnwache für den Frieden in der Ukraine ab. Und auch wenn ab nächster Woche nur noch zweimal die Woche hier sein werden, möchten wir weiter machen. Warum? Diese Frage wurde uns nicht selten gestellt.
“Every person can make a difference and every person should try”, said John F. Kennedy a long time ago but nowadays it seems so accurate. When even we are in 21 century, we still face a lot of wars, crimes, hunger, and inequality... We still face judgment based on skin color, race, nationality, or religion. And me all my life, starting as a student, as a volunteer, teacher, and journalist I have tried to fight against these. Last week I hold a small presentation about Albania, my country of origin in the kindergarten where I currently work as a volunteer KindsElternCentrum Lieskau. It was a way to let kids know a bit more about me, my beautiful country, our culture, and language but most of all to show them that there are other countries and cultures. I wanted to show these kids that being different is not bad, in fact is great because we can learn so much from eath-other.
After finishing my master studies I decided to do a volunteering service. So I found this open call for international volunteers from COD Jajce and applied. My volunteering service started in March 2021. In Halle, I was assigned to SCHIRM and Burgerhaus AltErnative. This programme gives you the opportunity to work with different people and to help them, and by far that is one of the best things about this programme.