Freiwilligenbericht von Marina Milic (englisch)

My volunteer story begins on April 1, 2022. Although almost 3 months have passed since then, I remember very vividly the day when I arrived at the airport in Leipzig after 16 hours traveling by bus. I remember that it was much colder than it was in Serbia, that it was raining, and that I was very scared. Fortunately, that feeling didn’t last long. As the saying goes, a man can easily get used to the good things, and so can to Halle and his new life here.

I quickly got used to the new environment, new people, and especially to the place of assignment. Although I had little fears about how I would manage in SCHIRM, since it is an organization that deals with social work, and helps people who are in a difficult life situation, or all others people who "sing a little differently", I was afraid how I will manage and how I will react because I have never encountered this type of work before. During the first week, all fears despaired, because my first impressions were actually great: the people who are coming there are kind, open and nice, and they helped me to be even more open-minded and open my heart to all differences. In addition, the sense of usefulness that I have all the time while I am there, helps me to overcome some other difficulties that I face, and the biggest of them is the language barrier. I was surprised at how well young people, users, know English. That fact made my job there a lot easier, and thanks to that, I gained some new friendships. Also, I have only the nicest words of praise for the team of people who work at SCHIRM and who helped me a lot to fit in and adapt to the team.
It's always hard to step out of your daily routine, out of your comfort zone, but it's the only way to progress and love life. These 3 months have been a valuable experience for me and i believe what is yet to come will be even better.