My Volunteering Experience
My main project was in an Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Franschhoek which the CWBR previously built but had no structure in the classroom. I got to know children coming from the local township who grew to my heart. Those children showed me that you can be happy even if you don’t have much. I also worked on a project called Science trailer which would travel to various places to educate children in a practical way about science, mathematics and art. Furthermore, I assisted as an instructor in the art group for adults with a learning disability in the Care Career Connection project. I supervised and helped them to find their passion for art and painting.
Since my volunteer experience, I feel more comfortable expressing my opinion and I realized that there are people who care for them. I also learned to trust myself and my instincts. I was put with a lot of challenges, but I learned to manage them and to find solutions. This experience helped me to develop into an adult who knows what she wants.
I learned things I am sure I would have never learned if I did not to this experience. It sounds scary when you just finished high school to be confronted with things you did not know but that’s the reason you are doing this. I knew that if I have a problem or if I am stuck with my project I had people helping me. I learned to deal with cultural issues for example that I managed a project with children I did not understand.
Coming from Luxembourg being in South Africa is a cultural shock but a positive shock. I was used to grumpy people and social pressure but in South Africa it is the opposite. The people there are so friendly and welcoming. I have the feeling that social appearances don’t matter that much than in Europe. People were dancing in the streets and turned their music on, not caring about anybody. I noticed that people never lost their smile and happiness even if their job was hard and exhausting. I remember the workers on the farm where I lived, they were always friendly with me and they put you automatically in a good mood.
My favorite moments were when I bonded with the other volunteers. We experienced so much and went from good to bad times. Every time someone didn’t feel well, we stood behind him. We spent Christmas together, hiked up Table Mountain, visited a Tennis Match and did much more. One of my favorite moments was when I had just arrived and the whole team went on a road trip. I saw animals I have never seen before for example lions, elephants and giraffes. We all bonded and started to know each other.
Another amazing experience I had was when I went to a charity Tennis Match with the most famous players Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in Cape Town.
There is no positive experience of leaving early from volunteering. I couldn’t finish my projects and I still have the feeling of missing so many things/people. The most heart-breaking thing is that I couldn’t say good-bye to the children who I spent the last 4 months with. I still have the feeling of unfinished business for example I just started designing and building a playground for the ECD school when suddenly we were called back to Luxembourg.
