My name is Clemens, I am 19 years old and I come from Germany. Last year I finished school and like many Germans I decided to take a gap year abroad, with the European Solidarity Corps. From September to June I volunteered in the association “San Giovanni Apostolo Onlus”, a youth center in Palermo, where children aged 5 to 18 come after school.

Before starting I had no expectations but many ideas for the project: because I am a creative person who likes to do artistic things, I thought I would mainly do art and music with the kids. In the center there is a piano and a guitar with which I wanted to sing or even teach something. And then I had the idea to make an instrumental backing track for a song, let the guys write a lyric and record it together on the backing track with my microphone and computer. In the end I wasn't able to do everything but I think that the things we did together were a new enrichment for the kids at the center but also for me.

At the beginning it was difficult for me to relate to kids and especially adults, because I had to learn the language better. But after a while I built a good connection with the kids and a couple of the older kids. So I started trying to show the possibility of making music with me. And they really liked trying this new thing and they called me almost every day to play on the guitar or the piano. With some it was easier, with others more difficult, but in general I managed to show some famous chords or melodies. But after some teaching trials, I understood that an instrument like the guitar or piano is rather something for touching and playing and not for making music. So it was a little frustrating and tiring for me and I decided to accompany instead and let them sing. I did this together with Giovanni, another operator who does music workshops, and with his help, we managed to motivate more children to make music with us again. For example, we found a boy with a beautiful voice, who wanted to sing a song with my accompaniment for the 25th anniversary of the association in front of many people.

Then I could no longer realize with them the idea of ​​​​creating their own song, because it seemed so difficult for me to motivate the children for a new creative thing and also I did not believe that it would be possible for the children to find calm in the noisy and confused of the youth center and commit seriously to the project. That's why I didn't want to take my technology with me yet. But perhaps after more time and an even stronger bond with the children it could have worked.

During the Christmas period I was able to hold a workshop in which I showed many ways to make paper stars as I know it from Germany. The kids loved it and another operator showed more stars. So we were able to decorate the Christmas tree together with stars made by the children.

The other activities in the center were more or less the following every day. After the initial prayer we began with homework. At the beginning I stayed more in the older ones' room, because there was Matteo, an operator who could help me well in English because it was initially difficult to communicate with the children in Italian. Then I could help a couple of the adults well with English, mathematics, physics, music and Latin. But after some time I realized that most of the older kids were actually more reserved and for linguistic reasons felt more comfortable with the local operators. However, with small children it was easier to learn the language together, after I had already learned a basic basis: I understood them better, because they didn't use difficult words and they weren't afraid of speaking to a foreigner. So, to continue to feel useful, I spent more and more time helping the little ones with their homework and in the end I was almost always with the new volunteer Marta in the little ones' room. I discovered on my own that in this project it is nicer for me to do the activities with the children. They always wanted to play Uno with me – every day. Sometimes they taught me Sicilian games like cuckoo, thirty-one or “star” – a beautiful thing, which I will take with me to Germany. But because it got a little boring to play the same game every day, I tried to show new ones, like Memory, which one you have to concentrate on more, and everyone liked it. And then for the rest I spent most of the time playing football, or better said, resolving conflicts between the children. Always after 16pm they called me to "open the other side" and stay with them there, because they need a person to supervise them and so I became an important teammate for them - and later also Marta..

In the end I am very happy with my time here. Besides helping with homework and playing every day I think I was able to contribute my ideas, even if it wasn't all as I first thought.

Clemens Holter