Hi everyone, we are Claudio and Giuseppe, we are both 19 years old and this summer we participated in the Estiu Cultural project in La Plaça (from 07-07-2021 to 31-07-2021) at the La Rotllana community association. La Rotllana is an association that has been operating for 30 years, based in Badalona (the third most populous city in Catalonia and just a few minutes by metro from Barcelona).
We learned about the project through the European Solidarity Corps page and the association InformaGiovani of Palermo, who then put us in contact with La Rotllana. After some online training meetings, we took the swabs and left Milan Malpensa towards Barcelona El Prat. Barcelona is a very well served city, especially from the point of view of urban transport, and this allowed us to reach our home very easily and quickly.
Other volunteers from Rotllana also lived in our house, coming not only from Europe but from all over the world (Morocco, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Ukraine). Living with these guys was one of the aspects we most appreciated about the whole experience; in fact, living with young people from different countries, with different cultures and who practice different religions, has not only broadened our culture, but also created a strong multicultural integration.
The Estiu Cultural a la Plaça was located at the Centro Cultural Escorxador in Badalona and the activities took place from 17.00 to 21.00. Since we both grew up with sport (Claudio with football and Giuseppe with basketball) the managers decided to delegate us to the sports area, which included football, korfball, table tennis and badminton.
We had various tasks; first of all, assemble and position all the equipment necessary for carrying out the activities. Once the children arrived we had to make sure we got their names and telephone numbers so that if one of them tested positive for Covid we could notify the others. We then divided them into teams and very often played with them, trying to include everyone (from the youngest to the oldest).
Some days of the week, various activities were organised, such as the percussion and circus workshops, the music talent show (in which Giuseppe acted as audio assistant) and the soccer tournament (in which Claudio acted as the referee).
At first, to be honest, we had a little difficulty with the language, but thanks to the help of the volunteers and the children, we managed.
This experience has made us more responsible and independent, has given rise to new friendships, has made us better acquainted with the Spanish culture and language and above all has made us feel like citizens of the European Union.
Although we were in the middle of the pandemic, the business was managed very well and with great rigor towards the anti-Covid regulations.
In general we would like to recommend it to anyone interested in working with children, getting to know Spain and above all getting involved.