Hi, I'm Aurora, I'm 25 years old and I come from Sicily. After five intense years of university and two Erasmus experiences, once I finished my studies I felt the need to stop for a moment and reflect, understand if my aspirations were really the right path for me.
I chose to volunteer in Baena, a small rural town in the heart of Andalusia. I already knew this region thanks to one of my Erasmus students in Cordoba the year before, and I immediately fell in love with it.
I collaborated with ADEGUA, an extraordinary association which is also a Europe Direct centre. Baena is a place where tourists are rare, and where everyone is related in some way. Here, I and the other volunteers certainly did not go unnoticed, but for this very reason it seemed like the ideal place to "do Europe".
My work as a volunteer focused on European values and how to promote them. Together with the other three volunteers, we organized workshops, games and activities using non-formal education methods, which we then brought to schools. We worked with people of all ages, from kindergarten children to high school students to the elderly, adapting the activities to the context in which we found ourselves.
Even though Baena is small, each school we went to had its own soul and unique social context. Of all of them, one in particular struck me deeply, not only as a volunteer but also on a personal level. It is a school located in the most marginal area of the city, a difficult neighborhood where many kids see violence as the only solution to problems.
It was not the first time I found myself in a similar reality, but it is never easy, because when it comes to human relationships, there are no magic formulas. In a context where children grow up with stereotypes, especially gender, and where study has little value, talking about Europe and its values was a real challenge. Our goal was always to leave something, even if small, through our activities.
When I chose to participate in a European Solidarity Corps project, I was at a turning point in my life, both personal and professional. I wanted to understand if working in schools was really my path, and as soon as I found the right project for me, I jumped in without hesitation. In a short time I applied, interviewed and packed my bags to leave.
Once I arrived in Baena, I found myself facing a sea of doubts and fears. Even though I don't come from a big city, living in such a small and closed place wasn't easy. Making friends or creating bonds outside of volunteering was almost a challenge, but looking back, I'm sure that everything I built in that town surrounded by olive trees will stay with me forever. The joy of being among children and young people, learning their culture, language and sweetness from them, is something priceless.
I remember a child who, immediately after I introduced myself by saying that I came from an island, asked me if I had friends and if the food came there, imagining me as a sort of female Robinson Crusoe. I learned so much about myself, my abilities, my limitations and what I still need to work on.
The European Solidarity Corps is not a way to put your life on hold, building a sort of parallel reality. On the contrary, choosing to do European volunteering means getting involved, taking risks, improving and understanding yourself, building a home and relationships where there was nothing before. It means slowly entering a culture and a language that you didn't know, and that now you feel part of you. The European Solidarity Corps represents the beauty of freedom, the possibility of breaking out of the mental and sometimes geographical patterns and cages that prevent us from growing or changing. It is not just a matter of living in a country other than your own (I have met people who have volunteered in their own city), but of being able to choose from a wide range of projects, knowing that you will have both financial and personal support. In this sense, an important role was played by my support organization, InformaGiovani, who accompanied me during these nine months with commitment and professionalism.
It is normal to be afraid of change, just as it is normal to fear leaving everything and leaving. But the truth is that we must always have the courage to seek, in our own way, the beauty we need, and in this the European Solidarity Corps is a precious ally.