BLOG – VOLUNTEERING – Tirol

Seit 2019 waren 19 Freiwillige aus unterschiedlichen Ländern jeweils 10-12 Monate in der Offenen Jugendarbeit (OJA) in Tirol tätig. Im Rahmen des EU-Programmes Europäisches Solidaritätskorps (EuSC) organisiert und begleitet die POJAT – der Dachverband Offene Jugendarbeit Tirol – den Einsatz von jungen Erwachsenen in vier Tiroler Jugendzentren (Park In/Hall, Point/Jenbach, Yunit/Schwaz, Chilli/Telfs). Ich durfte in einen Zeitraum von über eineinhalb Jahre das Projekt als Projektassistenz begleiten und unterstützen. Dabei gehörte es zu meinen Aufgaben, regelmäßige Treffen mit den Freiwilligen zu organisieren, planen und durchzuführen, was mir besonders viel Spaß machte.

Diese Treffen dienen der Qualitätssicherung, aber auch dazu, dass die Freiwilligen (die in unterschiedlichen Teilen Tirols tätig sind) sich untereinander kennenlernen. Insbesondere der Austausch und die Reflexion von OJA relevanten Themen waren zentral bei den Treffen. Die Freiwilligen sind während ihres Projektes in Jugendzentren tätig – sie erhalten dort Einblicke in die OJA und bringen sich mit ihren eigenen Fähigkeiten, Interessen, Projektideen in den Alltag der OJA ein. Bei den Treffen im POJAT-Büro erzählten Freiwillige davon, was sie in ihrem Alltag Positives und auch Herausforderndes erleben und auch was sie als Freiwillige in den Jugendzentren initiieren. Beispielsweise hat eine Freiwillige aus Lettland einen JuZe-Discord-Server gestartet, um Jugendlichen auch während Lockdowns die Möglichkeit zu geben, niederschwellig mit Jugendarbeiter*innen in Kontakt zu treten. Ein Adventskalender mit wechselnden Aktivitäten im Jugendzentrum wurde durch eine Freiwillige aus der Slowakei organisiert und bei der Nachmittags-Hausübungs-Betreuung unterstützten eine Freiwillige aus Portugal, sowie ein Freiwilliger aus Großbritannien. Auch sind Radiobeiträge durch die Freiwilligen im Rahmen des EuSC entstanden.

Besonders motiviert, hat mich ein Gespräch mit Stuart – ein Freiwilliger aus Großbritannien – der sein EuSC Projekt als „einen Katalysator für neue Verbindungen und Beziehungen zu Menschen“ beschrieb. Das Projekt gab ihm einen Grund, nach Österreich zu kommen und hier zu leben. Zudem hatte er während des Projektes, durch diverse Treffen und durch die Arbeit, eine Plattform, um mit anderen Menschen in Kontakt zu kommen. Stuart erzählte, dass für ihn das EuSC Projekt eine Möglichkeit war, ein Leben kennenzulernen, bei welchem es nicht nur um Erwerbsarbeit gehe, sondern darum herauszufinden wo er einen Unterschied bewirken kann und wo er sich sinnvoll fühlt. Dies sei für ihn eine großartige Erfahrung, sagte er.

Dieses Projekt wurde 2021 mit dem österreichischen Jugendpreis ausgezeichnet. Auch zukünftig wird die POJAT alles daran setzten einen Mehrwert für alle Beteiligten – die Freiwilligen aus unterschiedlichen Ländern, die Gastgeber-Organisationen der OJA und insbesondere den Nutzer*innen der OJA: den Jugendlichen – zu gewährleisten.

Sollten Sie Fragen, Ideen, einen Blogbeitrag zum Veröffentlichen oder ein Feedback haben, freuen wir uns, wenn Sie uns schreiben unter office@pojat.at.

Felix (POJAT, Projektassistenz)

Weiterführende Links:

www.pojat.at

www.solidaritaetskorps.at

„We are all stories in the end, just make it a good one.” Matt Smith in Doctor Who

I couldn´t agree more with this quote. I believe every person is like a book, full of stories. Some people are open and easy to read, others are closed and hard to reach, however, everyone has their own story. My project in YUNIT Youth Centre is full of interesting young people and I am excited to learn about their history. Now, I am only starting to write the chapter of my life with the title Volunteering in Schwaz.

The decision to be a volunteer was easy for me but it was a surprise for my family and friends. I´ve been asked how I am going to put all my life into one suitcase, but in reality, I didn´t have to do that. Yes, I came here with one suitcase but that doesn´t mean that I can fit my life into it. Life isn´t about what we owe but what we do and with whom.

And I am very grateful that a team of lovely people was awaiting me here. Although, I know them only for two months now, I have already experienced they kindness and goodness on myself or as a witness when the youngsters needed help.

What is it like to be a volunteer? Well, life is always what you make of it. Especially, if you are a volunteer. You have time to develop yourself, help others, discover new country and it´s culture and history, learn a new language, and also, to travel around. I am grateful that I can do all these things here in Austria. I felt in love with the nature here immediately. I am using my free time to visit the hidden paths and see the beauty of the mountains, as well as the vivid cities and rich culture of Austria. And during my working hours I am challenging my creativity by preparing and creating various activities with the youngsters. My favourites are baking, painting, crafting, playing billiard and most importantly talking to them and learning about them.

I am happy to be here and excited to write a new chapter of my life in this charming place surrounded with such amazing people.

Thank you for reading, Maria.

Hello, my name is Demet and I am doing my volunteering project in Wörgl.

The most important reasons for me to participate in this project were to gain new experiences and improve my German. I have already begun to see the effect of this decision I have taken for my future. My self-confidence has increased when speaking German, I am getting better when I try to explain something. At the end of my project here, I want to contribute to myself, the people I spend time with, and my future, and I hope I can achieve this.

I just completed my 1st month in Austria. It was a full month that I did not even understand how it went. I work voluntarily on many projects run by Komm!unity. I spend my time with young people and children at Jugendtreffs in Wörgl, Kundl and Bad Häring. I also help immigrant women learn German in the project called Frauencafe. And at Lernfreude events held in Jugendtreffs, we doing with children their Homeworks and support their education. I’m always on the move and I’m always on different projects in different places. I think this is one of the most important things in my life here. It’s like I’m living a different adventure every day.

I live alone in a very nice flat with a very nice garden. I guess the only thing that compels me so far (after the Tyrolean accent, of course) is living alone at home. And because Wörgl is a small place, I can’t get along with many young people, but I think I will meet many young people in time.

And at the end of the second week I came, I attended the on arrival training in Vienna. We spent 4 incredibly enjoyable and entertaining days. I had the opportunity to meet and mingle with people from many different countries. It was a great training where we cooked and had fun together, went to have a drink in the evenings and danced and got close quickly in 4 days. I look forward to meeting them again!

And even though I’m only at the end of my 1 month here, I’ve done a lot of things. I walked on a bridge 114 meters above the ground, climbed a mountain and visited many museums. I have 11 more months ahead of me and I get excited when I think about what will happen to me and what I will experience during this time. I already feel that participating in this project and coming to Austria is the greatest decision of my life.

My name is Maria Castillo, I am 26 years old and I come from Spain. For the last six months I have been a volunteer at the SCHULGARTEN – Aktive Montessorischule Telfs and now, as I prepare my return to Spain I can only think that this opportunity has opened the door to my best life.

When I came to this volunteering I was already contemplating Montessori education as part of my future and after this experience it is clear to me that this is the path I want to follow.

The school is small and has a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere, I have felt loved and I have learnt a lot since the first day. My tasks have been to support teachers, work with the children in daily activities, create my own presentations or come up with ideas for creative activities.

Telfs is a small town near Innsbruck, I have loved living here. It’s a super quiet place with amazing nature, having the possibility to walk in the mountains or in the river valley every day has been the best thing.

Volunteering with the European Solidarity Corps is an incredible experience that all young people should consider. The opportunity to travel, to meet new people, to take on new projects is definitely a journey of personal growth and an unforgettable life experience.

Volunteering experiences are not the same and you can approach your volunteering experience in very different ways. Mine has definitely been about personal growth, working on myself and creating the life I want to have.

I am grateful for the time in Austria, for the project I have worked on and for the people I have met.

This volunteering has become an experience I will never forget.

My name is Roc, I am from Barcelona and I did my Volunteer program in Innsbruck during one year. In this post I will show you how the strangest year in our lives looks through my camera. I will show the feeling I was having from the start until the end of my year. I was working in a culture center called Die Bäckerei Kulturbackstube as a Graphic Designer and helping in the events and maintenance of the building. Working in this place gave me freedom to express myself and develop my design skills, but most important the freedom I had to create memories of a weird year with lots of up and downs.

When I arrived to Innsbruck I had the chance to discover the city and create a group of friends. I had the opportunity to work hard and meet new people, time to party and visit the beautiful surroundings of the city.

After few incredible months, the lockdown started and everything became more difficult. Less work, less friends meetings and less visits to the mountains. At this point my creativity went down together with my emotions. The best way to show it is with black and white photos from the few I could take during those days.

Finally, after those bad months of some darkness, with new regulations and positive development of the pandemic, I started seeing some light and feeling positive again, working in some motivating projects and looking for my future, being creative again.

My name is Maria Duran, I’m 18 years of age and I come from Aveiro, Portugal. My volunteering Project in Austria was from January of 2022 until the 31st of July. I still have some decisions to make about what I want to pursue in the future, although abstract, I have the vague dream of working with animals. I have several motives that made me experience this volunteering project. I couldn’t carry on with university studies right after I finished school; I tried to find jobs to help my parents with our daily lives while I decided what I wanted to do with mine, although with no success. For a while I was doing nothing as a citizen and my conciseness felt heavy because of that, so I offered myself the option of living abroad, I searched the ways and quality of living in several countries, Austria was undeniably on top. With this, the thought of moving to Austria was in the back of my mind, until one day in December of 2021 I received an email from the Portuguese Red Cross advertising this program. Now, I have no idea how they gained access to my email address or why they were promoting projects out of nowhere, I even thought about sending an email back saying that there must be some kind of mistake! But I ended up sending my curriculum and motivation letter and there I was!

I have to admit that at the beginning I thought we as cultures were way more different than we truly are, but now I don’t see that many differences from my country, except that the streets are so clean and tidy, the building in great condition, and your recycling system is very different and there is also some type of harmony in the air, I wouldn’t be able to explain even if I tried.

In my free time I enjoy walking, visiting surrounding cities and countries, sometimes just go to some peoples’ (whom I have met along the way) houses to hang out, sometimes bars and there are times when I enjoy doing absolutely nothing!

I guess in the end Tirol gave me an epiphany, good harmony, and state of being.

Hello, My name is Berna. I started my project in April 2022. I work as a volunteer at Volkshilfe BETA.

BETA is a vocational preparation project for young people with special needs. The aim of the project is to prepare young people for the business world in a targeted and professional way. There are professional trainers and youth coach who train young people here. Sometimes we go to mow the lawn with the young people, sometimes we learn math or English. We also have a workshop where we do creative things. Sometimes we make jewelry there or we work with wood. We give shapes to the board and paint them. This is my favorite activity.

The company is located in Wörgl, Austria. My flat is also located in Wörgl. It is small but very cute. The city I live in is a bit small. That’s why I see the same people every day and it’s easier to make friends in the small cities than in big cities. But the biggest problem I had while making friends was the dialect. I learned german while living in Turkey, but I can only speak high german, so it took me a long time to get used to the Tyrolean dialect. But despite all the difficulties, making new friends, getting to know new cultures and tasting their food excites me.

One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to come here was that I wanted to improve my language. The project provides both online and classroom course opportunities. I also made many friends in this course. I improved my German by talking with them.

One of the two trainings we had to attend in the project, on-arrival-training, was online. Frankly, it was a bit of a disappointment for me because I wanted to meet and spend time with other volunteers. We did the training via Zoom. Although it wasn’t as exciting as being side by side, it was still a fun experience. Immediately after the training we communicated with other volunteers and became friends. We traveled to many places in Austria together. So I think these trainings are useful in many ways and I look forward to the Mid-term-meeting next month!

I am not normally a nature person. I would describe myself more as a city person. However, it is impossible not to fall in love with the exquisite view of the Alps! Every time I go for a walk or hike, the beauty of nature fascinates me. I love the mountains, the scenery and the fresh air here.

I have now finished the 5th month of my project. So I’m almost halfway through. I am very happy with all the experiences I have had so far. I look forward to gaining new experiences and collecting new memories. Thanks for reading.

Berna,
volunteer in Volkshilfe BETA, Wörgl
coordinated by komm!unity

Life isn’t about finding yourself – or finding anything. It’s about creating yourself. Bob Dylan said that.

My project in Jenbach is finished and my time in Austria – at least for now – is over. It’s been the pleasure of my life to live and work in Tyrol for the last year, and I’m running out of superlatives to describe how contented I was during these incredible days.

The true success of the project, for me, was working with the lads in the Nachmittagschule during the day. I think that Leonardo and I really built something great during this time, and to call it work seems somewhat careless and inaccurate. We had fun from the first minute to the last, and I believe that we genuinely fostered an incredible almost anarchic atmosphere with the boys, and hopefully imparted a little bit of wisdom along the way. Naturally as a volunteer, you wonder what exactly it is that you’re bringing to the project, if you’re really benefitting anyone by being there. I always tried to bring as much enthusiasm, energy, and good music taste as I could to Jenbach, and I can only hope that in the end I offered half as much as I received in return. I don’t imagine I’ll ever again have a job that I honestly looked forward to each day as much as I did working at Point. This kind of work isn’t just fulfilling or rewarding, you can get that from any job, the true magnetism of the project – and what made it for me entirely unique – was that we really just had so much fun.

One of the things I really wanted out of this year was to live more in the moment, to not always be so fixated on what would, or might happen in the future, or spending time just revelling in nostalgia. I was really concerned with capturing moments, either in my mind, through photos, or in retelling stories. I was terrified that if they couldn’t be remembered or if there wasn’t proof that they had happened, then their intrinsic value would be somehow diminished. What if I lose my phone with all my photos, what if Instagram or iCloud deletes all its data 20 years from now, or I move house and lose a photo album? What happens when I get older, and the memory of these moments begin to fade? When I can’t remember the faces, or the inside jokes, or how happy I felt, or how peaceful it all was? Would that make it a waste of time? Did it really even happen if it wasn’t so impactful that I can still recall every detail? Spending the last year in Austria, one of the most important realisations that I’ve come to is this: The true value of a moment, its worth, its magic, comes as it happens. It doesn’t matter if we remember it, or whether anyone remembers it, or that anyone else even knows it ever happened. The fact that it happened at all, that you experienced it, that you shared that experience with someone else, that’s all there is. Whether you’re present enough to live in the moment at all times, or if you just take a second to indulge in an occasion and appreciate its beauty, or if you only embrace the nostalgic warmth of retrospection, it doesn’t really matter. Observed or not, you lived it, and if in 6 months or 30 years you can’t remember the specific details, just remember that it happened.

It’s almost tragic that I only got to spend 11 months in Tyrol, but during this brief time I’ve composed something almost hallucinatory. Coming back to Scotland feels like waking up from a dream, as if life in Austria was entirely separate from reality. I think that speaks to just how astonishingly surreal my time there was. An almost perfect period that – remembered by anyone or not – did in fact take place. I’ve left with a new sense of confidence and purpose, a new appreciation for the agony and the ecstasy of life, and a deeper understanding of intimacy and connection between people. None of these things were found, they were created.

The world is yours.

Peace, Stuart.