Volunteering, ERASMUS, European Solidarity Corps, that all makes sense to us and moreover we like it. And once we like it, let´s passionately “infect” those who are willing to be influenced in a positive way.
The best opportunity was the Conference on “Sharing experiences with foreign school cooperation”. The village where the Conference took place was more than symbolic, Zahrádky u České Lípy, where hundreds of foreign students learned Czech language (including famous film character named Mirecek, who is known from the popular Czech film series). Our colleagues, Gabriela Medwell and Lucie Novotná, presented ERASMUS and volunteering activities in the scope of Europen Solidarity Corps in an engaging way. All the participants of the Conference learned new information about process and procedural requirements as it is more difficult to write an application for ERASMUS than to apply for a driving school. And because the Conference was about the foreign cooperation, our Italian volunteer Gabriela participated in our presentation. The audience had an opportunity to listen feelings, opinions and observations of a person directly involved in the volunteering program. Gabriela, of course, spoke English, while she was kindly interpreted by Lucie. Audience inquiries were so specific and Gabriela´s answers so sincere, thus fulfilling the principle and purpose of the Conference itself. Even after the Conference was finished we were asked about our experience with the Erasmus project and the possibilities of volunteer involvement in the activities of the participating schools.
Our impression of the event is so positive as we feel real and not pretended interest in more intensive involvement by the representatives of participating schools. Finally, many thanks to organizers for invitation and ensuring the whole event.
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