Departures & Arrivals - a story of change

Departures & Arrivals - a story of change

José from Portugal, volunteered in the Association “Guardavanti: per il futuro dei bambini ONLUS” in Somma Lombardo in Italy from July 2018 to July 2019, where he was active in international cooperation.

Erasmus+, the EU programme that everyone has heard of but not so many of us understands how vast it actually is. In 2017, Erasmus+ was the reason why I did a 6-month-exchange in Milan and, for me, university exchange programmes were all Erasmus was about. It took me one more year, to realise how wrong I actually was and, soon after that, I was already packing to leave to Italy again. However, this time I wasn't going to study and be among hundreds of other international students in the same boat as me. This time, I was going to volunteer. I thought I had grown so much on my previous experience abroad, that going back to the same country and region didn't seem that it would change me that much, but, yet again, I was wrong. In July 2018, I left Portugal to volunteer at a small non-profit organization in Somma Lombardo called Guardavanti and, little by little, I understood that everything would be much different from my exchange experience. I would actually spend more time with locals (Italian or not) and learn from them as much as I could.

Although it’s difficult to point out the first thing that I learnt, because everything happened so fast and intensely, I remember being astonished by the amount of different people I met. Through the volunteering, I met people with fairly the same interests as mine but with different nationalities, different cultures, different habits, different social backgrounds, different studies, different perspectives and, I wanted to listen to all their stories. By listening to this diversity of people, that I had only met because of the volunteering, I understood something extraordinary: we can actually learn from anyone, no matter their age, origin, formation or belief. This sounds cliché but it’s not. I am not saying that I got on with everyone I met, neither that everyone taught me about “classical subjects” like science or math. What I am saying is that everyone showed me something different and special and, with that, I was able to grow, to adapt to the environment around me and to develop new perspectives on issues I hadn’t discussed before.

Furthermore, I also learnt to accept and adapt. My year of volunteering was so enriching for all the activities I was part of, because each one of them taught me something new. As a volunteer I followed orders (as you usually would) but was also given the liberty to create my own projects and to do certain tasks in the way I viewed best. I participated in school events, developed fundraising campaigns and painted murals at primary schools - all stimulating activities. Nonetheless, no matter how much you organize something, things don’t always go according to plan and in these cases you accept that your plan is no longer the rulebook to follow and adapt to the new variable or circumstance. Adapting to the circumstance you’re put in is fundamental to finishing the job properly and efficiently and being flexible can be used both professionally and personally to solve any kind of problem.

In addition, all these projects, issues and discussions had to be dealt with one skill I lacked in the beginning of the year: patience. I’d probably say it’s the most important skill to have when collaborating with other people because it represents calmness, giving room for everyone to participate in a conversation. I am glad to have developed this skill during the year, because it makes me less stressed and enables me to talk and work with anyone.

Thankfully, volunteering wasn’t just working and, almost every weekend, I would go somewhere and explore. But I didn’t have to go to a big city to do that, I discovered that even a small place has its own charm, encouraged by its people, activities and natural surroundings. Volunteering in a small town like Somma Lombardo helped me appreciate the small details of an almost inexistent routine and value each moment I passed with someone (no matter who it was). Sometimes, I would be happy to go to the fruit market just because I could hear non-work-related Italian conversations and see how differently each person behaved. Other times, I would receive people at my house and get more tired instead of relaxing for the week of work ahead. This happened with old and new friends but, with new friends, these moments seemed more precious and necessary. The uncertainty of when or if I was going to see these amazing international friends again was frightening but, at the same time, gave everyone the necessary amount of energy required to live each moment as if it was the last. The funny thing about this feeling was that, even when my friends left and we didn’t talk daily, we would always have the doors of our house open to the other and, luckily, with little or no plan, we would meet again. And we will meet again because our interests and personalities that initiated the friendship didn’t change - our paths will cross again and everyone will be happy to make new memories together.

Lastly, traveling during the year of volunteering took me on adventures where assumptions and stereotypes were synonyms for doubt and fear that hindered me from fully experiencing the moment. Thus, leaving all this preconceptions behind, I hitchhiked 4 times (in a country where “that’s not normal”), slept in very uncomfortable places (to be with amazing people and save money) and met unique people that taught more that the university books, professors, news or media (showing me that conventional forms of education are overrated and that there are many other ways to learn and grow).

The adventure finished as it started, packing and leaving to the airport. Probably opposed to what most people feel, I love airports. Airports are not messy and confusing, they move and connect thousands of people - the departing and the arriving ones - and so does Erasmus+. However, the two do the same in very distinct ways. Airports usually take people to new destinations without fundamentally changing them when they return - you may have a new sunburnt, a new fun-fact to tell your friends or a new photo to share, but you don’t have a new place that you can call home. Whereas, with Erasmus+, you go on a life-changing experience, regardless of the destination, and when you return, if you return, you’ll have so much more in you. You’ll have a different approach to life in which understanding and acceptance are meaningful. You’ll have more friends and a new home to come back to. You’ll have Europe and, if you’re brave enough, the world.