Learning about life before university

Ida Vogel is German, and at the age of 19, she moved to Portugal for six months to volunteer at an institution that cared for people with profound disabilities. “I left my country, my friends, and my family for half a year, and that represents a big change in my life, as I had never been alone,” she begins to explain to Blink. “Basically, I wanted to do something different after my school education. And I wanted to spend a year outside Germany without formally studying. Portugal came up because of the project involving care for people with disabilities.” The young German refers to the Association of Cerebral Palsy of Coimbra (APCC), explaining that “I wanted to be with people from whom I could learn something different and that school did not provide. But also because I want to study medicine, and I think this work is related, giving me skills that will be an advantage when I am in higher education.” Ida explains that life in Coimbra is very different from what she had in Germany, but that “after some time adapting, meeting people, and getting used to the language, I made friends, and everything became easier.” And she is not alone in this adventure, as, within the scope of the European Solidarity Corps, the institution received, along with the German, other young people from France and Turkey.

Updated on An Chéadaoin, 16/10/2024