My first month of EVS - Multi Kulti and Camp

I came to Kumanovo at the beginning of April to make my three months volunteering service both in the Multi Kulti as well as refugee camp. In the past I had little experience in volunteering and I was very curious how it works in Macedonia. My work started in Multi Kulti where me and other voulnteers work with kids. I was surprised how nice and communicative are the children and how many questions they ask :) I think that the overall idea of this center is very valuable. Albanian and Macedonian children can integrate here through learning and playing. Kids broaden my knowladge about Albanian and Macedonian culture a lot. I can see also the interest in learning Polish language, which encourages me to prepare lessons for youth.

Second part of my volunteering Program for Tolerance and Acceptance is volunteering in the refugee camp in Tabanovce. When it comes to the work with children I could, more or less expect what will happen there, which I cannot say about the camp. In Poland we don't have the refugees, so all of the information about them is from media. For me it was important to sense this topic with my own eyes and ears, but I was a bit afraid too. People in the camp went through very hard route and I didn't know how to talk with them about it. Also I was not really sure, if they really want to speak about it. When I eventually entered the camp I was very surprised in the positive way. People live, or at least try their normal lives. They laugh a lot, talk about their previous jobs, about their friends and relatives. What shocked me the most, was the smile on each face. Whenever we ask them the simplest question "How are you?"they always reply "Very good". Their behaviour made me think about my own attitude toward life. Even though my lesson is not finished yet, now I know that I will think twice before start complaining about something. Many of people around the Europe are fraid of the refugees, but perhaps we should learn from them...?

When it comes to the day to day-to-day activities these are games like:voleyball,basketball or beloved ping pong.

Also we play cards, draw, paint and simply talk. Refugees are also very curious about our lives and countries where we live. My first experience in the camp is very positive and I value it a lot. 

Ania