Hello everyone!
I am Nejdet, one of the four EVS volunteers
of “APS Mondo Nuovo” for “A Solidarity
Shelter” project. Four main tasks we as volunteers have here are: work with
immigrants and refugees, work in the
intercultural center, “Youth in Action” programme activities and we also attend
an Italian language course.
I arrived in Lucera fourteen days ago. Fourteen days are not enough to get a whole
picture of the city but because Lucera is a small town, I think I can scratch a
few lines about the place. First, there is not much information and photos about Lucera on websites compared to other
cities. I had no idea about where Lucera is, and what the relationship between
Foggia and Lucera is, unfortunately websites did not satisfy me. One month ago
I thought that Lucera is just a village, no cars, no high apartment buildings,
no trains, no computers, no internet connection. İ was mistaken. Let me share
with you my first impressions about Lucera. It is an interesting small town with
a non-round circle road which divides the city in two parts: the old and the new.
The New city is out of circle. It has new apartments and wide roads in
comparison to the inside of the circle.
The inside circle is quite different. It’s
like a different reality, with narrow stone roads, old but still beautiful
buildings, churches and magnificent cathedral. Walking the roads of the in-circle
feels like travel through the centuries. And I have that travel everyday.
We attended a three-days-per-week Italian
language course. I think Antonio is a
very good, cheerful and hardworking mentor and the only man who can revive his
dying volunteers with an electroshock! And I want to thank him for welcoming us
and helping and facilitating the process. We, the volunteers and the immigrants,
attend the lessons together so we can directly communicate with them. It is one
of the most important things for the success of our project.
I also had a chance to meet people who
work in other projects of APS Mondo Nuovo. We’ve already made friends with
local volunteers of Lucera who come from 4 different countries. And I am sure
we will meet a lot of people of Lucera during the period.
Actually, all that I’ve said are just some impressions that I got. The
most important point for me now is to be a volunteer. I’ve got a chance to attend
a lot of training courses, gain new skills, can travel everywhere, I can meet a
lot of friends, I can improve my foreign language while being a volunteer. And EVS
gives the opportunity to do all these things at the same time! EVS is the most
entertaining, easiest, and the most logical way to do what I’ve mentioned
above.
There are a lot of organisations
hosting projects like ours, and each has its own process of selection of
volunteers. Sometimes it takes a long time. But it’s worth trying to have this
experience, to meet new people, to live in a nother country. I want to
thank “Mondo Nuovo” for preparing this project,
thank the Italian National Agency for approving the project, thank Francesco
Ieluzzi for coordinating it and, of course, thank Antonio Salvati again!
Ciao a tutti!!!
di Nejdet TARHAN
Volontario SVE progetto "A Solidarity Shelter"
