«Various programs, helpful, motivating people, language challenges, development of skills – these words come to my mind when I think about the last one month, since I have arrived to Yoshkar-Ola to work as a volunteer at the organisation of Opora.»
Sara JANKOVSZKI has arrived a month ago from Hungary. She does her European Voluntary Service in Yoshkar-Ola at Opora. She will stay 6 months in our Republic and will have the opportunity to take part in different projects of the organisation.
«I started with great anticipation and excitement from Hungary, because browsing the website of Opora I expected I would have a good place to stay. I can confirm this. At the same time I was afraid how I would be able to integrate, feel comfortable and be useful for the organisation. These are the parts of the process, I work on it and I am very thankful to people, to my colleagues who support and help me to find my possibilities and my way here.»
Sara is already active in the language club Smoozy where she teaches bases of German language, as well as the project “Create the City of the Future” (Создай Город Будущего) where she leads a masterclass on filming. She also takes part in visits of the orphanages of Oktjabrskij and Ljuljpany where she gets acquainted with the children, plays games and leads a masterclass on music and rythm. She also made a presentation of her country in a meeting of the Travelers’ Club where she talked about culture, stereotypes and interesting places to see, played traditional songs on the flute and even ran a master-class of folk dances. In summer, Sara will take part in the camp Tramplin where she will talk about the scout movement in Hungary.
«Several people asked me if I have a cultural shock. I really had one for the first few weeks. Every day we went somewhere where I met new people, local volunteers. And I was excited about the real russian language. After university lessons of Russian language it was a challenge for me to listen to the live Russian speech. Sometimes because of the language barrier I can’t show my personality but I look forward to the time, when I can express myself more fluently in Russian, to show more about myself and my culture. I am especially pleased to have the opportunity to study and teach foreign languages: teaching the German language to Russian natives- what a language practice! Visiting several schools I experienced that children and young people have the same characteristics as further than 3000 km in Hungary. And they are interested in foreign volunteers, our languages, countries, culture.»
«To summarize – I enjoy the variety of days, I strive to participate in the further projects and tasks.»
We wish Sara a good and successful project and a nice time in the Mari El Republic!