European Voluntary Service
SLOVAKIA
"European Voluntary Service (EVS) is part of the European Union’s Erasmus + Programme and it enables 18-30 year olds to volunteer in another country for 6-12 months. Volunteers give their time and energy to support their chosen organisation and its local community and at the same time they develop a wide range of new skills and knowledge."
When I crossed the border for the first time in the EU I was 25. I took 1 suitcase, 2 backpacks and a laptop bag – that is all I took for one year, later on in my life I will learn how to travel with one backpack going for an unknown duration, but it will be later. Now I ‘m young and ready for adventures I was going to become a volunteer for a 1 year.
I left my normal job, my friends and all what we call comfort to go to a country which I knew so little about. Without experience of other countries, with little knowledge of the English language. I was open to the new and ready for the unknown.
To get to the Slovakian border I spent 21 hours on a night train, crossing all Ukraine.
I arrived in small town in middle of Slovakia - Banská Stiavnica. Banská Stiavnica is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. This town is included on the List of the UNESCO World Heritage List. I fell in love with this town from first glance. It was something different, something new. I might lay down in my backyard and see the beauty. After the Soviet Union architecture of Kharkiv it was mind-blowing.
My purpose of going is to become a volunteer for fundraising foundations which takes care of one of the historical monuments - Kalvária.
Kalvária - is a late-Baroque calvary, architectural and landscape unit in Slovakia, unique in extent and content, formed in the years 1744–1751. This calvary is a complex of 3 churches and 22 chapels with precious painting decorations, furnished by wooden and blacksmith movables and wooden painted reliefs. All buildings of churches and chapels are set into the western side of a solid lava column in the middle of an ancient volcano – a hill named Scharffenberg.
My first days in Slovakia was filled with new. I still remember excitement after my first successful grocery shopping – how hard it was to figure out what I was buying and how happy I was when I filled my bags.
Every little step in those first days was a big achievement – buy coffee, order food and those first groceries, I remember each of them. I am still impressed by my braveness and strong will to do so in a foreign country without knowing a language.
Each year for this project Kalvársky found 4 volunteers. I arrived with another Ukrainian girl – Kateryna. She takes a special place in my heart.
We were settled in an apartment with a beautiful garden and everything what we possibly could need. In the flat we met João - a Portuguese guy who was finishing his volunteering there. For 3 months we were living and working together. João introduced us to the community, work and Slovakia overall.
After 2 months, when he had finished his service 2 Georgian guys came replace him – Giorgi and Gurami. For this summer 4 of us were living, working and having the best fun together.
Our main responsibility was to work in Kalvária. It is a complex of sacral buildings in the Baroque style consisting of three churches, nineteen chapels and a statue of the Virgin Mary, and due to its location on a hill in the middle of the Stiavnica volcano. We were working in a visiting room in a Middle Church. Every day I would meet people from all over the world who came to visit this beautiful place.
My tasks were: early in the morning open the church gates, check that everything is okay and then go to the visiting room and help visitors with their enquiries, sell souvenirs and be helpful in general.
It is an active church, so sometimes there would be church services. I felt extremely careful with it, as I am not a catholic, so I didn’t know “the rules” and the last thing I wanted to do was to be offensive to someone or ruin their experience in this beautiful magical place.
During my shifts I met so many incredible people, I saw kindness and I learned that a language barrier is nothing when your heart is open.
Our work wasn’t always in the Church, sometimes we were working outside which was great fun. First, you are never bored – new tasks, challenges, trying to do something you have never done before. From community events where you are supposed to work with children or have a barbeque, to painting or cutting the grass. It gives you the opportunity to gain so many different skills, to try something that you never tried before and learn something new about yourself.
It was an amazing time. Time of new experiences. Time of new places. Time of new people.
It was my 2018
