Act for you, act for all

It might not be a coincidence, that my EVS project in Portugal has the same message as it was my mission when I was actively working with youths in my home country. My sending organisation PiNA from Slovenia made a great introduction for me with Associação Juvenil Rota Jovem in Cascais, where I spend the most of my portuguese days for 6 months (until July).

Since the arrival in Portugal was quite a quick decision, I let the project to happen in its natural pace. I had a brief picture about the whole experience, since many friends of mine already finished their volunteering abroad but no particular expectations besides discovering the country, nature and culture. Coming to youth organisation, which provides an open space for new ideas for young generations, was a nice surprise with support in the office by answering all my questions which were not very few.

In Rota Jovem I helped to organize the communication plan for this year and so I got a clear picture about the organisation’s annual programme as much as about new events, which are also popping up all the time. Flexibility is crucial for healthy collaboration and I enjoy new points of view or little skills that I gain during the daily office life. I frequently use all my skills of graphic design and in help to prepare the building for the renovation with my architecture experiences. It’s quite rewarding to visit educational institutions where we promote the European mobility and its opportunities for youth. When we share the informations and personal experience to ones, who hear that opportunities are available around the corner, it’s nice to follow the process of discovering and deciding about the future plans. I’m very grateful for the possibility to organise my own events. So far I’ve been trying to gather the running enthusiasts and in next days I want to inspire people for help at beach clean ups and youngsters in creative industries to start their own businesses.

Besides the work occupation it’s the biggest advantage to explore the surroundings and visit all that famous buildings, which I’ve been always observing only in the books during the architecture studies. Since I’m a huge thalassophile (*someone who loves the sea/ocean), it’s amazing for me to get in touch with the ocean and do all kind of outdoor activities with people, who grow up in this environment and conditions. To understand culture itself for me it’s very crucial to meet people with diverse backgrounds, interests and ages.

Living in Lisbon and working in Cascais I found as a privilege, even though I spent a part of the time at the transportation. I can observe the situations in two quite different places and also better understand how the society works. The city of Lisbon itself is very intense and I really love to get in touch with nature every now and then. I’m impressed by all the possibilities which one can find in the city and also sometimes sad, when I observe the impact of massive tourism on local community. It makes me think about my daily decisions as much as future plans. We all have a lot of impact on our surroundings and the least step we can do is that we don’t take them for granted.

Marta