11/11/2017
The story of my EVS in Cyprus
Once upon a time…
… there was a young girl called Maria who had finished her studies and wasn’t sure what to do next. She managed to find a job and was very pleased about this, however, she felt that there was something else, something missing that she needed to do first.
One day her friend Andreas mentioned to her an opportunity working as a volunteer for a European Union Program called European Volunteer Service (EVS).
It´s seemed like the opportunity she was waiting for. She was able to choose from a variety of projects, either working with kids, with elderly people, helping in a community, doing something artistic and creative, recycling projects, and the list went on. In general, these projects were about the greater good, such as social, cultural or environmental projects in a European country.
The first thing that came to mind was the issue of money and she started to worry a little. Also, what would happen if she doesn’t like the other people or even the country she would go to?
Andreas came to aid and explained to her all the details. He, himself, was part of a 10-month long project in Greece and he really enjoyed every moment of it. He assured her that she won’t have to pay for the flight tickets, the train from her house to the airport, the food or even the accommodation over there. Everything would be paid for. Perfect.
She was given several choices, she could choose a short term project between two weeks and two months. And if she liked it, she could do another 10 months helping with another project!
Knowing a lot more information, Maria started to feel very excited. The next step was to go to the sending organization in her town and request one of the projects available.
Immediately one mentioning a small village in Cyprus called Potami jumped right to her eye. This project would be for 5 weeks helping in a community, being part of a creative team with nine other volunteers. In order to be part part of the selection process she had to write a motivation letter and send it along with her CV to the sending organization who will recommend her to the hosting organization. After that all she had to do is complete a Skype interview with the hosting organisation in Cyprus.
After a few days she received an email from them already, telling her “buy your tickets, you have been selected for the Creative Volunteers project in Potami!” Now Maria started to get really excited and a bit nervous.
When she arrived to Cyprus, she felt a bit afraid thinking what would be expecting her. Once she arrived to the small village Potami the first thing she thought was, “oh my god, this is a very lost village, in the middle of nowhere!” Shortly after arrival, she met the other volunteers and the coordinators. They seemed kind of different to her but she felt comfortable with them. The place where she would live for five weeks was in a school, sharing a room with another 4 girls. This aspect was something that she did not like very much, but over time she started to realise how much fun it can be living with your friends.
During the first few days after the arrival day, the coordinators organized some team building activities where she learned the names of the other volunteers and she realized that the others volunteers were more similar to her than she initially thought. They were from different countries, including Spain, Slovenia, Romania and France. Quickly she wasn’t nervous anymore and instead realised how much fun this project will be.
After three days of knowing each other, knowing more about the hosting organization and about the village they started with the work. In this project Maria and the other volunteers had to create the project, it was their own personal project and they could be as creative as possible to help in this small but now lovely village.
They started to paint some stuff around the village, such as signs for a bicycle path, and bit by bit she could see the results of their job around the village. They had regular meetings with the coordinators who helped them to organize the workload.
Being in a project does not just mean work, work, work. They had 2 days off each week together and during their first weekend she went with the other volunteers to the beach, they had a really good time swimming during the day and of course enjoying themselves in the evening, playing drinking games, dancing, meeting local people, and so on. They had a really good time. In the second weekend day they decided to visit some museums, historical places and of course back to the beach to enjoy the sunshine weather in Cyprus.
Back to work, they started to organise a football tournament for all the kids in the village, fixing up the football court, painting the lines, promoting the game around the village and of course some online presence too. Sometimes in the evenings, they had dinner with some locals trying out the traditional Cypriot cuisine. This is where Maria discovered that she really loved halloumi! Also they were able to watch first hand some traditional Cypriot dance, and meeting even more volunteers from other organisations that prepared a presentation just for them.
They all worked very hard for various things. For example, as a group they organised a Halloween party with the youth club in Potami, they made a graffiti, they had a littering promotion, they made signs for a bicycle path, and the list goes on.
They continued in their days off visiting more places around the country, going out to party and discovering more and more about Cyprus. She would never regret to join to this project!
At the end, they made a final presentation about the whole project. Maria had to prepare with Juan and Esther a small presentation of their home country. She was the one in charge of making a small funny performance and getting everyone involved.
On the last day was the goodbye party, she felt a bit sad and even cried in some moments but she stayed full of energy, happiness and motivation to do another EVS in a few months and this time to try a long term project.
She arrived back at home after an unforgettable 5 weeks, having made a lot of new friends from different countries, discovering a lot about Cyprus, the culture, and the amazing people that she met in this time. She strengthened her team work abilities, to become more patient living with 9 people.
She even received a certificate called Youthpass that can help her to find a job in the future.
