On the first week of October 2021 we had the chance to meet in Palermo for a V for volunteers project. It was a training For coordinators of volunteers which included organizations from different countries from all over Europe. Personally I had no idea of what a coordinator does. My mentor told me that it was a good opportunity for me to participate in this training because I am interested in about organizing and preparing different events and I also have communication skills.
We met in Palermo and spent the week together. The training took place In a very interesting multispace, called “Moltivolti” which is an open restaurant for breakfast lunch and dinner and also is used as a working and meeting point for sharing between associations individual professionals volunteers and informal groups who want to develop social projects. There is also where we stayed and ate all of our meals.
I already had participated in a similar project training so I had some expectations. I really enjoyed the training because I was feeling safe and I was not shy at all. I wanted to express myself the best I could. The best thing I got for this training is a huge portfolio which included material for many different projects and useful stuff for working not only as a coordinator, but also for different positions in volunteering projects.
As a team of 15 persons we were split into groups of five and we actually developed an organization and a project that could actually be could happen and this way we found out all the steps about organizing events and projects from the beginning till the end. For example, we made the flyer which included all the information about the project, we found out where and when, the numbers of the needed volunteers for this project, the needs of them and also the target group that we were going to work with. This was a really interesting process that helped us understand all the details of what a project needs to be done. The most important is that we did all the things that coordinators have to do every time in a project like this. The problems that we might meet and the possible solutions that we can give. We spent many hours on this project and also we exchange states, the knowledge that each of us has and all of the ideas.
The accommodation was great. We had the chance to meet all the local employees of the restaurant and hotel that we stayed and spent a lot of time which was really interesting, because they all were really nice and kind to us. The town was really interesting, we tried in our free time to see as much as we could, and we did. The local participants were all really helpful and tried to give us advice for the places that we should visit. We also got maps of town which included all the historical places, museums and churches. This trip was a huge opportunity for us to visit Sicily, but also Bologna, because we also visited the town on our way back. Personally, I met people that I really appreciated and doors open for me for next projects and things to do as a volunteer. I feel really blessed for the opportunities I am given through my organization but also from Erasmus+.
Aphrodite