A letter to Turkey

 

I don’t even know where to start when it comes to describing my second month in Turkey, I did so many things that I still can’t believe how lucky I am.

I think the better place to start is by telling you about my first week of the month. I went to Istanbul and then Izmir, two different cities but both beautiful in their unique way. Istanbul is one of the main “organs of Turkey’s system” and when you visit this wonderful city you understand why. So many places so many people, a city that belongs to two continents, a city that never sleeps.

 I visited many places, but the trip to the places is also important to mention, since Istanbul is so big, the transportation takes a lot of time, which is good because you get a tour without needing to pay for it. In Izmir I got to relax a little bit more, and enjoy the sea which I missed so much, I also went to some places, but Izmir was better to rewind and get ready for the next month ahead. 

 

Then I got back to my so-called normal life in Ankara, I was so happy to be back home, I missed this city but mostly I missed my students in kindergarten, so when I went back I made the most of it. Even though it’s not easy for me to communicate with my students because of the language difference, we are still able to communicate and laugh together, children make me connect with my inner child which I think is very important. Food delivery is also an important day of the week for me, it is the day when I’m just thinking of others, and not myself, being able to be here and have what I have, I’m privileged, and helping other people is using my privilege in the right way, I think, and when I tell they are the best people, they are, a simple smile and a meal changes their day, they are humble, kind, I learn from them, I’m thankful to meet these people, and I will try my best to improve their lives. 

 

The 18th of November was the beginning of one of the best weeks in my life, Ander was the hosting organization for a youth exchange program. I was excited to meet new people from different countries, I had some expectations, but what I didn’t expect was that I would meet the most wonderful people and make beautiful memories, core memories, I believe I made friends that will last a lifetime. We went to several places around Ankara, places that before this I didn’t have the time to visit. I had conversations that helped me understand different mindsets, and I got to know new cultures and fell in love with them. 

The week that followed was also good I also met good people from a training course that Ander organized, returned to my normal activities, and said my last goodbye.  

 

So I couldn’t be more thankful and happy to have this ending for my experience in Turkey. 

Thank you Ander, 

Thank you, Serdar, 

Thank you, my sisters/volunteers,

Thank you to everyone that was a part of this experience.

 

My first fairy tale month

 

Hello.

 My name is Fidan, I am from Azerbaijan. My 2-month volunteer adventure started on October 1. It's almost 1 month and I want to share with you what I've been through for 1 month, what happened to me and my experiences.

     When I say 1 month, it seems like a short time to me and even before I started writing this blog, I was stressed about my experiences and what I was going to write. But when I sat down and wrote a list of my experiences in general, I saw that it was not a little, I had a lot of memories in a month.

     First of all, I would like to give you information about the work we do here, and then talk about my experiences and the new things I learned as a result of this work. Firstly , let's start with kindergarten. Before coming here, I was terrible at talking, interacting and playing with children. I think that I can partially solve this issue by going to kindergarten 2 times a week. I learned how to communicate with them, how to get their attention. Now I can entertain them and enjoy myself with them.

    Secondly, we are part of the "share your food" project. Thanks to this project, we provide food and sweets to migrants who need food. For the first time in my life, I felt that I had touched someone's life and done something useful for society. When we bring food to them, their joy of seeing the food truck, the sparkle in their eyes, and their gratitude towards us are complicated emotions to express.

      Lastly, we are working on the social media of this project, which are related to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube channels. In my personal life, I'm not one to be very active on my social media accounts. That's why I was so new to even simple things like sharing a story or post on Instagram. Thanks to this, I learned things like posting, sharing a story, editing a video, making a poster or banner. Doing something like this, creating something out of nothing, I think, activates a completely different side of my brain, which excites me. and it makes my journey more fun for me.

      Now let's come to my social life, that is, to the places we go. It was only 4 days when I came here, there was the International Day, we went there. We met people from many different countries. It was a wonderful day. Since 2 people in our team did not speak Turkish, when we spoke to Turks, I was translating what we were speaking to them. Speak Turkish with Turks, speak English with them. There is another Azerbaijani volunteer in the team besides me, and I spoke to her in Azerbaijani. I think you can imagine my brain. All languages ​​were mixed together and I was also in a culture confusion. Then we took the stage to share our experiences in front of 80 people. I didn't know what to say when I got on stage. I was just thinking that I have been here for 4 days and I don't even know what I am going through, how can I inform the people? But it is strange that I noticed it here. For example, I didn't know what to write in this blog. At first you don't know what to say or write. But when you think about it, you see that you are experiencing a lot here despite the fact that little time has passed. There's always something to talk about, and even once you start, you can't shut up.

     

 And our dear friend Safa invited us to her family's house and her mother taught us how to cook manti, one of the most important dishes of Turkish cuisine. It was a very interesting day, everyone was very friendly and polite. Not just manti, but first we were welcomed with a very nice tea table. In addition, we prepared a sauce for the manti, and they served it with salad and “sarma”. Learning how to cook manti, preparing it, and then eating it, all of this together with hearty conversations, was amazing.

       Since we have 2 days off, we spend these days touring Ankara. One of these weeks we decided to visit another city and chose Eskişehir as the city. Because its name means old city and it has many historical places to visit, many museums and parks. Besides the sightseeing, I was also impressed by the city itself. Because it was really an old city, the houses, the buildings and the structure of the city were magnificent and they preserved this antiquity very well. You feel that antiquity as you walk through the city and you are constantly picturing the past in your mind. I felt like I had traveled through time. Also, the day we went was my birthday. Celebrating my birthday with my teammates in front of the fairy tale castle was like a fairy tale. This birthday will always be unforgettable for me as I am a lover of Disney animations and fairy tales.

 

We are planning to go to Istanbul and Izmir next month, and in my next blog I will share what I experienced there, what happened to me, and what I saw.

 

Thanks for reading till the end.

Two intense months of my life

 

Hey there!

 

It’s my last day in Ankara, I’m glad because I feel that I’m a better person after finishing my project. I enjoyed working in this amazing project, I learned countless things and I made many friends that will always be part of my life. 

I loved working in the kindergarten, kids are wonderful, they make me happy. The food delivery was a huge part of my project since it gave me a chance to help a lot of people, we gave them support in any possible way and that impacted me.

The most important thing for me in this journey are people that I met and were a big part of my experience, they literally made it better, I learned how to more open-minded and more kind-hearted because of them, they made me see things differently.

I had good managers, they supported me and helped me a lot and I will forever be grateful for this opportunity they gave me.

It’s time to get back to Georgia, I will miss Ankara, Turkish people, the project, my roommate and my team mates.

In one word, this experience is UNFOGETTABLE.

 

A lot of happiness

 

Hello beautiful people,

 

The most beautiful thing about this project is that it allows you to get to know people from different backgrounds and cultures and can teach you several things. When I first came here, I thought I was going to make more friends and get to know more about other cultures, but it turned out that I made a new family, this experience made me a new person, and I’m grateful for that.

This is my last week, and I feel sad to leave this beautiful city and the beautiful people I knew during those two months; sharing with them all those unforgettable moments shaped my soul.

I first arrived in Ankara full of memories from my last exchange in Serbia, I was feeling ready for the next adventure. Still, I didn’t expect to feel this amount of happiness to meet interesting and lovely people along the way.

Being part of this team created a certain vibe that made me work harder to be the best of myself, do better when it comes to my work and give more than I can take.

We discovered Ankara on our way since we went to all the historical and tourist places together, we enjoyed it to the fullest because we knew that this was our moment and we were here to enjoy everything together as one team.

Our project was divided into three main parts, which made it really interesting and allowed us to be even more creative; we worked with the refugees, and during that activity, we met many people that remain now our friends; they took us to many places in Ankara and welcomed us in the best way possible. We learned how to be more thankful for what we have and be more kindhearted; working with refugees made us realize that we can positively impact people and be the change we wish to see in the world.

We worked in the kindergarten with the kids, and we made English workshops with them, which was interesting and enjoyable.

The last part was to take care of social media to create awareness videos to encourage youth to be leaders and to help them become their best selves. I enjoyed this part a lot since we worked as a team to create enriching content for young people to impact them in every possible way.

During those video-making and post-creation, we learned how to be more confident and learned new communication and leadership skills.

We went on trips together, which made my experience so much better, my last trip was to Eskisehir, and it was amazing since we went to many places and tasted new food. It was our teammate’s birthday, so we went to one of the best parks I have  ever been to and celebrated her birthday.

I love Turkish people; I love their kindness and their spirit; I remember being invited once to our friend’s house, and his mother was one of the best persons I’ve ever met; she made us learn how to prepare Mante which is a traditional Turkish meal, and she was the perfect host, she made us feel like home. We had the best breakfast, and we felt like a family.

Being part of this project is a blessing since you learn how to be responsible and you learn how to get out of your comfort zone. So to every person out here afraid to apply for ESC volunteering programs, thinking it’s not for him, don’t wait for a sign! This program is designed for you; it is made for young leaders to make them aware of their importance in their societies and the whole world: YOU ARE GLOBAL CITIZENS!

This city made me feel different, my team made me feel at home, and our host organization took care of us which made us feel comfortable; so to those who made my experience unforgettable, I LOVE YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART and until we meet again in beautiful Turkey!

How volunteering has affected my life?

 

Hello beautiful people,

 

Being part of this project made me have another perspective since it’s different from the other projects that I was part of, being an ESC volunteer is a life changing experience, it’s an opportunity for young people to get out of their comfort zone, to get to know people from different countries and backgrounds, to achieve personal & professional goals and to work with people who believe in a better world.

I decided to apply for an ESC volunteering project, because I believe in better communities, I believe that youth can change their societies and can make the world a better place for the next generation.

Here I’m today doing something that I love, impacting people around me and being impacting as well in every possible way and being as a volunteer helped me discover myself more and be closer to my dreams.

Volunteering is always beneficial for people since it’s more than an activity you do everyday, it’s an act that you do for people that you don’t know but who will be forever grateful for you and this is something that you’ll always remember.

My practical experiences will shape my soul and make me a better person, the world belongs to people who are trying to impact, to change and to develop their leadership skills in order to create opportunities for everyone around them.

This organization gave the opportunity to work on different projects, one of the projects is working with refugees which is food delivery and this project completly impacted me because it gave me the opportunity to help people in need and understand what they are going through while appreciating what they have.

The other volunteers made my experience even better, since we spend a lot of time together and we went to trips in which we had a lot of fun. I can now say that they are a huge part of my life and I’ll certainly meet them again.

 

Sincerly,

Nawel Rihane