Arthur: Volunteering turned out to be much more than what I expected!

The first word I could think of looking back at my 2 months in-country volunteering is “grateful”. I had moved to Tallinn, Estonia with my partner and was looking unsuccessfully for a job for already a few months. Until I came across the in-country volunteering offer from Continuous Action, which became my first work-related experience in Estonia.

I am grateful for this opportunity funded by the European Union, because I would have otherwise had to settle for an odd job, which I know would have frustrated me. But my in-country volunteering turned out to be much more than what I expected. I was given interesting tasks and responsibilities throughout the whole period of the activity and I met (mostly online because of the Covid-19 situation) many interesting people from some of whom I created bonds with. I also learned to use new software and this led me hosting an online-meeting with roughly 20 participants, sharing the knowledge on in-country volunteering I had gathered. I particularly enjoyed telling youth workers, old and new partners of Continuous Action and youngsters about the possibilities that in-country volunteering can offer. It felt like doing something right for the society, helping out people and creating new opportunities for other young people, that could be in similar situations like myself. I felt like being a little part of this socio-cultural gear that needs help in these uncertain times we are all going through. I also believe that this in-country volunteering experience will truly help me find other professional opportunities in the near future, and I already know that I will be able to work together again with like-minded people and put my effort into all kinds of interesting projects.

I would really recommend this type of volunteering to anyone who wants to participate in something that is set out for a good cause, who is willing to learn new things, who wishes to get a first taste of volunteering and meet new people in order to make our society as a whole and our communities better places to live! I will surely keep being an activist for volunteering because I believe it is vital for building a healthy society and yet it still today is missing the recognition it truly deserves. Arthur participated in in-country volunteering activity «Unified Actions» that has been funded with support from Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps Agency through European Solidarity Corps program.