A unique and life changing experience

Hi!
My name is Ulyana and I volunteered for 2 weeks in Cartagena in February 2019 in Community Projects. It took me some time to leave a comment here... As I came back from this unforgettable experience, I was a kind of "upside down", so many emotions, memories, mixed thoughts... This is for sure a life changing experience for me and one of the best ones, that has left its impact forever. As s volunteer on community projects, I helped at the kitchen in the hospice, did some activities for the kids in poor quarters, taught some simple English to vulnerable seniors and even did some gardening - we helped some really poor family to clean the garden and that was great. Organizing afternoon activities for the kids was a lot of fun! Kids are so sweet, and you get attached to them easily:) Teaching English for the seniors was also quite exciting and fun and I liked the fact that I could always propose my ideas for a class to the program coordinator.

Going to the hospice is morally more difficult, as it just breaks your heart when you see those elderly people living there...
We often here about poverty and sick kids, but it's completely different when you face it with your own eyes, when you interact with these kids… I had a chance to go on the projects, where there are kids struggling with cancer and drug problems. That was hard and, frankly speaking, I wasn't ready for that... and I find it really amazing that Emerging voices work on such projects, it might be not easy, it might be tough sometimes, but that’s for sure one of the best things to reach a hand to a needy person and bring smiles on the kids’ faces! Believe me, you’ll be back home another person and you’ll look differently on simple things in life.