Mondo's volunteers in Ukraine

 

“Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai

 

I truly believe in the power behind Malala words, Education is probably the best tool we have to build the world we want. And with that mind-set I embarked myself in my East Ukrainian adventure! Having already previously spend 10 month in central Ukraine, I got the opportunity to take part of the EU aid volunteer program thanks to MONDO and Vostok SOS , as a Senior education expert , in  Severodonetsk. 

 

Soon my activities began to grow, and what in the beginning was just classes, rapidly become very interesting meeting and friendships. I was able to collaborate with three schools in Severodonetsk, my role there was very diverse, I basically became a mentor and coach. We made activities and workshops all of them using creativity and non-informal education methods, about different aspects of life, from active citizenships, politics, human’s rights, culture, arts, science, environment, etc. 

 

 

I tried to make each lessons as personalised as possible to adapt to each and every one of the students, so they can develop their skills and passions (this is very important especially when working with teenagers since they have very different skills, fears, behaviours, etc.) for them to really develop their potential, and understand what they can do to contribute the community and of course to have a healthy and positive lifestyle.

In addition we organised language clubs, on both Spanish and English languages although the main goal of these activities was of course to increase their knowledge of these languages and share cultural topics, in a similar situation as in the schools, these lessons became a gathering point, and a place where many ideas are shared between the participants, since the group is aged mixed the results were great, participants were more proficient on teamwork, planning, public speaking, creativity, they increase their sense of community and their willing to be an active part of it.

Also we got the opportunity to organise special events in collaboration with local volunteers, their aims are to show the differences and similarities between Ukraine and Spain in an informative and fun way (cooking, dancing, singing, etc.) which got extremely popular usually getting the attention of local media popular and of course a big amount of participants ready to learn and have fun!   

Could I ever imagine I would have become a Salsa teacher? Master Chef? Actor? Or learn dances from faraway places like Pakistan or Mexico?

 

 

Well in Severodonetsk it seems everything is possible! I was able to make tons of new friends, from Ukraine and many different countries. Even with the shadow of war behind, they show me the wonders of these lands, incredible places, fun and interesting people, you named it, there is hidden treasure under every corner. 

I have to say even if 5 months seems like a short time, the willing of the people to take full advantage of the opportunities was incredible, and therefore we were able together to create a big impact, and bring a little bit of the “Spanish vibe” to the plains of Donbas.

A lot of people ask me if Ukraine is dangerous , I can say that YES is probably the most dangerous country in the world , once you come you never will want to leave again , you would fall in love with their history traditions culture and of course their people.

My conviction is more than ever with all the amazing people I meet along the way both Ukrainian and other foreigners , working daily very hard, together as a big team that step by step as the quote said , actually are changing the world, and bringing joy, happiness and light to people´s life, at least, they did with mine. Thank you everyone that was part of this journey, and get ready for more and better! До зустрічі!