From Europe to Jesi

Ciao, Hola and Hi! I’m Río Rojas Mayorga, one of the two volunteers here at Caritas Jesi in October 2024. I’m from Madrid, Spain, and in this first blog, I will share my life before volunteering and how I discovered the ESC. The next one should be about my life here. I would like to start by providing some context about how I got to know the ESC by talking about my life in Majadahonda, Madrid. After the quarantine, my family and I moved from Aluche (in south-central Madrid) to Majadahonda (on the western outskirts) due to financial struggles, which was a significant change for us. The first year felt lonely for my sister and me. During that time, I began studying in the afternoons at the youth centre near my home, where I searched about local volunteering opportunities and eventually discovered international volunteering. However, I was still under 18 and thought I had to prioritise my formal studies. Then, in November 2022, I met someone who transformed my life; it all began with a si