Hello everyone! I'm the new volunteer

Hi!

My name is Louise, I'm 26 years old, and I'm from France. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to go abroad to see what life is like elsewhere.

Two years ago, in 2022, I graduated with a Master’s degree in Law, specialising in European Law. That’s how I first heard about the European Solidarity Corps (but only from an academic perspective, as we were studying several European programs).

During my studies, I volunteered every summer with a French organisation that supports migrants in different aspects of their lives. The first Summer, I helped organise activities for children living in a refugee center. And the following years, I joined the legal advice service, where I assisted migrants with their administrative process to obtain or renew their residence permits. It was a truly rewarding experience that helped me grow personally.

After graduation, I felt lost. I knew from my volunteering experience that I wanted a job that had a positive impact on society, but I wasn't sure what I could do with my degree, which was very research/PhD-oriented.

After a year of questioning, I remembered the ESC program, and I was sure that’s what I wanted to do. I started working to save money. But when my short-term contract ended in May 2024, I started doubting again: Was I too old? I knew the program was open until age 30, but most people do it during a gap year after high school or university, don't they? And what if future employers don’t see it as relevant experience and asked about that “gap” on my CV?

So, even though I really wanted to participate, I also started looking for a job as a legal officer in immigration law, and I wasn’t putting too much energy into my ESC search. Then, one day, I received an email from ESC titled “An organisation wants to contact you,” with a link to a volunteer project called “Helping migrants in Italy.” I thought it was a sign.

As I read the project description, I realised the title was a bit misleading (Caritas Jesina isn’t only focused on migrants) but I applied anyway because I really liked the organisation’s values and the missions they proposed.

Everything went quickly after that. I got the email in early March, replied and got the interview in mid-March, and arrived in Italy on April 10th! I was very excited to start this new chapter in my life.

When I arrived, everyone was very welcoming, especially the other volunteer (and flatmate), Rio. He introduced me to everyone and passionately showed me what our work involves. Thanks to him, I quickly learned how everything works, which made my first week amazing (well… except for a broken finger, but that’s on me!)

Rio and me on my first week

I’m already excited about the journey ahead and looking forward to the personal and professional growth this experience promises. 😀

Comments

Arrivederci, Jesi!

I can’t believe time has passed so quickly. It feels like yesterday that I arrived in Jesi and got a tour though the whole Caritas facility. But since then, six months have passed. This experience has been valuable to me in more than just one way and I will never forget the precious time that I spent here. It’s hard to put into words how much this project helped me grow personally and how much I learned while volunteering here. I’m so grateful for all of the people I got to meet during my stay in Jesi. My ESC project here gave me the opportunity to make friends from all over the world who shared a lot about their countries and cultures with me. Therefore, they made it possible for me to widen my horizons and it’s their fault that so many places got added to my travel list 😆 Of course, I also found a lot of new friends from this area who introduced me to Italian dinners (something I’ll certainly continue after coming back to Austria!) and who often planned trips to show me around the a...

Ciao, sono Emma!

Ciao! My name is Emma and I joined Caritas Jesi three weeks ago as the new ESC volunteer. I have only recently gratuated from school in my home country, Austria. After having studied for years, I could not picture myself attending university right away, which is why I decided to take a gap year. I wanted to use it to improve my knowledge of the Italian language, as I had already studied it at school. However, finding something suitable, even after I had learned about the European Solidarity Corps, turned out to be rather challenging. I eventually came across Caritas Jesi and decided to send in my application, which turned out to be just the right decision. After having completed all the necessary steps before my departure, I finally arrived in Jesi three weeks ago. As you can see, I haven't been here for long, but I already feel like being a part of the diverse, committed and unbelievably welcoming team of Caritas Jesi. At the beginnig, I had this fear of feeling alone in a foreign...

Ciao, cześć, hallo, hola, olá, salut, szia, tere and terve!

Ciao! It's Louise and Emma. Today we would like to share a wonderful experience with you, which we have made last Saturday. But first, we need to go back in time a bit… About 4 months ago, I (Louise) was called for my "On Arrival Training" (if you're wondering what is the OAT, go see our blog post on this topic ). There, I was lucky to meet other ESC volunteers who have the same coordinating organisation as us (Vicolocorto), and also live in the Marche region. I particularly bonded with Laura, a finnish girl who is doing her service at the Red Cross of Cingoli, and Madalena from Portugal, who is volunteering in Caritas Senigallia. After the training, we kept in touch and decided to see each other again... which we did. We visited the Frasassi caves, Ancona, and -more important for our story- at the end of August, we organised an ESC lunch at our appartment in Jesi, where we all cooked traditionnal dishes from our home countries. From that day, we had the idea to do s...

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