I must admit that before I came here my only knowledge about Palermo was that it was the capital of Sicily and that it was somewhere in the south of Italy. But after my participation in the two-month short term project "No one is out" this city is now linked for me to amazing memories and people.

I arrived in early March and spent the first days exploring the city with the other new volunteers and by myself. I live in a shared flat next to the central station with 6 other volunteers and, apart from the obvious quarrels over housecleaning duties, we get on very well. Every weekend, we are either living “la dolce vita" at Piazza Santa Anna or going on trips around the beautiful region of Sicily. During my first week, my mentor Mattia also showed me the local centre where I was going to start working the following week.

During those two months I was working at Casa Officina, a Kindergarten for children aged two to five years old and focused on international education. So, I was working there together with three other volunteers from France, Portugal and Poland. A special highlight for me was a cultural workshop I organized for the children in order to explain some German Easter traditions like Easter eggs colouring and chocolate eggs treasure hunt. Due to my lack of knowledge of the Italian language, I was glad to be working with small children because the language barrier did not significantly affect my work.

In order to help all the new volunteers with their communication problems, CESIE surprised us with 40 hours of Italian lessons at the language university.

Ever since I got here, the only problem I have encountered is that time is running too fast! It feels like I arrived yesterday, and I can’t believe that in two weeks my project will be finished.

Barbara Fischer

EVS volunteer within the Erasmus+ project “No one is out”

What is EVS?

EVS (European Voluntary Service) is an international volunteer program funded by the European Commission. It enables all young people legally resident in Europe, aged between 18 and 30 years, to carry out an international volunteer service in an organization or in a public body in Europe, Africa, Asia or South America for a period ranging from 2 to 12 months.

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