{"id":53337,"date":"2017-05-19T16:18:01","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T14:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cesie.org\/experiences\/a-whole-world-to-discover-carla-aka-a-tedescas-evs-experience\/"},"modified":"2019-04-18T16:01:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T14:01:50","slug":"a-whole-world-to-discover-carla-aka-a-tedescas-evs-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cesie.org\/en\/experiences\/a-whole-world-to-discover-carla-aka-a-tedescas-evs-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"A whole world to discover: Carla aka a tedesca’s EVS experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have always known I would have taken part in a voluntary project after having finished high school. But I also wanted to travel and see different and new things.<\/p>\n

And then I found EVS. It was so perfect, I couldn\u2019t believe it was true! EVS combines two of the best things ever: doing something good for the community and yourself and travelling, getting to know new cultures and people.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have to think twice: I was ready to do an EVS!<\/p>\n

After some time I found this project in Palermo: Able Like You III. The project was all about working with mentally disabled adults in a day care centre called \u201cLa Fraternit\u00e0\u201d (Brotherhood), founded and \u00a0run by a family. People with all kind of disabilities can go there in the morning (until 2 p.m.) and do together several activities such as drawing, painting, singing, acting, and make handicrafts. About 6 of them live there constantly, so it\u2019s not just a day care centre, it\u2019s also a home. I think that\u2019s what makes it so special. A group of volunteers who has worked in La Fraternit\u00e0 before made a video about their project and I loved it! So I decided to apply and – luckily – after some stressful days spent waiting and hoping, I was accepted!<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s been 6 months since I arrived in Palermo and I only have 3 months left to spend in this beautiful city. Time goes by so quickly.<\/p>\n

Coming here was one of the best decisions I\u2019ve made in my entire life, I will never regret it.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve started living here, I met so many awesome and interesting people, made new friends all over Europe and worked every day in an amazing cooperative, made of great people who really give everything they have in order to make people happier.<\/p>\n

Every morning the guys at the centre welcome you with a big smile and a loud \u201cBuongiornooo!\u201d. La Fraternit\u00e0 was founded 30 years ago and most of the guys have been there from the beginning. It means that they\u2019ve been growing together as a big family for such a long time. That\u2019s also why nobody there calls the centre \u201cLa Fraternit\u00e0\u201d, but \u201cCasa Famiglia\u201d (Family House).\u00a0 It\u2019s so nice, because you can feel that everybody is happy there and that the staff does its best to keep it like this. As the time goes by, you will get to know all the guys and every habit of theirs. For instance, there\u2019s Filippo, who always wears a hat and asks you \u201cWhat time is it?\u201d; Samuele (who is the youngest of them \u2013 he\u2019s just 24 years old), loves to imitate others and then laughs about it; Ugo, who is the artist of the group, obsessed with cars; Sergio, who always has a smile on his face and basically \u2013 that might sound cheesy \u2013 is made out of love.<\/p>\n

Well, in a word, I love my project and I am very happy with it.<\/p>\n

Apart from my awesome project it\u2019s also not that bad to live in Italy. Or may I say Sicily? Actually, I must say, there\u2019s a huge difference. Especially if you think about food! Oh my god, food.<\/p>\n

Arancine (a must!), panino con panelle e crocch\u00e8, parmigiana and of course typical Italian food such as gelato (ice-cream \u2013 my favourite is the pistachio one), pizza and pasta every day.<\/p>\n

If you ever consider moving to Italy, be prepared to gain some extra food-lover-kilos.<\/p>\n

One of the other great advantages of EVS is that you have free weekends and a whole new world to explore! We\u2019ve been travelling a lot since we arrived here. Every weekend we try to do something different, even if it\u2019s \u201cjust\u201d in Palermo.<\/p>\n

Now the summer is coming and it\u2019s getting warmer (it\u2019s 8th<\/sup> May and it\u2019s already 23\u00b0C outside). Mondello, a wonderful beach on the outskirts of Palermo with clear, light blue waters is just a 20 minute bus ride away from the city centre. My work finishes at 2p.m., I go home, pack my stuff and I\u2019m ready for a swim or for a gelato al pistachio. That\u2019s my life right now. And I don\u2019t want it to end!<\/p>\n

\"Un<\/p>\n

\"Un<\/p>\n

Carla Mappes, Able Like You III EVS Volunteer<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is Carla’s EVS experience in La Fraternit\u00e0 in support of people with mental disabilities with Able Like You III project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":57722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26913],"tags":[],"unita":[],"class_list":["post-53337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-experiences"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t