Marians experience of beeing a volunteer on Åland
Marian Guirguis is 23 years old from Egypt, she was a volunteer for SKUNK from October 2019 to July 2020
1 year to the infinity and beyond
This post purpose is encouraging 2 things: Åland Islands and volunteering
-Åland Islands is an autonomous region of Finland. I didn’t know that there’s a Finnish island in the middle of the Baltic sea between Finland and Sweden till I applied for the project.
-Åland is a Swedish speaking part of Finland so I know nothing in Finnish but I can say ‘’Hur mår du?’’ (how are you).
-Fun fact about summer in Finland: the midnight sun, it can be bright till midnight. It’s fascinating but it’s so hard to keep track of time without looking at an actual clock and it can be the exact opposite in winter.
-Since I got here, I fell in love with the untouched nature, not ruined by humans, seeing a deer crossing the road or passing in-front of you while taking a walk in the forest is normal as well as seeing squirrels jumping from tree to another, you can see ducks and swans more than people and tons of animals I can’t even name. And it sounds heavenly in the spring because of all the bird singing.
-Last Autumn I had to go to a police station for the first time in my life, and guess for what!! I fell off my bike and I lost the lock, bike basket and my cap and when I told my employer she told me ‘’you should go to the police station and check there’’ … I thought ‘’you must be kidding’’ but she wasn’t!! So, I went there just to see what would happen, I was curious. And when I told the policeman the story, I was waiting for him to laugh or to kick me out for wasting his time, but actually he went to a cupboard full of lost items and came back telling me he couldn’t find my stuff but that didn’t matter to me then my mouth was hang open.
And it’s not over, when I was on my way home, I found my stuff on the grass where I fell off … Apparently, Åland’s people, whenever they find lost stuff they leave it on the trees or the grass. Yes, there’s still peaceful places, like the ones we used to hear about in fairytales, in this messed up world, where the people do acts of kindness wherever they walk and no crime that the police have the chance to help you with literally everything.
-There’s a stereotype about Finnish people that they’re super introverts or expressionless and cold but actually they are not. Believe it or not but they’re more friendly than we are (Egyptians) whenever I pass by anyone on the road they smile at me: kids, youth and seniors whether they’re women or men and some of them might even say Hi to you!
-Something else you’d notice if you’re in Åland is how polite and patient the drivers are, maybe because I lived in Cairo all my life, so that’s actually big for me to see the drivers waiting for you to pass whether you’re walking or cycling and they never use the car horn (so you actually can hear your own thoughts) unless it’s dangerous situation or something, it’s kinda embarrassing to do it unnecessarily or to get one.
-Traveling is great and it has a lot of benefits we know, but if I’d give you one advice about it, it’ll be VOLUNTEER while doing it! Most of the things I experienced or learned because I am a volunteer, not a traveler, I experienced both since last October, I have traveled 7 countries but non of them was as rich as my experience as a volunteer.
It makes you humble and gives you the opportunity of trying every and anything with anyone, I have planted potatoes, onions, beekeeping, fishing, horse riding, I even held a baby chick in my hands , I have made a willow basket from scratch, I have planned for youth camps, worked with youth and learned about new topics and new perspectives. I have helped in kindergarten and in second hand shop, sorting and hanging clothes. I have planned for my own project and had 2 sessions, one of them was great. I met great volunteers from around the world, each one has a unique story and history. I have surprised myself doing things I never imagined I am cable of, I lived alone for the first time, took good care of myself (doing laundry, cooking, budgeting, traveling), I tried the Finnish sauna and took a dip in the frozen sea in October.
I don’t know if there’s enough words to describe the experience, but I hope volunteering gets as much attention as traveling in Egypt.
Here some websites where you can find volunteering opportunities all over the world
https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en
https://www.salto-youth.net/
https://www.unv.org/
https://wwoofinternational.org/
This post purpose is encouraging 2 things: Åland Islands and volunteering
-Åland Islands is an autonomous region of Finland. I didn’t know that there’s a Finnish island in the middle of the Baltic sea between Finland and Sweden till I applied for the project.
-Åland is a Swedish speaking part of Finland so I know nothing in Finnish but I can say ‘’Hur mår du?’’ (how are you).
-Fun fact about summer in Finland: the midnight sun, it can be bright till midnight. It’s fascinating but it’s so hard to keep track of time without looking at an actual clock and it can be the exact opposite in winter.
-Since I got here, I fell in love with the untouched nature, not ruined by humans, seeing a deer crossing the road or passing in-front of you while taking a walk in the forest is normal as well as seeing squirrels jumping from tree to another, you can see ducks and swans more than people and tons of animals I can’t even name. And it sounds heavenly in the spring because of all the bird singing.
-Last Autumn I had to go to a police station for the first time in my life, and guess for what!! I fell off my bike and I lost the lock, bike basket and my cap and when I told my employer she told me ‘’you should go to the police station and check there’’ … I thought ‘’you must be kidding’’ but she wasn’t!! So, I went there just to see what would happen, I was curious. And when I told the policeman the story, I was waiting for him to laugh or to kick me out for wasting his time, but actually he went to a cupboard full of lost items and came back telling me he couldn’t find my stuff but that didn’t matter to me then my mouth was hang open.
And it’s not over, when I was on my way home, I found my stuff on the grass where I fell off … Apparently, Åland’s people, whenever they find lost stuff they leave it on the trees or the grass. Yes, there’s still peaceful places, like the ones we used to hear about in fairytales, in this messed up world, where the people do acts of kindness wherever they walk and no crime that the police have the chance to help you with literally everything.
-There’s a stereotype about Finnish people that they’re super introverts or expressionless and cold but actually they are not. Believe it or not but they’re more friendly than we are (Egyptians) whenever I pass by anyone on the road they smile at me: kids, youth and seniors whether they’re women or men and some of them might even say Hi to you!
-Something else you’d notice if you’re in Åland is how polite and patient the drivers are, maybe because I lived in Cairo all my life, so that’s actually big for me to see the drivers waiting for you to pass whether you’re walking or cycling and they never use the car horn (so you actually can hear your own thoughts) unless it’s dangerous situation or something, it’s kinda embarrassing to do it unnecessarily or to get one.
-Traveling is great and it has a lot of benefits we know, but if I’d give you one advice about it, it’ll be VOLUNTEER while doing it! Most of the things I experienced or learned because I am a volunteer, not a traveler, I experienced both since last October, I have traveled 7 countries but non of them was as rich as my experience as a volunteer.
It makes you humble and gives you the opportunity of trying every and anything with anyone, I have planted potatoes, onions, beekeeping, fishing, horse riding, I even held a baby chick in my hands , I have made a willow basket from scratch, I have planned for youth camps, worked with youth and learned about new topics and new perspectives. I have helped in kindergarten and in second hand shop, sorting and hanging clothes. I have planned for my own project and had 2 sessions, one of them was great. I met great volunteers from around the world, each one has a unique story and history. I have surprised myself doing things I never imagined I am cable of, I lived alone for the first time, took good care of myself (doing laundry, cooking, budgeting, traveling), I tried the Finnish sauna and took a dip in the frozen sea in October.
I don’t know if there’s enough words to describe the experience, but I hope volunteering gets as much attention as traveling in Egypt.
Here some websites where you can find volunteering opportunities all over the world
https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en
https://www.salto-youth.net/
https://www.unv.org/
https://wwoofinternational.org/
