Alla Oksina, 20 years old girl from Russia, tells about her experience about volunteering in the Amalfi Coast in a project promoted by ACARBIO this summer 2015.
If you got bored of lying the whole day on the beach under the scorching sun and you are looking for another way to spend your holidays, international volunteering is just for you! I have heard from my friends about this “working for food” people numerous times, but I have never tried to do it myself. There were always some reasons for that. In general, volunteering programs last at least a week , whereas for a typical resident of a mega-city finding even such a small amount of free time appears to be a luxury.
The situation has changed dramatically this summer, when after managing to find some free time and overcoming my fear of travelling alone, I have finally applied for a volunteering eco-project, held in Amalfi Coast, Italy.
Eco-project ”Make it Green” was organized for the second time on the initiative of local organization ACARBIO in Tramonti, a small charming village on the Amalfi Coast. The main objective of the project is turning this area with a stunning landscape into reserve. With this brief set of facts I got on the plane Moscow-Naples and went to meet the unknown. Until the moment, when I crossed the threshold of the local school, which appeared to be our home for the following 11 days, I had been feeling extremely nervous. But right after arriving to the final destination I found myself being surrounded by scenic mountains, lemon gardens,vineyards and small houses, covered with traditional tiles. In the camp there were 11 young people from all over the world. Youngsters from Japan, Belgium, Greece, South Korea, Sweden and other countries arrived in Italy, being inspired by love of travel and willingness to explore the world. In spite the differences between our cultures and levels of English language, all the volunteers managed to make friends immediately.
And then the daily routine began. However, speaking from my heart, our working hours can not be characterized like that. Of course, sometimes our work appeared to be pretty hard for girls, who were the majority. Anyway for me it was an unforgettable experience to try myself as a traffic controller or staff member of the local centre of disabled persons. To admire, locals treated us so warm and friendly, that sometimes I felt like I was in a VIP guest list of Tramonti . Each day we were invited in local parties and traditional suppers. Just imagine: we’ve just had a gorgeous lunch in Trattoria S. Francisco, but we are already invited in two different parties in the evening. Unbelievable! In our free time we did lots of things, starting from horse riding and trekking to the magnificent sea cave and ending with going on an excursion to the ancient gorgeous Roman villa. There was not any evening, when we stayed at home after the work.
Meeting us on the streets, local people sincerely thanked us for the job we have done. Even when I was working, I felt like I was celebrating the beauty of life.
That’s how 11 days have passed. It’s time to go home. As a main souvenir I took a sheet of paper with Facebook names of other members and my name, written with Korean characters, on the opposite side. And, finally, numerous promises to meet again in future work camps.
Alla Oskina