It’s been four months since I left home 3.000 kilometres away.
I’ve been alone for four months now, without my usual familiar surrounding.
I’ve been discovering myself for four months. Because yes, going to volunteer is on the one hand a cultural encounter with your host country but also a personal one. You find yourself alone, facing the world and facing yourself. When you are at home, you have your habits, your comfort zone, and you think you know yourself. When you come to leave all this, your friends, your family, you can only count on yourself.
To be alone is to face these emotions that you did not want to face, it is to question yourself completely. Away from home, you have the necessary time to reflect on your relationships and assess your progress.
Having the opportunity to volunteer is the opportunity to meet
Today, I learn to accept my emotions and use my life day after day to live the moment. I discovered passions I never thought I had. Volunteering seemed to be a way to push my limits, meet and improve to me.
However, I did not think that this experience would be of advantage to me so much. Now I know what I want. I have overcome my fear of loneliness. I learned to express my feelings more. I improved my English. I became stronger, more independent.
We’re not going to lie to each other, it’s just as scary to meet as it is to start a new relationship. We go through several stages, : clumsiness, misunderstanding and fear . I thought I knew myself and I’m thrilled that at 22 I’m making my own encounter. I didn’t know much about my feelings, I wanted to please everyone. But when you take the time to settle down, you realize what’s not right for you, what you’re feeling about things.
This trip taught me to understand myself. I would leave here in harmony with myself – in peace. When I was told “It is better to be alone than badly accompanied”, I did not understand the meaning of this sentence.
But it’s so true, I’ve never felt better.
Hyvärilä Volunteers 