Each journey needs to ends. Also the European Solidarity Corps projects.
Below you can read the project summary of our volunteer Hansi Brahimasi, from Albania.
Hansi took part in Challenge Yourself in Rybnik 2.0 project, spend 10 months in Rybnik, his hosting organisation was Zabytkowa Kopalnia Iganacy w Rybniku.
As I’m writing this final article, I’m currently back in my home country, reminiscing about the days gone by in Poland. It’s kind of funny how 10 months can both feel like an eternity and a fraction of a second at the same time. I arrived in Poland around mid-March of 2021 and stood there until mid-January of 2022. Coming to Poland, I only had one simple desire, to pretty much witness a harsh winter with lots of snow, since I’ve always been drawn to winter as a season. Alas, I got so much more.
Volunteering is a humbling experience, you get to learn about yourself, but, at the same time, you get to meet a lot of people from different places and discover how different and similar you are the same time, making it even more of a grounding experience. The world is a gargantuan place and sometimes we forget, getting caught in the web of our daily lives. It’s safe to say that I’m grateful for the things that I got to experience while I was there.
Like I said on the opening line, I’m already reminiscing about the days there. There is a sort of solace, when you get to experience all the seasons in a foreign country and travel at the same time. From the canola and corn-poppy fields during the spring and summer, to the enchanted forests during an afternoon in the fall, and finally, to the blissful snowy days in the winter.
Despite the weather, I got to meet some old friends near me and at the same time, make some new friends along the way. I consider myself pretty lucky for meeting these people and I honestly wish them the very best. It is uplifting to know that good people aren’t native to one single country. They are all around the globe, and this experience got me closer to a bunch of them.
To draw this to a close, I’m glad I undertook this opportunity to come to Poland and experience it in its fullest. I’m thankful to the FRSP for aiding me to settle in a new environment, full of things that were not familiar to me, brought the best in me and at the same time, taught me many things about other nations, cultures and traditions, things that will be embedded in me for a long time.
Signing off on my last entry,
-Hansi Brahimasi
We would like to thanks Hansi for those kind words 🙂
Wish you all the best in the future!
