End season party in Kaarina –Volunteer’s Experience

After being an active volunteer in StepEurope ry about a half a year, I got an invitation from Ronja, the Project Coordinator, to the End of the season party. The event was two days long 4.-5.7.2017, which took place in Vuolahti camp, Kaarina. Vuolahti is a beautiful place middle of the forest and nearby the sea, in Kuusisto about 20 minutes away from Kaarina city centre. It was nice place to spend time together.  

I think it was special night, not only because of the beautiful view, but also because of the incredible participants and nice atmosphere. We had participants from nine different countries: Finland, Slovenia, Angola, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Iraq, Nepal and Domenic Republic. This was a real opportunity for all of us to get to know each other. It was the first time for me to meet the StepEurope ry’s chair, Melina and the International coordinator, Teddy.

The evening included planning session about the upcoming autumn events. We were divided into four groups and discussed about 25 minutes. After the discussion we selected one person to give the presentation of the group’s ideas. The ideas included local activities and how to involve volunteers in the future.

The evening was full of fun! We had Summer Olympics, BBQ and sauna. In the Olympics we were playing for instance Mölkky the Finnish throwing game and the Donkey Tale. Later we were dancing and singing, had music from all around the World! The experience was much of fun for me. Can’t forget the sauna and swimming in the sea in the midnight!

This is just one of the nice moments of being a volunteer. Volunteering has been giving me a lot: new friends and opportunities together with the amazing feeling of doing something reasonable!

 “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time: they have the heart.”

-Hassan