WORKCAMP SEASON SERIES

Aneta and Justyna's journey

France

This time, Aneta and Justyna, local volunteers from Pułtusk are writing about their experiences. 

They went to France and participated in a workcamp together with the organization Solidarités Jeunesses.

SJ International workcamps develop useful project for the local community. They were working in the community located in the Hautes-Alpes in the long-scale project that connects the water to the cottages with pipes.⛰🏞

Aneta Kuczyńska:

“My trip to France was full of new experiences. For me, it was my first time traveling by plane and first time abroad so, this trip was accompanied by large amounts of stress! The worst part was when we missed the train but as we sat down the stress disappeared.

That night we stayed in a hotel near the train station. After putting together the luggage in the hotel, we went out and explore the city of Grenoble.

The next day we arrived at the workcamp and of course, there was stress, we didn't know anyone, we were afraid we wouldn't get along with the group.

Several days passed as we started talking to the group. Sometimes the work was hard, because most of the days were really hot. A really hot summer in France! Many of the volunteers were tired but no one gave up.💪

In our free time we talked about trips and our countries.🌍

When it was time to return, there were tears but also smiles😁. After the work was finished, everybody was happy to back to their loved ones and their home countries.

As our plane landed, we felt a great relief that the journey was behind us. When I got home I just wanted to sleep after a day trip. Memories will always be remembered.”

Justyna Ciszkowska:

“It was such a long stay away from home for me and the first time for me. I learned independence. I learn new cultures and wonderful people and visited a lot of places. The landscape was beautiful. I quickly became attached to places and people.

I think that in the future I would like to go to a similar workcamp, because it was great. The atmosphere there was indescribable, so amazing”.

Thanks! 

:) 

AROUND POLAND

Discovering  Przasnysz

Last mont I went to Przasnysz to help in the Public Library with the summer activities for kids.The kids were travelling to different places around the world by videos, presentations, food and traditional activities of each country. 🌍

I helped for three days. So, in my first day, we visited USA and ate ham and cheese sandwiches. 🥪The second day it was my opportunity to taking them to Honduras. So, I made a presentation of my country with exotic and beautiful animals. Their favorite animal was the jaguar.🐆

I was amazed how creative and intuitive kids are. I found different puppets: animals, characters from videogames, people and even a scissor! And for the masks, each on was unique and stylish.

For the last day, they were going to Egypt by dressing up as mommies, a crazy but fun idea! I was laughing all the time! 

Then, we made a fashion show, because we were visiting France, too. All in the same day!

At the end, the kids got a diploma and a book with interesting facts of the countries they visited. 

During my stay and after work, we went to Opinogóra Górna and visited the museum of romanticism. It’s a beautiful place with a castle, a mansion, a huge park and a pond with fascinating exhibitions: polish paintings, photographs, documents and independence memorabilia. They even have a place with birds! I was surprised to see a guacamaya, it reminded me to my country. 🐦

Also, we walked around Przasnysz and did sightseeing of the most important places: the church, the park and the museum of history. Przasnysz is a town full of history. Przasnysz was one of the most important cities in the Middle Age because its location and it was one of the most destroyed during the World War I.

I’m very happy and thankful to work with the people in the library. They’re an incredible team, interesting humans and since I came to the library I felt at home, it was a nice atmosphere.🥰I really enjoyed it!❤ I discovered more about the polish culture, food, people and their work. Libraries are a whole world with tons of activities to offer than just books.

Again, thank you to the library’s team, to Joanna Ciesielska-Lipka - an English teacher from ZSP for helping with translation, the kids and the director, Pani Małgorzata Sobiesiak, for having me.

*Photos were taken from the official website of the library

Go to their web page to learn more about their work, the summer activities and their offer for the public.

Website: Miesjka Biblioteka Przasnysz

Facebook:Miejska Biblioteka Przasnysz

:) 

-Jennifer Soto

WORKCAMP SEASON SERIES

9th edition of the Beaufiest'Yval

Workcamp in Mazeray, France

Hey, I'm Begüm  and I was in a workcamp last month in France for 3 weeks.  

So, let’s get started!!!

What did I do during my workcamp? 👀

My journey began with a flight from Warsaw to Paris. In Paris, I stayed around 3 days. It was my first time in France and I visited some places there. I had a great time there and I met new people. 

Then, I went from Paris to La Rochelle by bus. It was a 4-hour trip. In La Rochelle I took a train to Mazeray, a small village in east France. After two hours, I finally arrived! 🚊✌

While I was waiting at the train station, I met my camp mates from Spain, France, Mexico, Russia and Morocco. 
Finally, after a long journey, our camp leaders picked up us from train station to the place where we would be living and working. 

When we arrived to the camp area we set up the tents and met all the volunteers, all before dinner. 😁 

My workcamp was about children festival, so we had the opportunity to join some of the  workshops, and visit with the kids some exhibitions about art and history and some places nearby, too.

In our spare time we discovered different beaches around the region. 🌞🏖🌡İt was pretty good idea. ⭐

The second week, I participated in activities with children of different age groups, played games and ate lunch together in the garden. And for our meals, we prepared traditional dishes and for that, we made different groups every day. 

In the morning, we were working at the festival area. We had set up the tent for the Festival, bring the required items and do some cleaning jobs. We were a team and we liked to work that way. For instance, the first day I prepared some sandwiches and I made crêpes. It was so good and funny experince for me also.

One day we were preparing some internatıonal dishes and then sold them at the local market. It was amazing! And the other, we were going to a famous french cognac festival, in the night. 

The most amazing part in this workcamp was the circus training. During the festival circus, one of the instructors taught us some acrobatics like tightrope walking and some ball games. Finally we had some internatioanl performances with all the volunteers. We did a Turkish dance with all the participants. 

There were many events and art shows the last days. When it was over, we cleaned the festival area and removed all the tents. 

I hope next year I join this summer workcamp again! It was fun all the time. 🙌

Thanks :) 

By the way, go to the website of beaufiestyval to see the pictures. 

WORKCAMP SEASON SERIES

Lato w Teatrze: What squeaks in the grass? 

My workcamp experience

For two weeks I was in Zambski Kościelne volunteering in the summer project Lato w Teatrze: What squeaks in the grass? an artistic project for kids from the local community.

This year, the  kids discovered what the meadow hides: animals, insects and flowers, visited a few places nearby and got inspired and did a final performance with all these elements.

We were three volunteers from different countries: Almaz from France, Anna from Italy and me, from Honduras, also, we were working with local volunteers.

Our everyday work was to prepare the meals: yogurts (my favorite was the chocolate one), fruits and sweet bread, play with the kids during the breaks, help them in anything they needed and cleaning. But we also had the opportunity to join the different workshops with the instructors and learn from them. During the second week, we built a tent and the stage were the kids did the performance, were rehearsing and doing their costumes. It was fascinating to witness their creative process. We even participated in the performance, for at least a few seconds.

In our free days, we went to Warsaw and Pułtusk. In Pułtusk, we met with a few friends, we made a tour around the city, did kayaking, ate delicious food and ice cream and later we went to the beach for a few hours.
After work, in the afternoons, we were walking  around  the river, cooking some polish dishes and meeeting with the locals. We were invited to a bonfire with the kids in front of the river, we were eating, singing and laughing a lot, we had a great time.

The camp was about discovering but also taking caring of the community, that’s why we met with the kids and their parents to collected trash near the river. 

It was a great experience! Full of challenges and good moments. I learnt more about France and Italy, cooked and ate delicious dishes, improved more my skills in English and learnt some polish words with the kids. 

My favorite moments during the breaks were going with the girls and catch some ladybugs and small grasshoppers. We even, made a new friend, Mustarda, a little frog hidden in the grass.

I learnt that communication with kids is not that hard, even if you don’t speak the same language as them, if they want to say something, they somehow find the way to explain you and teach you. You only need to be motivated and be a little patient. So, by the  second week we were talking in English and Polish and it worked for us.

For me and my collegues it was an unique experience full of memories and new friends from all ages. At all time we felt welcomed and supported. So, I'd like to thank the instructors and special guests,the people from Zambski and of course, to the kids. 

Go to the facebook page and see the amazing picture of this workcamp: Lato w Teatrze. Zambski Kościelne.

- Jennifer Soto