Dora in Acireale
From order to chaos, from chaos to order: 7 months in Sicily
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"In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order." - Carl Jung
This is the first quote that comes into my mind when I think about my volunteering period I spent in a small city on the Eastern Coast of Sicily. In the beginning there was only a calling, without certainties or a sense of direction, only a little feeling that invited me to move away from my life as I knew it before and to take a step closer to an experience that was about to transform me in every sense possible.
After landing in Catania my two primary worries were catching my breath and my train, I held little idea about the chapter that was about to start. Next stop: Acireale. Not long after I found myself playing billiards in a local pub with local people and so, it all began.
Mistero Buffo is the youth center where I volunteered as an event organiser for 7 months, during this period I had the opportunity to get familiar with the process of event invention, promotion, organisation and management. Two of my favourite projects were leading meditation sessions and being the facilitator of team building occasions for our team.
A beautiful disaster is the best way to describe this period, I was constantly evolving and learning new ways of communication, self expression, conflict management skills and Italian. The people I was fortunate to connect and work with were showing me the importance and challenges of cultural diversity, they encouraged me to become better at expressing and living my truth and they gifted me the uniqueness of their personality. Difficulties are a natural part of every life experience, co-living with another ESC volunteer and facing with the limitations of a small city were sometimes hard to cope with but they taught me the importance of focusing on the action that can be taken.
A new understanding of time, belly laughs, Italian language skills, breathtaking views, a new aspect of who I am, I could create a never ending list of the gifts that were given to me by my volunteering experience that I am going to benefit from on the long term. I arrived with openness and Sicily revealed a new sense of home and belonging to me. Even a thousand words wouldn’t be enough to give an accurate description of this phase of my life’s journey because real familiarity comes from actually being there with full presence, a small act of bravery that transformed me eternally.
Hosting organisation:
Hosting organisation:
"Mistero Buffo" is a youth and cultural center, which was created in 2000 as part of a youth initiative project within the Action 3 program, has become a local cultural hub over the past few decades. The center is open to all cultural initiatives of value and welcomes anyone willing to invest their time in sharing their passions and skills to enrich the local community. Through non-formal education pathways, event organization, and the promotion of local and international projects, the center offers young and older individuals a space for socialization, study areas, a library, and a fully equipped rehearsal room. Activities include yoga, guitar, creative sewing, decoupage, crochet, and photography and art exhibitions.
Volunteering project coordinated by Circolo Arci Babilonia at Youth Cultural Center "Mistero Buffo"
Date: February - August 2025
Volunteer: Dóra Verebélyi
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