Fanni in Potsdam

Hello everyone, my name is Fanni, and I was an European Solidarity Corps volunteer in Potsdam, Germany. I applied for the project through Facebook after finishing university. To my surprise, they replied very quickly, and that’s how my journey began. Both my sending and host organizations were well-organized and supportive, which made the transition stress-free.

My project lasted for 11 months and included two seminars in different cities in Germany. I was working in a kindergarten with 13 children aged between 2 and 5 years. My main tasks were to support the children, look after them, and assist the teachers during daily activities like meals, playtime, and nap time. I really enjoyed spending time with the kids and learning how to communicate and connect with them, even with the language barrier at the beginning.

I lived in a shared flat with three other people, but I had my own private room. The apartment had a large kitchen and a nice balcony where we often spent time together. In Potsdam, there were nine ESC volunteers including myself. We all lived in the city and worked on similar projects, so we became a good group. I met people from many different countries and cultures, and I made friendships that I know will last for a long time.

Although my flat was about 40 minutes away from the kindergarten, it wasn’t a problem because we only had to arrive by 9 a.m., so I didn’t need to wake up too early. Every morning, the teachers gave educational lessons to the kids, and I was also involved in teaching them about emotions, flowers, animals, and other fun topics. My colleagues were very supportive and always encouraged me to participate.

We also had two mentors who supported us throughout the project, one from the sending organization and one from the host organization. We stayed in regular contact with both of them during the whole project. They were there to help us with any personal or professional issues, and we met with them regularly to talk, get advice, and take part in activities together. Similarly, all the volunteers had regular monthly workshops or meetings where we learned about politics, cultural differences, diversity, and important global issues. I found these workshops very inspiring and eye-opening.

One of the best things about the ESC program is that every volunteer gets to attend two seminars in different German cities. I was lucky to go to Cologne and Bremen. These seminars were fully funded and gave me the chance to meet even more volunteers from across Germany. We also visited each other’s cities afterwards, which made the experience even more special.