My name is Fotini Ioannidou and i´m from Greece. I came to Portugal as a volunteer with aiesec organization and I had an environmental project in Trigal Santa Maria Basic School. During the project, I was staying in Caldas tas Taipas in the house of a very kind family that helped me a lot to adjust. My experience lasted 6 weeks, from 16 september until October 31. So, in this article I will write about my experience living in Portugal and working in the school.
The first two weeks teacher Graca helped me and gave me some tasks in the garden and in the green house of the school, such as planting seeds and vegetables. Here are some pictures of the beginning and the last days of the project.
Besides working in the garden, I also did some presentations about Greece in classes. In these presentations I explained some of the Greek customs, culture, traditions, food, history, art, attractions etc.
By doing that, I had a chance to meet the students and help them understand more about my country and the reason I was in their school.
In the middle of the project, I went to some art classes with teacher Jorge and Antonio. I helped them with their book presentation about an erasmus experience in Lithuania. We painted together some fish for the exhibition and I helped them decor the place.
During my experience, I was also interviewed by some students that asked me questions about me, my country and my accommodation in Portugal.
In the last week, the school organized a donation of clothes for people that need it. So teacher Graca and I made some posters to raise awareness with the help of some students.
Lastly, the school is going to have another erasmus program in november and i helped the teachers to create some activities for the participants. We shared some ideas and wrote down some instructions for the game.
To sum up, this volunteer experience will be unforgettable for me.I had the chance to meet new people, understand different cultures, visit a lot of places and have an idea in general about Portuguese life in general. I want to thank the teachers that helped me during my experience and I’m waiting to meet you again when you have erasmus in Greece.
