Hi, My name is Luke and I am an EVS volunteer From Birmingham, England. My project is in a small village called Lanckorona near Kraków. This is an edited version of the report I have written for my project co-ordinator.
I arrived in Lanckorona last October and I found it really scary to be in a new place so far from home. There were two volunteers on our project, me, and Jeff, a frenchman. Luckily, we got on well. We recieved a really warm welcome from everyone where we worked and very quickly made lots of new friends. We were living with a man called Robert who we worked with and who was very nice. He was really helpful with everything and we both have grown very fond of him and his family. Our initial duties revolved around the running of the GOK (cultural centre) where we were based. We helped with the general running of the GOK and also with the children, playing, helping them and assisting with all the activities which they had.
Soon after arriving I had my on-arrival training in Warszawa which was excellent. I learned everything I would need to know about EVS and I made lots of new friends among the other volunteers. I felt a really strong sense of comradeship with the other volunteers and I would go on to meet many of them again and to share many of my experiences with them. Upon returning from my on-arrival training I had to help prepare the first cultural event of my EVS, "Aniol w miasteczku". This would become a regular feature of my EVS. Everything becomes a whirl of creativity and activity as we create entire festivals in Lanckorona, with concerts, decorations, food and drink, markets and countless other attrations. The weekend of Aniol w miasteczku saw me dressing up as an angel and making friends with almost everybody in the town, this was a truly unique experience and one I will probably never forget.
As winter set in I was astonished how much snow was falling. I couldnt believe that it would stay all winter until I realized how cold it was getting, despite the cold the mountains were beautiful and this was may favourite time to walk around the countryside and look at the beautiful views. Christmas came and I went home for christmas. i saw my friends and family and saw that nothing much had changed, I was itching to get back to Lanckorona. The winter is very slow in Lanckorona as people don't go out of their houses much and it is difficult to engage with the local community. Despite this I was becoming much more capable at work as my polish got better. I started up a number of lessons with the children aimed to help them with their English studies. These lessons incorporated games and fun activities and were very popular with the local children. Of all the things I achieved during my EVS I am most proud of these lessons. I had a lot of support and encouragement with this and I felt very satisfied, the lessons continued for most of my EVS.
During the Spring, many things began to change within my project and everything became very hectic and busy. There were more cultural events to be organised including Jarmark SwiętoJanski and the Majówka among others and much help was needed. One of the greatest things about these events was that the whole community gets together to organise them and I felt really lucky to be part of a community and able to contribute in such a positive way. There were many people coming to Lanckorona to see what we were doing and we always seemed to have visitors, wether through work or other EVS volunteers. During this time our organisation was expanding and we were moving office. Unfortunately our new office was not ready yet and the job of preparing it fell to Jeff and I. Jeff already had much experience with building and renovation and i learned a great many new skills during this time, It also gave us a really good oportunity to get our hands dirty and do some Robota (manly work).
One of the nicest parts of my EVS was learning to speak Polish and as a result being able to make friends here. There is only one bar in Lanckorona and there isn't any form of nightlife but I had no problems with this as I am a very peaceful person. The other young people were really friendly and I found they were very easy to communicate and make friends with. Many people here had friends or family in England and we had very much to share and discuss. I developed a taste for the local beer and was very happy to learn that it is even sold back in England. I brought my guitar with me and many times we sat around a fire and ate sausages and sang songs in English or Polish.
In early summer Jeff finished his project but was still around as he had a youth exchange to organize. I spent much time helping Jeff with this and I was able to participate in the exchange and help out. After the exchange my EVS was drawing to a close and I began think about the future. I had enjoyed living in Poland so much that I had applied at university here to study Polish and had been accepted. I still had much work to do however, I helped to refurbish the museum and it's garden and I helped set up the shop for local products. I even produced a catalogue of the local products on offer. Despite having enjoyed my EVS so much I was thoroughly exausted and my co-ordinator allowed me to have a break before I began my studies. I went home and told my friends and family how wonderful life was in Poland. Now they all want to come here and visit.
