Hear from our past European Solidarity Corps volunteers!

We had some amazing volunteers with us in 2017/2018 in both our Dublin and Belfast services. Overall we had four vounteers from Spain, four from Italy and one from Germany. 

Dublin - ESC Volunteer Story - Emma Székley

This is a story from volunteer Emma Székley who is currently working from our Back Lane service in Dublin.... 

My ESC volunteer journey started at the end of September 2018 when I arrived in Dublin. After finshing my studies and working for a year I decided to take a gap year to gain more experience. I knew what I wanted to do and it was 'now or never' so I took a leap of faith. I like challenges and I am not afraid to try new things. I think this was important to have as I would be undertakig volunteer work abroad. I was open-minded and motivated and really wanted to learn and gain valuable life experience. Things you can't really learn from studying or attending University.

When I got the opportunity to come to Ireland I felt really special and couldn't wait to start this new adventure. I had a very warm welcome, not just from the Volunteer Dept. but from everybody within the service I was based. I get a lot of support everyday from everybody at Depaul Ireland and they made my stay comfortable and I really felt part of the team.

It's really hard to mention one thing I like about working in Back Lane as everyday is different. It is challenging but I really enjoy the work and I'm happy. My job is about making homeless people feel visible, giving my time and making them smile, doing little things. In this project I have different roles; I provide support to staff but my main role is organising and coordinating social activites for residents. Things like weekly pool competitions, table quizes, museum visits football and keeping them busy so they can forget everyday problems. 

The residents love getting involved with all the activities and they have even thought me how to play pool, something I had never tried before. Sometimes I play football where I am the only girl but it's great fun and I'm fortunate that the residents join in and want to participate. Volunteer life can be busy, I try to teach the residents new things and they teach me things as well. They have changed my outlook on life!

Volunteering with the ESC programme can offer fantastic opportunities to spend time abroad. You can learn new skills and develop yourself by gaining and improving your language skills. The Irish language can be challenging, trust me! You get to participate in different activities and really contribute to the local community. Grow as a person and learn so much.