I am Anita. At the moment I am an EVS in Gdansk, in Poland. I work for an organization called Caritas. My job is to work with children who come from difficult families or have some problems at school. Almost half of my service is over and I enjoy every minute of it. There are so many things one learn and start to notice when living in another country.
I am happy to say that there is a one very important thing I have learnt about my work with children. I found out how important is not to give orders to the children (do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that) but to try to be on the same level with them, so they can feel more comfortable with my present and with the things I do with them.
What I have also noticed is that the children from my work place cannot easily socialize with the other children. I am not sure, is it because they have always played by themselves or is it because they never been mixed to play with children who are different (who come from families without difficulties ) from them. I would like to dig more about this subject, and perhaps make some changes!
As I enjoy cooking I try to cook Macedonian dishes for the children at my work place as much as I can. Every time I involve them in my cooking so they can help me and also learn about other food cultures. This time I made” Milibrod”, a sweet bread with jam inside. They loved it!
You can also read my previous story in March 2012 Newsmail when I had just arrived to Poland and did not know what to expect, yet.
Till next time!
Anita