Ilona Chukhua is a Georgian volunteer who joined Polska Fundacja im. Roberta Schumana (PFRS), in Poland and carried out her long-term European Solidarity Corps project funded by Erasmus +. Read what she says about her experience:

”The long-term project in Warsaw, Poland, was so interesting opportunity. At the begining, I had many motivations to participate in the ESC project in Warsaw and one of them was to improve my skills in different directions. In general I love to develop myself and face new challenges. Since I arrived in Warsaw, I discovered many new things, communicated with people from different countries, tried also to learn some new languages from other volunteers. During this project, I had the opportunity to present my country, at trainings, by workshops, presentations and so on. After cultural, multitasking and informal exercises, I have developed very important skills.

According to the working hours, it was very meaningful to manage the time properly and to communicate with the children and teachers in the right way, which was a big challenge because their language of communication is Polish. Finally I managed to improve my time management and Polish language.

The project gave me the opportunity to reflect on the importance of networks, adaptation, and respect for other cultures. I noticed that step by step I became familiar with the living conditions and the new society in Warsaw. I cooperated and interacted with representatives from different countries with different backgrounds. As I found, cultural awareness is very important in the process of interacting with people. My goals, such as becoming more productive, effective, successful and confident, helped me to get a new country quickly.

Staying in Poland was a great possibility for me to understand and realize European values, rule of law, democracy and lifestyle face to face.

Starting a new life in Warsaw taught me how to manage my daily routine, time and plan all activities. These life processes with many things were challenging, but I can say that the ESC project allowed me to quickly find and make solutions.

As part of the project, I wrote the padlet report each month about my days. During the volunteering, used many resources from the internet in my work processes to find different kinds of information connected to my working topics.

The ESC project, the multilingual atmosphere, the formal and non-formal activities, meetings, workshops, and many other things had a very positive impact on me. This project is a great and invaluable experience.” – Ilona Chukhua