From winter to summer: Caroline’s reflections on eight months of ESC in the Netherlands
As part of the European Solidarity Corps, Caroline has spent the past eight months volunteering in the Netherlands, supporting daily activities on a social farm and becoming part of a diverse local and international community. In this personal reflection, Caroline shares some of the experiences, challenges, and memorable moments that have shaped the journey so far, from snowy winter mornings to busy summer days, both at work and beyond.
Hello everyone! I’m Caroline, currently in the Netherlands since nearly 8 months. So much has happened since the first months. It’s hard to sum up my experience in just a few words and photos, but I’ll give it a go!
Since January, two new people have moved in and share our house with my roommate July. Together, we work hard on the farm, whether during the cold, snowy winter months, the lovely spring months, or the last few stormy, hot months. We’ve seen the landscape change far more than we’d ever noticed before. Working mainly outdoors and moving mostly by bike is a completely new experience for me. I’m grateful to be living in such beautiful countryside.
At work, I now feel closer to everyone: staff, volunteers and participants (people with mental disabilities). I learnt a lot from each of them and so much about myself too. Being faced with new people and new situations in a new country is teaching me a lot.
The work hasn’t changed much, but I now feel more confident about taking initiatives, asking more questions, training new people, and so on. In the vegetable garden, the tasks vary depending on the vegetables in season, but we always have to plant, weed, and harvest. At the dairy, it’s very regular, I go there on Wednersday to prepare the quark (kind of fromage blanc). In the stable, I milk the cows on Tuesday mornings (at 6:30 AM!), then I take them out to pasture and clean cowshed.
Finally, I do lots of activities with my roommates. We’ve been to Dutch special events and concerts, visited several towns, gone swimming in a nearby lake and had picnics. At home, we sometimes cook dinner together, watch movies and just chat and laugh a lot. I’ve made some wonderful friends, and it’ll be hard to say goodbye to them when this project comes to an end. But I’ll tell you how I’m feeling back to Belgium next time! I hope my adventure inspires you to try that kind of experience yourself. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to know more.
Bye bye!
