Youth and Community: Silviu’s ESC experience in Liège
As part of the European Solidarity Corps programme, Silviu spent eight months volunteering in Liège, Belgium, supporting the work of VIEWS International, La Baraka and Coordination Sainte-Marguerite. In this personal reflection, he looks back on the challenges, achievements, and everyday moments that shaped his experience, from learning French and organising awareness-raising events to working with local communities and discovering what it truly means to live independently abroad.
Greetings, my name is Silviu, I am from Bucharest, Romania, and for 8 months I was an ESC volunteer in Liege, Belgium, with VIEWS International.
Coming into this project was a big challenge for me. At one point I was doubting whether I should go away from Romania for this many months, if it’s the right choice for me or if I will manage. I chose to trust my intuition and the process, which indeed was proven to be the right path.
The beginning wasn’t too easy since Wallonia isn’t known for fluency in English, so I had to follow French classes and learn the local language, which was the biggest challenge for me, but also the process that gave me the biggest satisfaction when I started seeing results and was able to talk with everybody. And it was indeed such a helping tool in my day-to-day activities at the youth center at La Baraka, at the office at Views or at Coordination Sainte-Marguerite, where there was a lot of French being spoken.
In terms of activities specifically, I was never a quote to quote ,,Office person”, but with the team at Views office we found some tasks that sparked my interest, for example opening a new Instagram profile for the organisation and making videos on the activities we had during my stay. Also, it’s worth mentioning that I was part of the organising team for 2 Dinners in the Dark, awareness-raising nights in the dark which were very tiring but equally very fun to set-up and coordinate in team.
At La Baraka, I can say I was right in my element. A lot of games to play with the youngsters, cooking workshops, events such as the “Fete de la Musique”, a music festival in Parc Sainte-Agathe in Liège, and so on. Lots of things to get my hands on and start doing with the staff and volunteers, which really helped me in the more stressful periods.
At Coordination Sainte-Marguerite, I got to help a bit with the administration, but the fun part was to go to the local school of French as a Foreign Language for newcomers and do activities with the groups of youngsters and adults, in order to help them learn French in an engaging way. We did everything from guessing games, to acting to even playing “Mafia”. While it wasn’t easy to come up with a new activity every single week, I took the challenge and had fun with it.
8 months fly by just like that when you get a tight schedule, especially when you also do things after activity hours such as going to the gym, going to a bar or a party in the city, or simply hanging out with your mates.
I’d lie if I said that everything was perfect and I didn’t face not-so-good periods as well. There can always be things happening to us that are not in our power to prevent, combined with moments of doubt. Not being able to communicate unless I was speaking in French made me indeed question if I was even supposed to be there. I had moments where I was frustrated my activity wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, or when I couldn’t explain myself, or other instances where I felt lonely and stuck. And let me tell you right now that all that is perfectly normal and its part of the process. With time, things got better, and day by day I was building more confidence in my abilities.
Also, very important to mention, I learned a lot about living alone through this experience. From money managing to fixing things around the house or making a routine in cleaning clothes and the house, this is something that I am super proud of. Being this independent was super fun and inspiring, and now I look forward to move out and live by myself as soon as I can.
Overall, these 8 months have seen ups and downs, but the ups definitely compensated the downs, so if I had a piece of advice for future volunteers it would be to be patient with yourself and to trust your intuition.
All the thanks to the Views team, and everybody that was involved in my experience!
Silviu
