My first volunteer experience

Finally, done! Five years of training at the Institute of Elementary Education have been completed. Graduation certificate in hand, education in pocket, off to new shores. I'm going to join the adventure volunteer in Uganda. A good third of my school class went abroad after graduation. I was one of the first to leave my homeland, and I was also the first one to come back 😉. Today I laugh at it, 2015 was a heavy burden on me for this decision.

My suitcase was packed for the next six months. With clothes, school supplies and all the other necessary things that I would so need. My head was full of expectations and ideas. I had prepared at least ten school hours in my head and would then continue there. My expectations were huge. I was looking forward to learning, discovering and playing with the children. Furthermore, I thought about a lot of strategies, how I can bring the teacher:in consequences for the students:in avoiding punishment with stick and etc. I was very excited to meet new people and master the project and work with them. My expectations also included the idea of going to the nearest city on foot or by public transport. On the weekend with the other volunteers to explore Uganda and be in good hands with the organization. If the 19-year-old Alina had known what she was going to do at the time, she would probably never have boarded the plane.

My expectations became absolutely fatal to me. Not one of them was fulfilled. But, one, I'm going to Uganda. Arriving in the project, I soon realized that no big city or at least a village was accessible on foot and also difficult to reach by public transport. There was only my school, the teachers' houses:in and a little further then a church and that was it. The dream of writing a blog I was able to beat out of my head pretty soon, because the Internet was nowhere to be found here. This annoyed me quite a bit, because the project description said that there was Internet. Well, you must probably try it yourself to experience the reality.

I slept in a completely empty and dark room. There was exactly a bed and a table. That would have meant living out of a suitcase. The room could not be more uncomfortable and exhilarating. That's why I spent most of my time outside. The school and houses were arranged in a U-shape and in the middle was a huge lawn area with bushes and trees around. It was a boarding school, that is, the students were accommodated in rooms all year round and lived in the school facility, except, of course, during the holidays.

My expectations of school education were completely crushed by the fact that there was no school due to the holidays. Brilliant, now I laugh at it and think about everything I've been able to experience in my life. However, there were still about 50 children on campus and I spent a lot of time with them. By the end of the week, there were fewer and fewer, and then we all left the project. I played with the kids catching and other games. Then there was my guitar. We sang several times a day and even composed our own song. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my volunteering at the time. I was so grateful that the kids were still here and they distracted me from my daily homelessness and loneliness.

In the evening I would eat and drink with the teachers:in. I just realized that at the time there were only male teachers and only nuns who worked there and the sister who was in charge of the school.

Once I was allowed to support the school management in issuing Report Cards, because I said I'd like to do something. That was exactly once, for 30 minutes.

Well, this project and this adventure taught me a lot. From that point on, I learned to go into new things without expectations, because it usually comes differently. So far I've driven very well with it. I am now more and more able to disable my expectations and for this I am “rewarded” with incredible experiences and adventures.