Six Eastern Europeans Who Don't Give Up
March 2, 2015
Last month, six of our brave Eastern European volunteers traveled to America to learn more about volunteerism and American culture. They tasted juicy Texan barbecue, reeled their casts for delicious fish and even experienced a Rodeo.
And, although those activities gave them laughs, the group developed an understanding of how Americans volunteer.
"Most help in Eastern Europe, if any, comes from the state-run funds and departments..." Kostya, one of our volunteers, said. "People have more communications and information and potentially can realize many initiatives themselves. But, many Eastern Europeans still have Post-Soviet inertia and don't believe and don't want to do social work as volunteers. For example, if you want to take children on a trip from the orphanage outside the city you have to be granted permission from the Ministry of Social Work and Education. Not from the director of the orphanage or the kid's supervisor."
The group also met with volunteers from the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, UTA Critical Languages Department, and three churches to learn about their programs. These meetings had a lasting effect. Kostya and the rest of the team hope to now implement one-on-one mentoring with the children, service projects, and volunteer recruitment.
Experiencing home-cooked meals in an American home was eye-opening, as well. "We saw how Americans live, eat and communicated in a home environment, it was wonderful" Kostya shared.
But, above all, the team left feeling motivated to do more in their home country. "I love America and feel close to the people I met. I was surprised that the team, who some had just learned English, were just as inspired as I was by our American friends to do more in Eastern Europe as volunteers."