Hi! I am Pilar, an European volunteer in Rennes (France). I have been a volunteer for 12 months in the association Petits Frères des Pauvres, through the European Solidarity Corps.

First of all, I would like to thank the work of B-LIVE International Network, my shipping association, for advising me throughout my stay in France. From the beginning, Laura and Georgia were very willing to help me with any paperwork and explained what my role would be in this new stage (rights and commitment as a volunteer, instructions on health insurance, notions of the Youthpass, seminars, etc.). We have had monthly meetings that made me feel very accompanied throughout the whole process, and we have maintained a continuous and very close relationship which, as far as I can see, not many sending associations usually have. Thank you both!

My main task in volunteering has been to accompany elderly people to promote their social and digital inclusion, dynamizing workshops with virtual reality headsets, tablets or smartphones. I have also been able to develop all kinds of activities giving free rein to my creativity, through painting, music, theater, board games and international meals.

Throughout the year, I carried out several communication projects (a volunteer magazine, content for social media, a personal dossier on the life of a survivor of the Cambodian genocide whom I visited regularly…). In September, I went on holiday with a group of elderly people and other volunteers from the association to a castle in Burgundy, and I bonded so closely with most of them. I would also highlight the week of the seminar on arrival, a key moment to meet other European volunteers and share an unforgettable experience together.

It has been a very different year than anything I had done before in my life, and it is definitely an experience that I recommend to anyone willing to embark on the adventure. European volunteering is a unique opportunity to reinvent oneself and gradually discover what to do in the future. By doing our bit, we create a very important impact on the people who need it most, and what we receive in return is invaluable.