Volunteer Life Everyday
Two (not) different generations How the European Solidarity Corps has been experienced by different generations by Roberto Gentile
“Love is love. Love is a solution. Love is a plus” When you walk along the way to Anagnostara,
teer project at Balkan Hotspot, but faced at a an industrial zone in the suburbs of Thessalon- different stage in their life. iki, between export stores and kittens cradled by the neighborhood inhabitants, you cannot Anastasiia, 18 years old, born in Ukraine and fail to notice the rainbow of colors imprinted raised in Germany, who decided to take a gap on the wall of a building that, every year, hosts year abroad after finishing high school. volunteers from different parts of the world. Her volunteer project started on the 1st of Each of them is brought here for different and September 2021, three and half months ago. different reasons, and the experience itself is On the other side of the interview, Marco, 31 lived in a different way. years old, born in Italy, in a small town in the But what are the common factors that unite these province of Biella. He decided to leave his country after working as a teacher in middle school volunteers? What differences distinguish them? for years, and he has been a volunteer from 21 To investigate this aspect, I chose to interview September 2020 until May 2021. two young people who share the same volunThe first aspect I wanted to investigate is related to the motivations they had to experience the European Solidarity Corps.
Tell me about the day you decided to make
the application and leave your country?
M: I had not been satisfied with my life for a © Balkan Hotspot
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few years. I was a teacher, but I had changed my mind. Then there was the covid: During the first lockdown I spent three months at home,
