And so the adventure begins!

Tom, Adam and myself are just at stansted airport long stay carpark, waiting for the bus to take us to the terminal. It seems like we've been waiting for this trip for ages.

And we always seem to be waiting for something...waiting for something in the future, often at the detriment of enjoying and being in the present.

So this week, I'm gonna try and be in and enjoy the moment, rather than 'looking forward' to what awaits us back at work next week :)

Jon buckley

Poland 101

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” 

-- Douglas Adams

People ask me how I managed to end up going to Poland for this conference, and they expect my answer to involve some kind of whirlwind adventure. The truth -contrary to all that - is it just...happened, and it happened so quickly that I'm still sort of in disbelief that I'll be heading for the airport in less than 12 hours. 

God can be a bit weird like that sometimes, but then again, since when has he acted with any semblance of normality?  It's that sort of "out of the box" thinking that makes God the powerful force that God is. 

That's just my opinion anyway.

But I digress...this is supposed to be my "test post" so that when I click that carrot-coloured 'publish' button, it confirms that my colleagues and I will be able to ramble on here about all the bits and pieces that happens while we're out at this conference. 

I can say I'm a lot more excited than I am nervous and I think I owe this to the fact that I travel a lot. I'm also eager to do some good work for the community there and here back at home as well. 

All I can do is try to follow God's example, pray a bit and get inspired while I'm at it.

I'm Adam. Nice to meet you.

EVS

In our EVS we have had to make a poster for our project with 

YMCA Romania's with the help of Alina Pop and our other countries we have came up with this is 

our logo for the EVS project we are in and in  hope that others will see this and know that there are a lot of 

opportunities Volunteering not just in Romania but all over europe.

My First Month in Romania

“My time doing EVS so far has been great! I’ve really enjoyed working with Alina and Dede at YMCA Romania, as soon as I arrived I was made to feel welcome in Baia Mare and made aware of customs and laws here that are different in England (my home country) that may affect me. I was also made aware of how to use my Axa insurance if it is ever needed. Working with everybody to plan and successfully have camps for Romanian children has been fun, even though its work I’ve really enjoyed it. Before coming I was worried that everybody being from different countries and speaking different languages communication would be an issue but everybody communicates and gets along really well. I also like how whilst we are here the YMCA Romania have organized for us to be able to go and see important historical sites within Maramures (the county we are staying in whilst doing our EVS in Romania). We have also had help with communicating with the children that we are doing camps for as some cannot speak English, what amazes me is how lots of the children within Romania speak fluent English from such a young age.My only wish is that this EVS was longer, Ive now been in Romania for just over a month (over half way through my two months here) and I am not looking forward to going back home to England, I wish that I could stay here volunteering in Romania for longer as its such a beautiful, relaxing country. Hopefully if I apply for another EVS in the future I will be accepted and get to have another great opportunity to do something like this again. I will always remember my time in Romania as it is completely different to England and I have been able to see how others live in different parts of the world. Before coming to Romania I did not think I had any stereotypes about the country but since being here I have found that I thought a lot of things about the country that were untrue, for instance I thought that I would see much more poverty than what I have seen, although the poverty is there in some places there isn’t as much as I thought there would be. Hopefully one day I get another life changing experience like this again.” – Daniel Watkins – United Kingdom (YMCA England)

EVS Romaina, Baia Mare Danny appleton

The England YMCA on the road with 9 other countries Hitch Hiking for the first time :D

Change Agents Switzerland regional trip

First day I arrived at Zurich airport I felt nervous, even asking myself " Am I ready for this"?Am I going to get along with everyone. I met Adi first, straight away he made me feel relaxed the banter started.

A few more Change Agents started show up and we started introduce ourselves, it was such great atmosphere I hardly experience in my life laughing and stories sharing.

We decide go site seeing. Andrew (Change Agent) spotted a bike shop and thought it would be a good idea cycle around town. It was much fun.

When we arrived back we met the rest of the change agents and Romulo. We discussed what we would be doing which included hiking and  camping.

We hiked to a house where we were staying for the night and did devotions. In the morning we were put in pairs, we discussed about Change Agents and hiked about a hour to the camp where we were staying for next couple more days. 

 

Before we left, as I look at view, I had a chance reflect on my life and how far I have come. I never thought I be in this position now being a part a global movement meeting amazing young people. 

As we arrived at the camp we had set up the tents and unpacked our stuff, four people had to share a tent each.

Next day we were put into groups , the first topic for discussion was leadership skills. Are you born a leader or can you become a leader?

Afterwards we played international games from our country part of a bonding session and each day we did that.

We stayed in the same groups, talked about Change Agents roles, health, religion,,social movements, how to make YMCA more visible,  Erasmus+ and what would prevent us from doing our job.

This four days was great experience which gave me more confidence and to gain more friends outside the UK can't wait to see them again.

National Volunteer Award

National Volunteer Award

I met Deputy Mayor,  Phillip /Crowder

And the Mayor of havering councillor Brian Eagling 

"Volunteering has helped me with my confidence , knowledge and self esteem and has given me the opportunity to give something back to the organisation that took a chance on me".

To be continued......