Hello, my name is Fleur, I am 25 years old and I come from Belgium. Here’s a little more about myself and my experience as a volunteer in Shipka.
I have always had a passion for nature. Whether it was watching birds, hiking, or camping, I felt most at peace and at home in a natural environment. That is why, after quitting my job and hearing about the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), I started looking for volunteering projects on sustainability and the environment. I quickly stumbled upon OPEN MIND and was very happy to receive the news that I could join the project from September until November 2022.
Upon my arrival in the peaceful mountain town that is Shipka, I was welcomed by the other ESC volunteers: Frida, Guillaume, Lillian-Beth and Anne, originating from Spain, France, United Kingdom and The Netherlands respectively.
They helped me settle in and I was happy to see that over the weeks, we grew into a little family. I thoroughly enjoyed the shared company, laughs, talks and last but not least: the fresh food that we cooked every day.
After all, we needed good food to do good work! The weekly schedule was composed of various activities, starting with gardening. The work in the garden consisted mainly of cutting branches for mulching, bringing wood from the orchard, sweeping leaves around the house, taking care of the cold composts in Shipka and collecting apples and pears.Apart from practice in the garden, we also had some theory lessons on permaculture every now and then. We learned about the basic principles of permaculture, soil regeneration and compost making. The garden practice and theory formed a solid introduction to a permaculture lifestyle that I hope to continue in the future.Bulgarian lessons were also included in the planning. We had two sessions per week with our Bulgarian teacher Plamena. Although time was far too short to become fluent in Bulgarian, some basics – starting with the Cyrillic alphabet – often came in handy in everyday life.
I was a student on Monday and Friday, and much to my surprise, a teacher on Wednesday. Together with Anne, I was teaching science to school children in Kazanlak. Even though I was not aware that teaching would be part of the programme before coming here it was an activity that I enjoyed very much. The experience made me think about the possibility of teaching later in life. During our science lessons, we made sure to accompany theory with experiments. We created rainbows, tornados, bent water with a charged balloon, studied objects under the microscope and measured the speed of sound. It was amazing to see the children’s faces light up in wonder!
Apart from working, we also got to enjoy some free time at the weekends. Most of these were spent exploring Bulgaria. We enjoyed good times in cities such as Sofia, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo, but also in the stunningly beautiful nature that Bulgaria has to offer. One of my favourite trips was hiking in the Rila Mountains along the Seven Lakes and spending two nights in a mountain hut.
Sadly, at the moment of writing, my time in Bulgaria is almost at a close. Next I will be going to The Netherlands, where I will be volunteering on a permaculture farm for a little under a year.The past two months have brought inspiration and personal reflection, and I am grateful to Tatyana for giving me this opportunity. Also gracias, merci, thank you, bedankt to Frida, Guillaume, Lillian-Beth, and Anne for making my time here wonderful. I have made memories with you all I will never forget.