Andrii:
This is the week that our project is ending. It was an emotional week for all of us. Our main tasks were finishing up some things, graphic recording , document work and reflecting with our diaries.
I am very thankful for the opportunity to participate in this project. It helped me a lot with my future career skills, such as team work and communication. I learned a lot about permaculture, and how it impacts all the areas of our life. I am happy also for the opportunity that I had to share on this blog my experience and the new things I learned. I find this to be a very useful skill. In this project I learned how to be more flexible and get out of my comfort zone, which can be seen in the things that I wrote about on my blogs because most of them were subjects I was meeting for the first time in my life.
I met many wonderful people, that now I am happy to call my friends. Just like everything in life we had some challenges, that I have already forgotten but going back through my diary I was reminded once again that all that finishes well, was well all along.
Marija:
Hello dear ones,
This is the last week of me being a volunteer in this project and wow it was truly was an amazing experience. Never would have crossed my mind of the possibilities and abilities that a volunteering program can give you. With the hand on my heart, I can honestly say that I am leaving as a changed person. Happier, more hopeful and full field than I was before starting. I caught the “last train” for being a volunteer since I am already thirty years old, and I kind of wish that I started earlier, but I am also a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so…
The most valuable thing that I got from my participation is surely the people I met and the connections I made, now saying goodbye doesn’t feel sad but on the contrary I am happy because I can feel that there are more collaborations to come in the future. I am truly inspired by their devotion, the causes they are working for, their mindset, creativity and genius.
It was a week of contemplation of all the fun we had together, all the challenges we went through, and all the heart-to-heart moments. I am truly grateful and I recommend it for everyone who is interested to leave their doubts aside and jump into it. I had my doubts and fears as well but moving through them really paid off big time.
Likewise, I hope that you, dear readers, had fun reading my posts and were inspired in some way.
Love,
Marija
Dani:
By the end of the project, I came back to Bulgaria to finish the last ten days of my volunteering program. It was nice to see familiar faces and to meet new ones. I got to see the progress they all made with the project. There were a lot of study materials, such as cards and posters. My assignment was to prepare the materials that were already made by our fellow volunteers, to print them and to laminate them. One of the posters had information about the herb spiral that was made in the village Todorovo, and examples of it will be brought there in order to be shared with the locals. The other posters about micro-climate will also be brought to the village in order to inspire the locals and to help them solve some of the challenges, if there are any. And the posters about the seed exchange will be put in the seed library that the volunteers made in the village.
I am happy I had the opportunity to come back and contribute a little bit more to this project. I really believe in the cause and I can see the great results that were accomplished. By the end of the project, we had a meeting where we reflected on our stay here in Bulgaria. It was lovely to share my experience and to hear other volunteers experiences too.
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The positive impact of the project on the participants from the perspective of the organizer:
FROM MIHAELA– the project coordinator – “Vlad and Andii were a great support to us as often the topic of Permaculture design is unknown to Bulgarians and there are not that many articles and materials to show in the local language. It was very beneficial to have Ukrainian volunteers who were learning Bulgarian language during their project to explore Permaculture design with us and help us create and translate teaching materials for future courses and non-formal educational activities. For us as hosting organization was also quite useful to learn from them and their culture, that is why we encouraged them to write also in their native tongue and about local traditions from their country. We find this project of being enriching for both sides and opening new horizons for the boys in the fields of sustainability and future opportunities within the ESC Programmes frame.”
The positive impact of the project on the participants from their own perspective:
FROM VLADYSLAV – “Здрастуйте, цього року я взяв участь в організації “Green School Village”. Дуже радий, що мені випала ця можливість. Це був дуже корисний досвід, адже я здобув нові знання, навички та практичний досвід від старших кураторів.
Наш проект, який займається озелененням та пермакультурою, має значний вплив на природу, країну та на людей, адже він згуртовує. Мені дуже сподобалися основні ідеї пермакультури, вважаю їх дуже корисними та практичними. Адже пермакультура це не тільки про грамотне використання землі, економію природних ресурсів та простору, а й про дизайн ландшафту (завдяки природним заокругленим формам), здоровіший спосіб життя, тип мислення та філософію. Теза, яку я вважаю найважливішою, – “в природі не росте і не буває нічого марного”, “домашню рутину можна зробити безвідходною”. Тому що скло, пластмасу та інше синтетичні предмети побуту можна рециклювати, органічні залишки пустити на добрива землі, дощову воду використовувати повторно для поливу.
Пермакультура це дуже широкий рід діяльності і кожен може вибрати для себе конкретну галузь, в якій розвиватиметься та покращуватиме нашу біосистему.”
FROM ANDRIY – “Здравствуйте, впервые я был задействован в каком-то проекте, это мне дало знания в том, чтобы понять как это работает, где каждый независимо от какой нации и культуры, может быть задействован как одно целое, это даёт огромный потенциал в любом развитии, ведь у каждого из нас разные взгляды на те, или иные вещи, где рассматривается огромный и ведущий Спектор знаний в самопознании и основания, в любой начинающий сфере, которой для меня оказалась природа и её целостность, как в сохранении, так и в её пользовании. Она как знание, в ней нет границ. Этот опыт был прекрасен, спасибо большое организации «Green School Village». Желаю вам продвижения, и процветания, и с уверенностью смотреть в будущее, и сохраняя природу, давая ей только лучшее”.
FROM NIKOLINA – one of the Macedonian volunteers working with the Ukrainians: “Здраво на сите! Денеска се наоѓам во горко-слатка ситуација. Горка, затоа што дојде крајот на една моја голема авантура. И слатка, затоа што имав чест да се збогатам со огромното искуство што ,,Green school village” заедницата ми го овозможи.
Малку е да се каже дека добив скапоцено знаење и ги надокнадив моите практични размислувања. Уште разбрав колку е важна пермакултурата во секојдневието, како живото опкружување ни ја запишува иднината на здравјето, се вљубив во самиот процес на тимска работа. Најмногу се радувам што открив за исклучително битната структура на градината, како заедно преживеуваат и се надоградуваат растенијата, како дури и некои инсекти можат да бидат од помош. Ценам за тоа што ме спои со нови запознавства и ме зближи со најискусните и најпаметните постари генерации, за кои што некогаш успеваме да заборавиме колку се силни. Не можам да јадам лазања, а да не ја видам градината лазања со своите слоеви. Дури не можам да фрлам ѓубре во кофата за отпадоци, а да не помислам дека тоа е загуба за мојата убава градина. Со оглед на сето тоа, очевидно е колку овој проект влијаеше на мојата сегашност и иднина. Не би можела, а да не одвојам и одделна благодарност на ЕУ, за тоа што финансираше и се вложи за нас. Благодарам на сите оние кои што го направија ова доживување реално.”
FROM MARIJA – the other Macedonian volunteer working with the Ukrainians: “It was an amazing experience, way more than I expected. If I just count the chance to meet all the lovely people I met, it would have been more than enough, but I gained much more. Practical skills such as working with WordPress, excel, collage making, Bulgarian language, writing a blog. It enriched me as a person and it increased my self-confidence. I learned much more about permaculture, a lot of new methods that I can apply in my future gardening experience. My favorite thing was finding out the deeper meaning of permaculture, which is that its principles can be applied in different areas of our life. It is not just a gardening method but also a lifestyle that is sustainable and good for the future of our planet, meaning our future as well, socially, economically, culturally and spiritually. I am very grateful and excited to see what the future of these collaborations holds, because it does not feel like an end.”
FROM ALYONA (from the refugee center where Vlad and Andrii took their Introduction to Permaculture course with their coordinator and kept helping the community with their knowledge and experience): “Влад и Андрей дойдоха на гости в къща за бежанци от Украйна. Всички сме от Украйна и имаме една обща мъка. Момчетата са млади и енергични, споделиха знанията си и обясниха какво е “пермакултура”, беше любопитно и интересно за нашите жени, тъй като всеки имаше собствени градини, вили и парцели, където отглеждаше нещо. И е хубаво да се види, че младите хора са очаровани от природата, нейните механизми и приложението на природните ресурси на практика. Благодаря ви, момчета, за едно вълнуващо пътешествие в света на пермакултурата.”
