Oggi vogliamo condividere con voi l’esperienza di Bianca, partecipante del progetto Solidarity First: development of an united society implementato qualche giorno fa a Castellammare di Stabia dalla nostra organizzazione grazie al finanziamento ottenuto dall’Agenzia Nazionale per i Giovani Italiana e con i fondi Erasmus plus.
My personal experience volunteering
I have shown interest in volunteering work ever since my high school years, where I got involved in projects such as Feed the Elderly and Let’s Do it Romania, a campaign about reducing waste and helping the environment. When I first moved to Bucharest, I wanted to join an organization that shares my values, a place where I could develop myself and meet new people. That is when I discovered AIESEC, a global platform for young people to develop their leadership potential through international internships and volunteer opportunities.
In AIESEC I spent most of my time in the Sales Department, initiating meetings with different companies that could hopefully lead to a meaningful collaboration. When I started as a member I was really introverted, making calls and scheduling meetings was a big challenge for me as there were many turndowns, but as time passed it got easier and I even got the opportunity to become a team leader for a small group of volunteers.
Although I dedicated almost two years of my life to AIESEC, I had never gotten the opportunity to travel with them. I had been told by many people around the world that an AIESEC experience cannot be complete without a volunteering project abroad, which is exactly why I decided to take matters into my own hands and start a 2 month Global Volunteer project in AIESEC in Antalya. My job there was to help a NGO analyze the current situation of the organization, implement solutions to boost their operations, so that they will be more impactful for the society and also work with children with autism to further understand this specific disability spectrum. My work through this volunteering experience also contributed to the Sustainable Development Goal 17, named Partnerships for the Goals, which encourages effective public and civil society partnerships.
After finishing my 9 week program in Turkey I quickly joined ESN, the Erasmus Student Network, where I got to meet a lot of people from different cultures and see what the Erasmus program is all about. This lead to my participation in the Solidarity Erasmus project that I am currently in, which is my first short program of this kind but it is definitely not my last. ☺
Bianca Păun
Active Youth for Europe 