In June 2020 all four of our volunteers participated in mid-term training where the evaluated their work, things they learned and think about plans for the future.
In connection with the pandemic, the training took place online.
elow you can find the thoughts of each volunteer about their training experience.
Arif
If I need to write the rest of me from mid term training, I think I should start with friendships. Of course, this training teached me a lot. I have learned a lot about Polish culture, solidarity, and the importance of volunteering. But most importantly, I met very good people and I am still in contact with them. It's great to see people who have never met each other and in a short time like a week, seeing each other from the camera and establishing close friendship bonds.
We also shared many things with each other. Since I have volunteers from different cultures, I learned a lot about their culture. We worked in Birikik. We did art works. I think my point of view before art was not exactly like this. I think differently now and I'm more interested in art. Because I learned great things about Polish artists.
Overall, it was a good education. Although not perfect like On Arrival :)
Tuğçe
Frankly, I haven't had much experience with midterm. because on arrival it was fantastic and I learned everything there. I saw that it was entertained offline, people who didn't know each other tried to understand each other. and I met some very nice people :) Of course I prefer to meet face to face, but we just need to evaluate my options. If there will be a face-to-face meeting, I am already saying that I'm going :)
Ana
There is a variety of events that no volunteer forgets once they leave their projects. These are events that stick with us and without doubt, two of them are the On-arrival and Mid-term.
Normally these meetings are always fun for volunteers as we get to travel to other cities in Poland, discover more of the Polish culture and most importantly we get to meet other volunteers all while doing activities relating to our projects and life in Poland.
This year however, with the unwelcomed arrival of the pandemic, the procedure of the meetings had to change and we had to adapt to this new strange format of online meetings, much to my dismay. As I am not the most tech savvy person , I was worried that by applying the online process to this gathering a lot would be lost in terms of socialization and personal guidance, which was something I deeply enjoyed on the On-arrival training. So safe to say I was not very excited to this second meeting.
However not having much expectations about something can sometimes lead to pleasant surprises. And in my case, Mid-term was actually interesting because of a completely different aspect: the topics of discussion.
When we go to our On-arrival training we are still very focused on everything that is new and wanting to meet other people who are going through this adventure also, so the subjects are mainly about integration and learning how to navigate through the projects we are involved in.
The Mid-term although not as personal was a good way of having smaller groups interact with each other and discuss more deeply about some subjects our trainers would provide for the day. These topics were perfect for those of us who are half-way through our project and thinking of what comes next.
I was able to put into perspective my volunteering journey, compare and discuss about the progress of our projects with other volunteers and enquire about what I can do after the project is over. So it was good time for me to reflect and understand my options for the future, they even provided us with some useful links about working or studying in Poland or even other interesting volunteering options.
In the end I was even able to meet new motivating people who also helped me put my thoughts in order and helping me be more at ease about my path and which decisions I have to take to achieve it.
Frankly, I haven't had much experience with midterm. because on arrival it was fantastic and I learned everything there. I saw that it was entertained offline, people who didn't know each other tried to understand each other. and I met some very nice people :) Of course I prefer to meet face to face, but we just need to evaluate my options. If there will be a face-to-face meeting, I am already saying that I'm going :)
Ana
There is a variety of events that no volunteer forgets once they leave their projects. These are events that stick with us and without doubt, two of them are the On-arrival and Mid-term.
Normally these meetings are always fun for volunteers as we get to travel to other cities in Poland, discover more of the Polish culture and most importantly we get to meet other volunteers all while doing activities relating to our projects and life in Poland.
This year however, with the unwelcomed arrival of the pandemic, the procedure of the meetings had to change and we had to adapt to this new strange format of online meetings, much to my dismay. As I am not the most tech savvy person , I was worried that by applying the online process to this gathering a lot would be lost in terms of socialization and personal guidance, which was something I deeply enjoyed on the On-arrival training. So safe to say I was not very excited to this second meeting.
However not having much expectations about something can sometimes lead to pleasant surprises. And in my case, Mid-term was actually interesting because of a completely different aspect: the topics of discussion.
When we go to our On-arrival training we are still very focused on everything that is new and wanting to meet other people who are going through this adventure also, so the subjects are mainly about integration and learning how to navigate through the projects we are involved in.
The Mid-term although not as personal was a good way of having smaller groups interact with each other and discuss more deeply about some subjects our trainers would provide for the day. These topics were perfect for those of us who are half-way through our project and thinking of what comes next.
I was able to put into perspective my volunteering journey, compare and discuss about the progress of our projects with other volunteers and enquire about what I can do after the project is over. So it was good time for me to reflect and understand my options for the future, they even provided us with some useful links about working or studying in Poland or even other interesting volunteering options.
In the end I was even able to meet new motivating people who also helped me put my thoughts in order and helping me be more at ease about my path and which decisions I have to take to achieve it.
Tamara
For me it has been a bit strange because in the complicated situation we are in it has had to be online. Because of this, I have not been able to have a true friendship with the other volunteers. But it hasn't stopped me from meeting some incredible people and also from meeting some old friends from my first training in Warsaw.
This experience has been very good for me since I was in a moment of low spirits and needed a lot of personal motivation. Thanks to these people and the coordinators of the midterm it was possible to change the situation I was in thanks to their exercises both physical and reflective, for me it has been like a small psychological help.
I have had time to reflect on everything, both good and not so good, and to know where I want to go and which paths I must follow in order to achieve it.
I have also been able to get to know other people's projects, what they do and they have also shared with everyone how they feel. . . On the other hand I have received support in facing the future (what to do, job options, new places. . .)
Now I have more desire and illusion after this midterm really.