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How 50 Strangers Became a Family Through Music
Last April, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in an Erasmus+ project called “Make Music Not War 4” in Bremen, Germany. The project was organised by NaturKultur in Garlstedt, a peaceful and inspiring location surrounded by nature, the perfect setting for creativity, collaboration, and connection. This unique initiative brought together 50 young people from…
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Exploring Macedonia, discovering myself
Exactly one year ago, I gave all the documents to the Macedonian embassy in Poland and was waiting to receive temporary residence to go to Macedonia. I felt contradictory emotions about moving abroad for one year and volunteering at Volunteers Centre Skopje (VCS). On one hand, I felt excited to change my life, meet new…
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The first home I chose
If you told me five years ago that I’ll live in the Balkans for a year, I would probably assume you’re joking. Not only Balkans, but Macedonia out of all places – a country I never really heard much about, maybe apart from the characteristic red flag with yellow sun and location on the map…
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Surviving the Dark Winter
Three years ago, I arrived in Bremen for the first time. The sun was shining, a beautiful flower market filled the streets, and I instantly fell in love with the city. During my Erasmus+ exchange, we had time to explore. On our last day, while clearly lost and trying to find something, a kind lady…
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Mental health journey to mystical Ohrid lake
Volunteers Centre Skopje hosted Erasmus+ training course “Mental Health Matters” from the 4th to the 12th of April 2025, co-organized with Stowarzyszenie Europa Iuvenis. There is a stereotype that Balkan people are more relaxed, live slower, and enjoy life more. Our daily life is usually a rush, we don’t have time to pause, find out…
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Four walls with tomorrow inside
Let me take you on a journey across the Mediterranean sea, on the coast side of the Iberian Peninsula, arriving at a colorful school in the beautiful barrio of Cabanyal, in the city of Valencia. It is not just any school, it is a Learning Community. At this school, students and parents are closely intertwined…
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Between cultures, between words, between people…
“When you step away from the familiar, you often return closer to yourself.” Sometimes, a journey gives you more than just a new destination. It gives you space – to ask the questions you’ve been carrying for months, to hear voices different from your own, yet somehow so familiar. And that’s exactly what the Erasmus+…
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Four months of volunteering, a lifetime of memories
The first four months of our six-month European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program in Aruba have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Marija and I, from Macedonia, Despina from Greece, and Pascal from Germany were welcomed with open arms by our hosting organization – CEDE Aruba. The four of us, along with other local and international volunteers, got…
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Two months of learning, reflecting and being
I was catching up online with a friend who lives in the Netherlands one day and I had expressed to her how exhausted I was of my day to day life back in Skopje. After comforting me with some affirming words, she mentioned Olde Vechte Foundation, this place she had recently been to for training…
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Macedonian panda in Latvia
Hello everyone. My name is Jovan Terzioski – Joki and I am an ESC volunteer in Riga, Latvia in the Youth Studio BaMbuss. My volunteering experience started six years ago when I did my first EVS short term volunteering project in… well the same studio I am at the moment, Youth Studio BaMbuss. This time…
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Bonjour to new adventures
Being a volunteer has been a goal of mine for a very long time. I’ve heard some stories that make the idea intriguing. So I thought, what kind of experiences will I bring home? Like many of my travel stories, this one also started very spontaneously. I had a one-month gap when I didn’t plan…
VOICES 