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European solidarity corps in Park Istra (part two)

Hi everybody! We are 5 Belgian guys who volunteered in Park Istra for two weeks through European Solidarity Corps program. Through this small text, we’re trying to explain our beautiful volunteer experience. Park Istra is a volunteer project created by two amazing people, Petra and Janez. We were part of it for 2 weeks as youth volunteers, thanks to the SVI, that organized everything, and the European Commission, that financed it. We were known as “The Belgian Team”. During this […]

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European solidarity corps in Park Istra (part one)

For a very long time, the proverb “travel broadens the mind” guided a great number of volunteers throughout the world. But at the end of the day what does that mean, to what extent did experience in Park Istra, located in socially degraded border area of Slovenia, taught us something?   The first lesson we had to take in Park Istra was life in a community of very different people, from three years old Maja to other people like Damijan, […]

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Life in Park Istra

Do you want to know what life of a volunteer in Park Istra looks like? Mathou, our volunteer from France, collected the moments of her volunteering experience in a fascinating video. Check it here!

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June thoughts

It is the end of June, while writing this I feel a welcomed cool breeze coming through the window together with the warmth of the sun on my back. I am hearing the chirping of the swallows coming through my headphones whilst listening to an ‘inspiration and creativity’ playlist. Hopefully this playlist does its job because I have no idea on how and where to start. The last three weeks have flown by, a lot happened but at the same […]

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New spring in Park Istra

Park Istra is preparing for a new season of volunteer campaigns. This year we will open the season in Gabrovica, where the locals welcomed us warmly last year. This year we will continue to support those who need our help, support sustainable projects of local people, local communities and non-governmental organizations, which will contribute to a higher quality of living in our region. One of the main goals of this year’s season is to establish a volunteer center at a […]

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European Voluntary Service: a year of learning in Park Istra

Learning how to swim in the big bath. Photo: Žiga Šušteršič I’m leaving EVS in three days: I have to pack my luggage. But where will I store all what I have learned this year? For last eleven years, my life was changing so much every year that I have been aware of my inner transformations and I know how much I have changed from year to year. However, this year was so different of all what I experienced before […]

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What have I learnt with my EVS projects

During EVS, besides of the every day jobs, we have to develop a ‘personal’ project on the long-term. ‘Personal’, here, means that this is your own project and not the project of the association who host you, even if they are here for helping you when it is needed. It doesn’t mean that you do it for yourself: the goal is to contribute to the society which welcomes you. I developed two long-term projects. One was about farming and food […]

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My experience in Sonček

This morning was my last morning in Sonček. I was not expecting to be so sensitive at the moment I would have to tell them goodbye. Friday after Friday, relationships were building gradually and subtly. I was coming every Friday from November to March at this workshop in Koper, where people with motor and mental disabilities can meet and work, create some handcraft and earn a little income thanks to it. Workshops are part of Sonček organization, which helps people […]

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My year in Park Istra

One year ago I’ve made a crazy decision to move to another country. Since I am Portuguese, the country I choose to spend a year in, was of course Slovenia. When applying, I already knew a little bit of the country and I had a feeling I would feel at home somehow and the truth is that with time, I actually did. Park Istra welcomed me as a long-term volunteer and just as me, we all grew up together with […]

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Park Istra is the winner of National Energy Globe Award Slovenia 2017!

Park Istra won one of the most prestigious environmental awards, National Energy Globe Award Slovenia 2017. Congratulations to all the volunteers and our supporters. Without you this project wouldn’t be happening!      The jury that chooses best national environmental projects decided to give the award to the volunteers of Park Istra. Here is their explanation. Bravo volunteers! Park Istra was established in 2013. The goal of the project is to help local communities in deprivileged border areas of Istria. […]

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