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My impression

Hello ! My name is Ana Cristina. I’m Spanish and I just have finished my EVS in Liège.

Concerning the experience I lived during my 9 months of voluntary service, it was generally very good and positive, because it allowed me to live a lot of new things and to advance more as a person.

During my EVS, I worked in an association named “Santé Nord Sud” (Health in North and South). In that organization, there are so much activities of which the objective is the creation of a multicultural and tolerant society. In fact, some activities are the following ones:

  • Health Action;
  • Socio-professional insertion;
  • French (foreign language) and literacy lessons;
  • Initiation in computing;
  • Socio-cultural mediation.

About the project I realised at Santé Nord Sud, its name is: operation “let’s give them sight”. Concretely, that project consisted in organizing a collection of glasses to send in Africa, particularly in Democratic Republic of Congo. To carry it through a success, it was necessary to contact chemists and opticians. After having explains the project, if they agreed about it, we brought them a cardboard box, so that people set down glasses they didn’t use anymore.

At the beginning, and as every starting project, the task didn’t seem easy, because I had some difficulty with the language. But gradually, we succeeded in collecting a certain quantity of used glasses. It motivated me a lot, because thanks to that glasses, we can improve the life of people in need.

In addition to my work, this experience brought to my life lots of good and important things. Among them, the following ones:

  • Get more independence in all the aspects of life: For example, mobility, daily living skills and competences which will allow me to communicate better with other people.
  • Understand a country which is different of mine, its culture, its inhabitants: I must say that my stay helped me to think about the differences exist between both of the cultures. In fact, I think we should change lots of things in my country. For example, in general, people don’t have the same education and kindness in Belgium and in Spain. Moreover, I noticed that there are more things adapted for visually impaired people in Belgium than in Spain. In reality, now, I miss a lot all of it.
  • Thanks to my EVS, I learned to respect better other cultures and thoughts different of mine. In fact, I think I’m more empathic towards different situations than before.
  • The realisation of my project helped me to know better other association which are helping visually impaired people. I’m very happy about this, because I learned other new methods.

At last, and despite some moments which were not exactly restful, I can tell you that my experience allowed me to learn a lot, and also to know lots of sympathic people who are missing me now, and with whom I had extraordinary times.