Agnes’ testimony No.2

One and a half months after my ESC started, sitting behind a desk, looking out of the window I realized that I´m not a tourist. It just sunk in whilst brushing my hair. Took me a few days to get used to the feeling. After being here 3 and a half months I realized im home. I know now how to manage without constantly looking at the map, which Asian store has my favorite udon noodles, where herbs are the freshest, who is the DJ who plays what makes me move and my go-to beach with turquoise blue water. Not to mention the parks, nature reserves, galleries and restaurants.

Working in the office was something I needed to get used to. Luckily Spin also has a projects that require working intensively for long hours, this style of working suits me better then sitting behind the desk for 5h a day for sure.

‘’From crisis to chance’’ was a training course on emergency pedagogy. This project brought together so many caring humane people. Focusing on the aspects of how to restore harmony in a human after something has interrupted their ability to do it themselves. Moving, singing, painting, playing – the basic rituals of feeling. “The high sky above me, the firmed earth below me, the good spirit within me.” That was the mantra with which we started and ended the day. A empowering practice to connect us to our surroundings, recover balance and remind ourselves of our ability to design our own future. With the words of Bernd Ruf trauma is a wound of the soul. If our bruises heal we become stronger, but if we don’t, they become contaminated and develop into illness.

During the training course I also had the opportunity to listen to the stories of refugees. All my respect to people with such strong will , determination and passion to live!

Agnes with Bernd Ruf,
the founding father of Emergency Pedagogy

Live it Lisbon was something I kept hearing about since the beginning of the project. Old volunteers looked back on it in hearts and flowers.
For those of you who don’t know what is this project : Live it Lisbon is a feel-good summer camp where you get to meet people from around the world, volunteer in the community, learn a bit of Portuguese, explore inside and around Lisbon, learn a few new recipes and have a nice time. The bonds built in these 11 days are strong and many participants from years ago still meet annually.
In addition to the running task that come with organizing such a camp I also went to the elderly day care center with the participants and ran a cooking workshop. In my eyes, these were the highlights of the camp. I love the atmosphere that results from combining the energy of youth and wisdom or the elderly. I feel really relaxed and focused among old people.

I also really enjoy cooking together. Cooking as a group for the group certainly creates a tight bond and a sense of family. Food is the language of love. An ideal tool for experimenting and a medium for giving love and effort.

These kind of activities are great to make people understand and appreciate the people around us. There are no others, there is only us!