O testemunho da Lara No. 2 (Crescer a Cores)

Six months have passed since the beginning of this experience and many things have happened. Regarding my project, which consists of working with a Portuguese association that owns a kindergarten and also on projects which support the community of the neighborhood where it is located. I started to integrate more with the group of colleagues, who had already proved available and collaborative. A beautiful understanding was born with them, in which I feel free to express my thoughts and my doubts and that makes me feel part of a group. I feel more confident about my skills that i am acquiring here in this project, and this gives a lot of satisfaction.

 The relationship has changed, not only with colleagues but also with children, with whom we have learned to know each other, creating a relationship of trust fundamental in the relationship between adult and child in an educational environment. We have fun together playing and discovering the world. We started doing different activities, we went to the theater to see a show for children and we participated in the neighborhood carnival. The latter was a truly beautiful experience; we had fun together in a park dancing listening to music with other children. Thanks to my coordinator, my project also includes my participation in support activities for families, in a neighborhood very close to our school, making this experience less monotonous, making me know new realities and increasing my skills. I expanded my social network, I made friendships with fantastic people and I started traveling to Portugal, which left me speechless with its wonders. Today I write from my room because we are being quarantined due to the unexpected spread of the Coronavirus that is affecting many countries around the world right now. We have been in this state for over a month and certainly I did not expect to experience this in a country that was not mine. Despite the distance, despite the concern, almost all of us, volunteers, here in Lisbon, have decided to stay and continue this experience here, with the support of our association that helps us. We continue to carry out some activities that we can do from home and that continue to motivate us and, thanks to the support of volunteers and friends, we try to better enjoy this experience that is happening to us and for which we were completely unprepared, in the hope that everything can return to normal as soon as possible.