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Strengthening the team spirit
For any kind of organizations in order to achieve great results, compassion and hard work are not enough. One of the many factors that influences the success is team spirit, and the leader of the SOS Children's Village in Kecskemet is more than aware of that, therefore together with the SOS psychologists he organized a great team-building for all of the colleagues and long-term volunteers (me and Atanas). Thursday early morning we all took a bus to Tata - a very cute little town in the northwestern part of Hungary. The weather was very nice in Tata, which allowed us to do different activities outside. One of them that I like the most was a treasure hunting. We were all divided into four groups and asked to hide a treasure box, drawing a map for another team to find the treasure. I really liked how we worked as a team and after finding a treasure, which was hidden by another group, we enjoyed the chocolate that was in the treasure box.
Later we took a very cute tourist train around the town, stopping at the main sightseeings. And after having lunch altogether we were playing different games in order to get to know each other better. Thus, for example, I came to know who my colleagues wanted to be when they were children; crazy things they have done in their lives, and more other interesting facts. It was really nice to be in such an informal atmosphere and talk about different things that are not work-related. After dinner we had time to play activity and mafia. I really enjoyed it despite the fact that I am not very fluent in Hungarian.
Next day after breakfast we had two hours of brainstorming about what can be done in order to improve the communication between different units of the organization, and about different issues that the colleagues would like to draw more attention to. When everything was discussed and sorted out we went hiking. For me it was the best part of this trip because I really love nature. We climbed up the hill from where you could see the whole town. There was also a symbol of Hungarian nation - a bird, name of which I have forgotten xD We also went to see a very beautiful cave that was inside of that big hill. In the end, we had a reflection about those two days and after that we all went back home. In my opinion the team-building was a success, and I am so thankful to my boss for letting me take part in it, because after these two days I got to know my colleagues better, which helped me feel much more comfortable with them, be it asking for help, or simply having lunch together <3
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I am not alone (vol.2)
Probably one of the most exciting things that has happened to me last month was the arrival of another EVS volunteer from Bulgaria. His name is Atanas, which, translating from Bulgarian, means immortal, and it can be justified by his immortal love for life, kindness and humanity, despite of his difficult past. But let me start from the beginning.
So after the Corporate Volunteer day in Koszeg, me and Bogi (my coordinator) went to Budapest to meet Atanas and Asen (Bulgarian guy, who volunteered to accompany Atanas to Hungary). It was, so to say, Advanced Planning Visit, where the leaders could personally meet Atanas, show him the SOS Children's Village in Kesckemet, discuss the project and make a final decision. Since the guys came late that night, we decided to stay a night in Budapest and go to Kecskemet early next morning. We had a little walk near the place we were staying, trying to get to know each other better. Atanas is not very fluent in English but with the help of Asen, we could easily communicate.
Next morning together with Bogi we went to Kecskemet. Aranka met us in the train station and invited us for lunch. During our lunch we discussed all sort of questions ranging from Atanas' responsibilities to his accommodation. After all the issues were covered, and after getting to know more about Atanas' life views, Aranka made a decision right away. She said that she would be very glad to have Atanas in the village. That made him so happy and one could notice that by the smile on his face.
After our lunch we showed Atanas his new accommodation and the whole SOS Children's Village. Later on, me, Asen, Atanas and Sara (one of the youngsters) went to the city center to have a small tour. We walked around the main sightseeings and we also made Atanas try turorudi, a sweet snack that Hungarians are proud of. Kecskemet is not a big city that's why our tour was not that long. When we arrived back to the village, kids were playing football so we all decided to join. One of the first questions children asked about Atanas was whether he can play football. Fortunately, he loves football. Moreover, he plays really well ;) We were playing until it started getting dark. Boys really enjoyed spending time together so they invited us to one of the houses. It was very nice of them because they wanted to show to Atanas how they live, but we couldn't stay there too long, because it was getting late for kids. We decided to cook something together with the youngsters from the Youth house, where Atanas lives now. It's great to realize that such an easy food to make like pasta and a salad can unite many people. We really had an amazing time together (and of course, music played its role as well;)
Next morning we went to Helvecia, a small village about 8 km away from Kecskemet, where some other children from the age of 12 to 18 live. We introduced Atanas to the kids and they showed us around. They have a big bird house, where children of the SOS Children's Village can have, so to say, a bird therapy. By communicating with the birds, children learn how to be patient and how to take care of other living creatures. Moreover, bird therapy is great for stress relieve;) But after we spent some time with the kids, letting them learn more about Atanas, it was a high time for Atanas and Asen travel back to Budapest in order to catch their flight to Bulgaria.
On our way to the train station, Atanas expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to have his volunteer service in SOS Children's Village. He said that he already could not wait to come back to Kecskemet and start his life over here. Well, neither was me because I was so happy to realize that I can spend the rest of my volunteer service with such a kind and down-to-earth guy. I am sure it is going to be a great year ;)
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Corporate Volunteer Day
I've already mentioned in my previous posts that SOS Children's Villages in Hungary have lots of friends and sponsors. But the most amazing thing is that apart from just donating money, clothes or food, these sponsors also get involved in the villages' lives by volunteering directly in the village.
The most recent example would be a Corporate Volunteer day with the Borgwarner company. Interestingly for me, but this volunteer day was not in Kecskemet but in Koszeg, a small town in western part of Hungary, where is another SOS Children's Village located. For me it was very nice to see another village and compare it to the one, where I am doing my service now (Kecskemet), and what I liked the most is that in Koszeg's Village they have a huge field with a beautiful view to the hills. But let's get back to the volunteer day.
So the Borgwarner company arrived to Koszeg around 5 pm. Together with the leaders of the village, we showed them around, telling a little bit of the organization's history. It was followed by a coffee break, where we talked more in details about SOS Children's Village's mission, goals and actions. After discussing the agenda for the following day, we all had free time, so me and my coordinator, Bogi, decided to take that opportunity and walk around the night city. Koszeg is a small but very cute town that allows its inhabitants have a peaceful life, which, I guess, is one of the important factors in placing SOS Children's Village :)
The next day was the actual volunteer day. After early breakfast, we started cleaning the territory. I really liked the spirit of the Borgwarner’s group. They were so energetic, enthusiastic, and, most importantly, very close-knit. So you can imagine that with this kind of team physical work doesn’t feel hard at all. Moreover, by the middle of our work, some kids also joined us, helping with cleaning the yard. It was so nice to see how excited kids were to help us even with the easiest things. One could also notice how proud they were when adults were praising them for their hard work ^-^
With such a lovely company time flew so fast that I didn't even notice that it was already lunch time. After a very delicious Hungarian meal we were invited to one of the SOS families. The members of the Borgwarner company were very glad for the opportunity to see children's lives from within. We talked to a very sweet SOS mother, who was telling us about her foster kids, showing us their certificates, awards and achievements. One could see in her eyes how proud she was of each of her kids ^-^
After spending such a great time with the kids and SOS family, we all decided to go for a walk in the city. Me and Bogi were answering questions about the SOS Children's Villages, giving even more information to our volunteers. Indeed, we had a very nice time, but, unfortunately, we had to leave early to Budapest, because we needed to meet our new international volunteer (it is too exciting news for me so that it deserves a separate post ;)
All in all, I was very thankful to Bogi for inviting me to this volunteer day. I was very glad to see another SOS Village and realize once again what an amazing experience I have, doing this volunteer service in the SOS Children's Village in Kecskemet. And for me that realization was one of the most important outcomes of these two days ^-^
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Oh, those five wonderful days ^^
Can't wait to tell you about those five amazing days that I have spent in Budapest. Actually, there were so many things happening, and it is quite hard for me to cover them all, so I’ll just focus on the most important ones. Well, the reason of my staying in the capital for so long was the EVS on-arrival training. There were about thirty other young people who do their voluntary service in different parts of Hungary, so the aim of the training was to gather us all, tell us more about the EVS, challenges that we might face and the ways to deal with them.
The very first activities that were planned for us were of course ice-breaking ones. It was very nice to see so many proactive young people coming from different countries like Spain, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Lithuania, Germany, Romania, France and even Turkey. The whole afternoon of our arrival day we were playing different games outside that allowed us to get to know each other. After dinner we had free time so we could enjoy Budapest together.
I really loved the second day because the weather was so nice and we spent most of the time outside working on team building. The facilitators divided us into two teams and we had to go through different challenges together in our small groups. After each task we had a short reflection talk where everyone could share what they felt. It was great to realize that with every new activity we were more and more united.
The next day we were talking about the resources we have that help us throughout our EVS. We also shared the challenges that we are facing so far and tried to find solutions for them. Moreover, we got to know about eight key EVS competencies and we had a chance to meet our mentors and coordinators. We had a really great time working, playing together, and receiving valuable pieces of advice from them.
On our fourth day we were taught different techniques on how to set our goals and work on them. I actually found those techniques very useful. Later on we had two representatives from the local agency who were answering all our questions regarding our host organizations, tasks, responsibilities and the EVS in general. However, the most exciting part was right after lunch when we were divided into small groups of five people and were asked to complete the "Mission Impossible". Each group received an envelop with a list of different tasks and a group pass for the local transportation. We were asked to complete all the tasks together (all five people) spending no money at all. The list contained tasks like "take a group picture with someone eating peach", "invite yourself for a beer", "teach a local person one sentence in a foreign language and learn one sentence in Hungarian", "make a human chain out of 20 people", "hug five Hungarians", and so on. But apart from these awesome tasks we also needed to cover different locations, so we were running around the whole city. To be very honest, I loved that activity so much! We had sooo much fun! ;) The most amazing thing was to realize how open and friendly Hungarians are. All of the people (except for one Hungarian man, who was in a big hurry) were wiling to help us. I should give credits to our facilitators for coming up with such an awesome activity that did not only unite us but also let us explore Hungarian culture in such an interesting way. ^-^ In the end, the meeting point for all of the groups was a cultural center where we had a great opportunity to learn Hungarian folk dances. It was so nice to see a big circle of people coming from different countries, holding hands, and mastering Hungarian folk dance.
But everything has an end, and our training was not an exception. On our last afternoon we spent our time reflecting on the previous days, making summary of what we have learnt, creating messages for ourselves in the future, and (the hardest part), saying goodbye to each other. But it is so interesting to realize how people can become so close within such a short period of time.
Indeed, it was an incredible training full of useful information, great ideas, and most importantly, inspiring people <3
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Happy Birthday!
It has been twenty-seven years since the SOS Children’s Village was established in Kecskemet. Twenty-seven years might seem not that long, but within these years, the Village in Kecskemet has changed for good lives of so many children. Thus, it was a good reason for a big celebration, gathering children, SOS mothers, colleagues and friends.
Personally, I was waiting for that Saturday because I wanted to share the joy and excitement with the kids. Our celebration was opened by a cheerful group of people who came to the village by horse carts. They were singing folk songs and performed a beautiful folk dance. The leader of the group had a short speech wishing prosperity to the village. We thanked our guests by treating them with palacsintas, cakes and different kind of sweets. (Don’t worry! Later on we could also enjoy the birthday cake ;) The territory of the village was full of different games, and kids spread around trying them all. Whether it was a coincidence or not, but there was an Oktoberfest in the nearby school. It had a big Saturday market where one could find anything from food to homemade goods. There was also a big stage with the live music, where kids received their presents for making scarecrows. It was nice to see children sharing their presents not only with each other but with adults as well who helped them making the scarecrows.
After that we were invited to the community house to see a musical performance. Ten people were playing together in different drums. It was a really nice performance and we all enjoyed it, especially the kids who had a chance to try it out.
After the dinner, when the sun went down, we had an amazing opportunity to watch the fire show. Children were amazed to see people fearlessly playing around with the fire in such a beautiful way. Indeed, the show was fascinating.
And of course dancing party! You can’t call it a birthday celebration without dancing! The weather actually allowed us to have the party outside. It was nice to see kids having fun and I was very glad to be a part of their celebration ^-^
Happy Birthday, dear SOS Children’s Village in Kecskemet! May you keep spreading love and happiness, and changing children’s lives for good! <3
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A ride with the wind
There are a lot of people that truly desire to ride a motorcycle. I guess it is the love of fast speed and adrenalin that make people want to have a ride on a motorbike. I am actually also one of those people, who always wanted to have a long and fast ride on a motorcycle, but I would have never imagined that this wish of mine would come true during my EVS.
Apparently, there is a motorcycling company in Budapest that sends a group of motorcyclists every year to our SOS Children’s Village in Kecskemet. This year we were so lucky, because it was such a warm day, and the sun was shining so bright that it seemed like summer. At 10 am we all gathered in front of the community house. It was so great to see all of the kids together, because, unfortunately, it only happens on special occasions. We were all seated in minivans, and, following the group of motorcyclists, we drove to a bigger territory, which was more convenient for riding bikes. You should have seen children’s excitement. They surrounded the bikers asking them different questions, touching their bikes and trying on their cool jackets and helmets.
Everyone had a chance to enjoy the ride five times. The elder you were, the faster the ride was. Smiles of joy didn’t leave children’s faces. I was also very happy because I could finally experience riding a bike. Actually, I was very lucky because instead of going back home by minivan, I could enjoy a fast ride with the wind blowing my hair, sitting on a back seat of the motorcycle ;)
After two hours of biking, we had a traditional gulyas soup for lunch. Children tried to seat closer to motorcyclists, asking them different questions about their iron friends. After the lunch we tasted palascintas (Hungarian panckakes), enjoying the live music, being played especially for us. The fun part continued when we, together with the kids, were making scarecrows. Children’s creativity didn’t know the limits. Some of the scarecrows actually looked like real people, since kids were decorating them with different accessories like jewelry, belts, or bags ;)
We finished the day dancing together and playing different games outside. Indeed, it was a great day, and even the weather was in our favor :)
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I am not alone!
September brought life to the city. Now you can see groups of kids walking back home from school with big bags on their backs; students coming back from their vacation, getting back to their daily routine; different theaters and museums opening the season and welcoming people. Youth cultural center also opened its doors, and for me that was the most long-awaited moment.
I was told that Kecskemet is quite an international city, but to be very honest, I didn’t believe that. I lived in different cities, and I know how the international ones look like. Here, in Kecskemet, whenever I was walking on the streets I felt like I am the only foreigner (even though that might not have been the truth). But my perception of this city totally changed with this Youth cultural center, because it has an English chat club, which is now led by one French girl, who is doing her EVS (European Voluntary Service) in Kecskemet. The English chat club is held every Wednesday from 6 to 8pm. The main goal of the club is to involve international students in the daily life of the city, make new friends, learn new cultures, and let Hungarians practice their English. When I came for the first welcoming event, I was very surprised to see so many people (around twenty five young people). The moment I saw that crowd, I felt such a relief and excitement. I was happy to realize that I am not alone in this city, that now I can talk to people and have long conversations (since in the village nobody really speaks English). There were people coming from Slovakia, Germany, France, Spain, the USA, New Zealand (I was very surprised to hear that), and of course Hungarians with a very good knowledge of English. All these people have different reasons of staying here in Kecskemet, some were on their Erasmus exchange, others were teaching French in local school, and there were also people from Kodaly Institute. To my big surprise, I came to know that Kodaly Institute, which is the best musical institute in Hungary, has over 60 students. But the main point is that all of these 60 are international students coming from eighteen different countries. I can’t describe how amazed I was to hear that. The guys from the chat club told me that they are trying to involve all students from Kodaly institute as well, but it might be hard for the latter ones to attend every meeting since their program is quite intensive.
Coming back to the chat club, the first meeting was just a welcoming one. We were introducing ourselves and played different games in order to get to know each other better. After the event was over we all went to the nearest bar to continue our conversations over a drink. It was quite late when we decided to go back home, but I didn’t notice the time, because I truly enjoyed the evening and I already couldn’t wait for another Wednesday ;)
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International Camp
International camp… I was waiting for that for so long. But the closer it was approaching me, the more nervous I felt. No wonder, because it was not only my first time being a camp leader, but being a leader in a different country, the language of which I don’t really speak. But I decided take it as a challenge to shape my communication and leadership skills, and now I would love to share my experience.
The name of the camp was Teaching and Renovation with Children. We had around fifty kids of different age from our village and also ten international volunteers coming from different parts of the world, including Mexico, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Japan, Serbia, and Spain. The main aim of the camp was to show through teamwork an example of the actual work; to teach children that no matter where you come from or how old you are, you can still work and do something good for the society. In the first days we were divided into smaller groups, where the tasks of each group varied. It included cleaning, gardening, painting, making the library (cleaning and sorting out the books), helping in the kitchen and etc. Since the August here in Hungary turned out to be very hot (+38°C), the working hours were only from 8 am till noon. I should give credits to my amazing mentor, Aranka, who organized the camp, coming up with such an interesting program. Almost everyday we had different activities after work. For example, after siesta time together with children we could go to the swimming pool, having fun at the waterslides, and enjoying the thermal baths, other days we organized an obstacle course here in the village. The weekend was the most interesting as we had a chance to learn more about Hungarian culture by going to Kurultaj in Bugac. We also had a chance to go to Balaton, and even though it was not hot that day, children still enjoyed swimming. However, since the program of the camp was very intensive and children required a lot of attention, it was very kind of Aranka to give volunteers a day off. Taking this opportunity to have our own time, together with all the volunteers we visited Szeged and went to a Aqua park there. We spent a really great time, which allowed us to have the energy for the upcoming days of the camp.
Another great part of the program that I really liked was the intercultural nights. Each volunteer had a chance to present his/her own country and culture. Since not everyone speaks English in the camp, volunteers had a challenge to make their presentation less verbal, but still interesting. Thus, the children were introduced to Japanese origami, Portuguese cookies, Irish and Kazakh dances, Serbian sweets, Spanish songs and Mexican pinatas. I think it was very important to introduce children to the world, by showing them cultures, where our volunteers were coming from. And if before kids didn't know about the existence of some countries, by the end of the camp not only they learnt about the traditions of those countries, but they could also say basic words in foreign languages.
Another important part of the camp's program was a workshop on children's rights (in Hungarian). While children were getting to know about their own rights, the volunteers had a session on the foster care system in Hungary, emphasizing the mission and tasks of SOS Children's Village. For me, personally, it was very useful to get to know more about the field I am working at.
To be honest, it is very hard to fully describe in a short post about the amazing two weeks that I had in the camp, because looking back, I can say that we have experienced sooo much. But I can certainly say that the goal of the camp was achieved. I truly believe that children learnt more not only about teamwork, but how to work outside as well. They also learnt how to be patient with international volunteers, while trying to explain something in Hungarian. And what I really liked about the work is that every single morning before everyone could get to their usual tasks Aranka announced how many hours every child has worked and which group earned the most hours. It was a sort of motivation for kids to work more, because on the weekend when we had outdoor trips, children received pocket money according to the amount of hours that they worked. The more hours they worked, the more money they received (for adults it might seem not a lot of money but for children it was enough to buy some food or some toys). I think it was a great way to motivate children to work more, learn how to spend money, and share with each other.
Probably the hardest time for all of us was the time to say goodbye. We had a great closing evening, where we concluded the results of our work, shared pictures, enjoyed Hungarian folk signing and had a small dancing party. Everyone left the event with a present, nobody was forgotten. For all of the kids, together with the volunteers we made friendship bracelets and drew big posters with pictures taken during the camp. Seeing children cry, it made all of us (volunteers) cry as well. It was a very emotional moment to say goodbye. But apart form the material presents, everyone had to take something that night, and mainly it was the shared memories of love, peace and joy that we had together. And it is amazing to realize that simple work like gardening or cleaning can teach so much, bringing the joy to people of different age and uniting people coming from different parts of the world.
All in all, words are powerless to describe how thankful I am for this amazing experience!
P.S. If you want to see our camp on a local news, click here. :)
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Sailing in Balaton
As you probably may know Hungary is a landlocked country, however there is Balaton lake, which locals call a Hungarian sea. And it should leave you with no surprise, since Balaton, indeed, looks like a sea, and the size of if it is so big, that you can’t even see its edges. During my stay in Hungary, I've traveled to Balaton several times, and I always truly enjoyed it! So I guess now you can imagine how glad I was when our village was invited to a sailboat racing event in Balaton.
Being located in the western part of Hungary, the lake is three hours away from Kecskemet (driving by bus), but believe me, this long drive was totally worth it. It was a very hot day, so I could feel how happy and excited children were to spend a whole day on the coast. When we arrived to the place we were welcomed with some snacks and cold drinks. Later on we were divided into groups, each one being led by a captain and his assistant. Apparently, this sailing company, the name of which, unfortunately, I couldn't really remember, organizes such events for SOS Children's Villages every year. This year the race was for about two hours with a short break in the middle of the lake, where we could jump of the ship and enjoy swimming. The captain was very nice, letting me and the kids try to steer the ship. It actually appeared to be not an easy task to control the ship, but we were very thankful to the captain to experience it ourselves. When the race was over, we were invited for lunch, but as the weather was very hot, children were very fast to finish their food and run to the beach to spend more time swimming.
Since it was a racing event, we couldn't skip the awards ceremony. The organizers were announcing the winners of the race, inviting the teams to the stage to take a group picture. In the end, no kid was left without a medal; be it gold or bronze, everybody received one, which made children super happy. The SOS Children's Village, in its turn, also brought some presents to the organizers.The presents contained hand-crafted gifts made by the children, and the members of the company found it very sweet and adorable^_^ However, the event had to have an end, and it was about 5 pm when we had to leave the place. The organizers were very thoughtful to give everyone a small bag of pastry for our long ride back home.
With a smile on our faces, medals on our necks, and a tan on our skin, we were happy to safely arrive back home, thanking the sailing company for spending such a wonderful day in the bosom of dear friends.
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Charity Sale :)
Charity sale is one of the many activities, monthly organized by our village that I truly enjoy. This July the sale was held in one of the famous places of Budapest – Szimpla kert. I think it was a great place to choose not only because Szimpla hosts Sunday markets that gather a lot of locals, but also because it is a very touristic place, which gives us a chance to spread a word about our organization even outside Hungary ;) The main reason I liked this charity sale lies beyond the actual charity. I liked it because it was an awesome opportunity to have so to say “kitchen time” with kids, who were helping us to cook cakes and cookies. And while little ones perceive this “kitchen time” as an enjoyable game, for youngsters it is a good example of the actual work. Through this they can experience advantages of the teamwork and also learn that even by cooking homemade dish, you can earn real money. The Sunday market started at 10 but we arrived to Budapest around 8 in the morning in order to get ready. In our menu one could find traditional Hungarian gulyas soup, Bulgarian vegetable salad and different kinds of homemade deserts, ranging from butter biscuits to fruitcakes. Since it was a charity sale we didn’t have any fixed price on food, however, there still was a suggested amount of donation (500 HUF for desserts, and 850 HUF for soup and salad). I really liked the fact that people were not only interested in our food, but they also asked some questions about our organization. It was my pleasure to inform them about the SOS Children’s Villages’ mission and tell them my first-hand experience living in Kecskemet. Can’t avoid mentioning how glad I was when people came back to take another portion of our food or just thank us for the delicious meals :) Concluding the results of our work, by the end of the charity sale, we had almost all of our plates empty, 130 000 HUF in a charity box and our hearts full of love and pride.
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What a great Family Day!
My EVS experience couldn’t start better than joining a family day organized by the Xellia pharmaceuticals company. SOS Children’s Village in Hungary has number of sponsors, friends, and just organizations that share our mission and try to help us in any way they can. So Xellia is one of such organizations that annually holds a family day for its members and always invites SOS Children's Village in Kecskemet. This time the event was in Domonyvolgy - a very beautiful green area not far from Budapest. We arrived there around 11 am and a small brunch was served to us. Kids were happy to arrive to Domony because the organizers provided so many activities to make sure that nobody gets bored. Some could enjoy riding horses, little kids, in their turn, could ride ponies and those who are more interested in vehicles could try quad bikes (kids actually really loved them). There was also a big shooting gallery with different prizes ranging from small trinkets to big plush toys. For little kids the organizers made a big playground area, where one could also find a so-called "tattoo corner" (after a while you could see not only kids but even adults with colored tattoos on their faces, I actually, also made one ;D Domony also has a small but very cute farm with different kind of animals and it was quite nice to walk around the area and see special Hungarian animals.
Before the lunch we also had an opportunity to see a great show at the hippodrome. The show was complimented with a history of Hungarian horse riders. Looking at the kids' faces I could tell that they really enjoyed it! Around 1 pm we were invited for lunch to try a big range of Hungarian dishes.Surrounded with kids, lunch turned out to be a good Hungarian lesson for me. (as I don't speak Hungarian at all), children were showing me different objects and asked me to repeat after them. I have to admit that Hungarian is quite hard for me to master because even pronunciation makes me struggle. :D However, after learning couple basic phrases in Hungarian and being full with delicious lunch, we all left to watch a Brazilian show with Brazilian dances and capoeira.
It was around 4 pm we decided to head back to Kecskemet. Finishing their ice-cream, and filling out their pockets with all sorts of gifts from the shooting gallery, children were very happy and excited. I was happy as well! Happy to be the one who can share the joy with them ^-^ Indeed, it was a great Family Day!
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Well, Hi there ;)
#justashortintropost
First of all and foremost, I have never done blogging, so this will be my first experience, which I would like to use to share my life in Hungary and my one year long European Voluntary Service (EVS) experience.
But before anything, just a very short introduction ;)
My name is Zhuldyz and I come from a very beautiful country of the Great Steppe - Kazakhstan.
I always wanted to make a contribution to the development of our peaceful world that’s why I decided to obtain my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in International Relations. However, at some point I realized that I want to have some more practical experience that’s why I applied for the EVS in SOS Children’s Village in Hungary.
For those who don’t know SOS Children’s Village is an international non-governmental and non-profit organization that works with children who are deprived from parental care or who are at risk of losing it. For more info you can check our official website here. SOS Children’s Village International consists of 118 national associations and Hungary is on that list. There are three SOS Children’s Villages in Hungary: in Kecskemet, Oroshaza, and in Koszeg. For the next year I will be staying in Kecskemet and will do my best teaching kids English, helping them easily integrate into the society, inspire them by helping to reveal their potential, and just by spreading love and happiness. ^-^
So let my wonderful journey begin!
Will keep you posted! ;)
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