My name is Paula and I got an oportunity to be a part of the European Solidarity Corps volunteering project. Im one of the older players from softball club Princ which was also an organizer of 3 long term projects through European Solidarity Corps. I have an oportunity to experience what our previous and current voluteers experienced.
I arrived to České Budějovice on 7th of January. Since then I met with my the members of DDM (that is the organizor of the project) where they introduced me with the activities that they have and everything that they work on. DDM is a childrens center where children, and sometimes adults can participate in large number of activities from language classes, school programs, camps and many others. They gave me a free choice of which activities I want to be a part of and would like to help out. One of my assigned “jobs“ would be taking care of their instagram account, and editing/making posters for their numerous events that they hold at their center. Also aside from the DDM a large part of my volunteering is connected to the softball club Ledenice. A lot of memers of that club are also members of DDM so they have a strong connection. My part there will be assisting in coaching their kids, and also playing for the club so I will be joining them on practices too. One of the things I like about Ledenice is that there is many parents who have a role in the club as an assistant coach. It gives the parents benefits in the club as one of them is cheaper prices of the membership for their kids. Apart from that players take sport seriously and quite often you can see durring the kids practice older players practicing on their own on the side of the gym or in some other part of the building.
Aside from the Ledenice and DDM the city has been wonderfull. People here are quite friendly and welcoming to foreigners. Not many speak english but they often try to communicate in some way and help you with whatever you need.
Overall the first week here has been a lot of fun and educational. Im happy that i got a chance to come to this project and i hope it will continue to surprise me.
