Ivan from Belgrade

There are points in time that, later on in life, one remembers as being turning points, big ripples in the stream of their development. Maybe they learned a valuable lesson, started seeing the world from a different perspective or simply met someone that changed them for better… but I’m getting ahead of myself.

In the summer of 2016 I attended the training called “Vol 0.1”. Since I’m quite new to volunteering and youth work, I needed proper social skills and ways to manage people and make sure they're happy doing what they do. But what I got at that training was much more than just skills and competences. In those 10 days I got a lifetime of experience that made me a more complete person. I met people I never knew existed, young people with so much energy and initiative make a change. Some I will probably never see again, spread out across Europe. Some have become an integral part of me and have redirected where I go in life.

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned from the experience was how to influence the world to be a better place. You cannot alter it – you can only invite it to change. But offering a helping hand, standing there and watching people make mistakes and learn from them, that is the hardest part. I'm just grateful I had these guys to be that helping hand.