Unica Radio Raccontiamo la città che cambia
Martina is 26 years old, she’s from Nuoro, Sardinia and just finished her second university degree at the University of Cagliari. She loves to travel and has lived abroad many times in different locations. A few months ago, she came back from Athens where she volunteered with refugees.
Martina always wanted to do volunteer work and have a positive impact on the world. She had already done volunteer work in her hometown when she was younger. This time, she wanted to go abroad since she speaks different languages and believed she could bring her knowledge and skills to a good contribution. She won a scholarship and flew to Athens where she volunteered for an NGO called Action for Education, an NGO helping refugees in emergency situations.
During her time in Athens, she mainly worked with children and mothers since these were the groups the NGO focused on. Martina would perform very diverse tasks such as teaching languages, playing games to develop kids’ abilities, or distributing hygienic products to women. The workspace had the size of a middle-sized apartment, so they would divide it into different working spaces with different activities. One space was dedicated to games, using a specific method by putting games in a certain way that would interest children to make them want to play. Each toy would develop a different ability in the child.
“When you think back at it, you can see that you’ve done something that actually mattered”
While volunteering, Martina didn’t have much time to reflect on the impact she had on the refugees she was working with; she was simply focused on doing her job. It was only when she returned to Sardinia that Martina realized how she influenced others’ lives. She explains that, of course, the impact is tiny and she did not radically change their lives. Yet, it is an impact you can still very much perceive. For instance, some children who wouldn’t speak when she arrived would try to have an actual conversation with her by the end of her volunteering time. Martina’s experience as a volunteer shows how every act matters. Listen to the podcast to hear more about Martina’s experience as a volunteer!
