Hallo Kroatia!

We are a group of 15 girls from Belgium. We are here for volunteering, but what we need to do, doesn`t feel like work. Because the children are helping us and in the afternoon we played with the kids in the community center.
     
        So for us it is just fun and amusing. Because we get a lot of love from everybody here. So I think everybody of our group wants to come back.
Loes Bockx

 

I am Axelle Meyermans, a girl from sixteen years old from Belgium. I have done voluntary work in Gvozd with the organization Kazou Antwerpen. We have been here for seven days, of which we have worked four days. We worked in the garden and on the house where we staying. This work was heavy, but many children from the village came to help us and made the work more bearable. In four days we removed the weed from the garden and made a fence around the estate. In the afternoon we went to the community center where we played with the children from the village. We prepared all sort of games which we played with the very enthusiastic children. In one week we really bonded with the children and we received a lot of love and affection from them. This was very nice!!

       Staying in Gvozd and working with and for the children has really opened my eyes. Although Croatia is a country from the EU, there are still many problems. Our team tried to raise the children of the village to become good adults and like this we already solved a very little part of the problems in Gvozd. But this village still needs more help! I really would encourage you to participate in the voluntary work, because it really makes you feel satisfied and it gives you the feeling that you have done something great. Also the love and affection you get from the childrenin the village is very rewarding!!

 

Hi, (Dobar dan)

I am here with 14 other girls to volunteer. We are here from seven days. In the morning we work around the house. We work in the garden, make a fence, remove weeds and other things like that. The kids from the village help with the work, so we see results really fast. Two women cook for us at noon, so we get to try local dishes. In the afternnon we play with the kids at the centre. The kids are really enthousiastic, so it is really fun to play with them.

I think that Suncokret is a great organisation and I hope they will get more support in the future. If it is possible, I definetely want to come back in the future to see how the village has changed.

 Séraphine, Belgium 17 years

Dobar dan, we are Sarah Soetens and Ellen Grietens from Belgium. We are here for volunteering. We work here from 10 until 2 o΄clock. We do things in the garden and we paint things. We love to do this job, because the kids are helping. In the afternoon we play games with the kids in the community centre. We like to do this because the children give us a lot of love.

 

We are Janne Bea and Astrid Van Regemortel. We are both 16 years old. We have done voluntary work in Gvozd for 7 days. We lived there in a cosy house with an own garden with vegetables and herbs. The house owns also appletrees and plumtrees. Our voluntary work consisted of putting the house and the garden  in a better  share so there could be more voluntary workers who could help the village. Every day the children of Gvozd came to help us with gardening etc. It is really nice because you have learned to know the local people. The meaning of the project is to learn the children a better lifestyle to give Gvozd new life.

We have had a really great time and we certainly would like to come back.

 

We are Stien Verheyen and Yolien Sterkens from Belgium and we came here with Kazou Antwerpen. We decided to choose this vacation because we wanted to do something useful for other people insteas of only thinking about ourselves.

We will never regret this decision because it made us realise that we have nothing to complain about. We are very pleased to see that the people really appreciate our help although it is not that much. The people here are very careful and friendly. The children are really cute, sweet and helpful. We hope that they are enjoying our presence and attention.

We certainly want to come back and recommend it to everybody!

 

Hi,

I am Joke Bornauw from Belgium and I am 17 years old. In August 2010 I went to Gvozd in Croatia for 7 days. 4 of those days we worked. We did thing like pull weeds, paint things, make a fence, pick up apples…

It was hard to work for 4 housr when it is really hot and after works I was always exhausted. But the children always helped us and that made everything less hard, because when I saw the children so enthousiastic and motivated. I forgot I was tired and I became enthousiastic too. It was really nice to work like this.

In the afternoon we went to the community centre to play with the children. This made the day even nicer. During this momentsI really became attached to those children and it will be hard to go away. But I hope ather volunteers will come and work with the children so they will fully become the great persons they are. And hopefully one day I will come back here.

 

I am Veerle Bergmans from Belgium. I visited this project with Kazou Antwerpen. We are a group of 13 kids around the age 16. I was their leader together with Maaike. For me it will be my last camp with Kazou but it is of all my favorite.

I can΄t tell you in just a few lines what a perfect week we had. But I΄ll try.

I˙ll give you a activities of our week:

-          After a long trip we recieved a warm welcome of Maja and Predrag, with a tour in our house and garden. We loved uor house. But after a few days it felt more as a home then as a house. In the morning we worked at the voluntary house, painting, gardening… When it was to hot we just took an outside shower.

-          With all the muscles and help from children and volunteers, we were building together to make it a better place. On lunchtime we had the chance to taste some local food. I can only say that it was too much. I think a got a few pounds.

-          In the afternoon we go to the community center where we play with kids of different ages. We have a big outside area with also facilitys inside. The kids are so enthousiastic that they make you smile during the whole day.

-          You would think that the language is a problem, but it is not. You don΄t need words to play together and have a good time.

-          In the evening we make dinner in our kitchen and enjoy . So lots of happiness happened to us.

But I only want to say tthanks to the childern, to all volunteers before and after me, but above all big thanks to Maja and Predrag for the work they do. I take my head off.

If you are thinking about voluntary work, i will say like Nike commercial: JUST DO IT! You will become a richer person.