Dear readers, here we are again with another story from a person very close to EMOTER, the oldest of our volunteers, not in terms of age, but in terms of months spent here in Nebbi working for the organisation.
Today I am here to tell you the story of Volkan, a European Solidarity Corps volunteer from Turkey who arrived at the end of February and who decided to prolong his stay from August until the end of the year.
He will leave Uganda on the very last day of the year, flying back home in the afternoon of the 31st; looking behind he will have his amazing Ugandan experience and ahead a new adventure for a new Volkan.
Volkan is 23, he is graduated in Nano-science and is now attending an online master while keeping volunteering in for EMOTER. Although his academic path, quite far from humanitarian aid, international relations or medical field, he got in touch with the ESC while doing his Erasmus in Poland. More for casualty than for awareness, he discovered the possibility of volunteering outside Europe, in underdeveloped countries in Africa, South America and Asia.
He so decided to apply for two different projects; one in Columbia and one here, in Nebbi. Both the call of applications were looking for someone interested in photography, Volkan’s strongest passion but it was just with EMOTER that the process ended with a success.
He came to Nebbi at the end of February and he still clearly remembers his last days at home with his family when he realised the crazy adventure he was getting towards.
He was scared of course; living in a new different country, within a new culture, for 6 months which is quite a long period, so far from home, sharing a house with other unknown volunteers, at that time when he was still quite shy and introvert, all of it appeared as a challenge.
But the day of the departure arrive, no matter if he was totally sure and ready for it, it was time to leave. Nevertheless, in the Istanbul airport where he had to stop to change flight, he found the right person to calm him down and to start this huge experience with; Matteo, another ESC volunteer from Italy as there as well, waiting for the second and last flight to reach Uganda. As Volkan, he applied for the 6 months EMOTER’s project but to work as a teacher in the SDA.
They met at the airport, in one of the outside terraces and they soon got really close, discovering common passion and similar characters. While waiting they exchanged their fears, doubts, expectations, finding reassurance in each other and feeling less lonely; the six months ahead didn’t seem such a big deal anymore.
As all others volunteers, they had their on-arrival training in Kampala at UPA, where they also met with other ESC volunteers; the first days there in the capital had been quite shocking since it is not an easy city for its chaos, noises and the huge amount of stimulus.
As soon as they arrived in Nebbi they felt able to break again, surrounded by nature and calmness. That was the moment when Volkan thought “Okey, now my adventure can start”.
The first month in Nebbi, March, was the month of medical outreaches, so quite an intense and busy month, but it was also one of Volkan’s favourite period here. He suddenly felt at home with the group of short and long term volunteers; they were all 13 living and cooking together in one house, sharing everything, going out at night, spending their free afternoon just laying in the patio outside the house under the shadow, waiting for the day to pass, chilling and relaxing. They organised movie and game nights, finding their balance and harmony as a big family.
As March had been the best month for Volkan, its ending had been the toughest; the majority of the volunteers who were here just for a short term, the time of medical outreaches, left and they remained four in the house. From being used to a large and chaotic group, he found himself a bit lonely and lost; the house felt weird without all the people, and he also started to think to leave early but thanks to the friendship with Matteo and the remaining ones, he found again the balance. And the happiness.
He started to enjoy more the local community, the surrounding and the life itself in Nebbi. He started feeling part of it and of the community, finding his own special and favourite places around, creating his routine, meeting new people and exploring the village.
The months passed by and he also started working as a social media content creator and as a designer, creating logos, banners, flyers…everything EMOTER needed which involved creativity. He sincerely enjoyed having all of these new tasks, because he had the chance to learn and improve his skills; he is now more confident and aware on his capacities and on his talents which he has acquired and developed through constant exercise and practice.
May marked again the arrival of new bunch of short-term volunteers dedicated to the new medical outreaches; a new different month began for Volkan and the rest of the long-term volunteers, with new different people with different personalities and habits from the previous ones. So it was time again for Volkan to find another balance and harmony, to discover new persons and to let others to get to know him. But I would personally say that thanks to his amazing personality, always very proactive and willing to go out and show other around, he made May another great month.
In the meanwhile, time flew and the end of August arrived. Just as he wasn’t ready to leave Turkey at he beginning, he wasn’t ready to go back home and to say goodbye to Nebbi at that time either.
He wasn’t ready at all to leave and when he shared his feelings to Steve and Lenka, he surprisingly received a propose back: why could not he prolong his stay until the end of the year?
He hadn’t thought at this eventuality before, but after that chat the idea was constantly in his mind, popping out in every moment as the first thing in the morning and the last at night.
He knew he had to go back to Turkey in order to take the master entrance exam and also to attend his brother’s wedding, but as soon as he discovered that everything could have been perfectly fit in two weeks, he made his decision. Maybe the easiest decision of all his life and he chose to prolong his stay.
So here we are, Volkan came back in the middle of September, joining us, the new group of long term volunteers, and he is going to stay here in Nebbi until the very last day of the year. I perceive him as a true local; he moves around Nebbi as he was born here, he speaks a few sentences in Alur and he knows basically everything related to the village and the surrounding. If you have any doubts or questions, if you need any information or tips where to find the best football shirt shop or the best pizza in town, he is the one to ask to.
But he is also one of the best person I have ever met; his delicacy and sensitivity perfectly match with his positive active energy. He is always up to do something, to go out or to just have a chat about basically everything. He is really deep and smart, but he is also very funny and easy going.
You can see ho much he loves Nebbi and his work here:
“I feel useful and I love helping people. Here with small actions, I can make someone happy, I can help my friend. And I like it. I like going around and being greeted. I like when people call me on the street to say hi. I really like feeling helpful. I feel I am a good person here”
This experience maybe is not going to change his career path or is not gong to help him for a future job, but it has positively changed his personality and his way of being.
He now wants to be more involved in volunteering and he is aware of being changed, as being less shy and introvert and more open to similar experiences. He would love to do again something similar and why not, maybe one day soon he will come back here in Nebbi to meet his friend and to see his home again.
“When I first arrived to this country, I was a bit worried, I didn’t know what I was going to do, how I could adapt to a new culture, new place…but after few months nothing wasn’t an unfamiliar place for me anymore. It was simply my home. I now consider some people as part of my family, Uganda has become my second home.
I am really looking forward to come back here, as soon as possible, whenever I get the chance.
Afoyo Uganda”
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