Introducing our ESC volunteers 2021

Sarah:

What are your first impressions of Ireland?

Firstly, the weather is not as bad as people say!

Dublin is not a big city but there are so many things to see that it feels huge: museums, parks, theatre, and those little streets full of hidden buildings and art.

I’m still looking forward to going to the countryside of Ireland and to discover the ‘green side’ and sheep that every postcard depicts.

So far, I’ve been to Howth by the sea where the landscape looks like Brittany where I’m from! The seagulls gave me a feeling of familiarity until they decided to steel some of my local fish and chips…

The « beep » sound of Dublin’s crosswalks gives rhythm to our journey to work. To see the people gathering around street musicians is such a relief after all this time stuck in our houses.

Why did you choose to take this year for ESC ?

I always wanted to go abroad. A friend of mine went to Germany on an an ESC project so I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to leave France after the quarantine and also take a year and think about « what’s next ? ».

Being a volunteer with children is also a way to ask myself if I could choose this as a career path. It’s a need to breathe and to take a step back.

What has your experience in Solas Project been like so far?

I’m helping the Junior After School. At first I was kind of nervous that the children would not appreciate me or just ignore me, but it’s about taking the initiative to show that you want to spend time with them and embrace their energy (which they have in abundance).

The kids are so sweet and have so much to share, being here for them is a pleasure.

Ruth:

This summer I graduated from secondary school in Germany. I decided to do an ESC year because I always wanted to live abroad. I also wanted to do something practical before starting an apprenticeship or a degree. 

I can imagine working with children later in my professional life. That’s why I was so excited when I was offered the opportunity at Solas Project. 

My first weeks were really great. The team is so nice and friendly. Their support made it easier to settle in the new work environment.

The kids in Senior After Schools are great and it is so much fun to work and to play with them.

Dublin is a very quaint city. It’s charm is due to the many pretty corners, the street art, it’s green spaces and of course the many pubs, which make the city very lively.

I am already looking forward to the coming year volunteering in Solas Project with the children and getting to know Ireland better.

Jana: 

My expectations have been exceeded and falling in love with Dublin‘s atmosphere was easy, especially due to it’s small size. Still, there’s so much to discover. Whenever I feel like I am starting to get to know the area, I encounter new corners with unusual shops and galleries. I really am looking forward to travel other parts of the country in the coming year.

Since I finished German high school in 2021, I wanted to take a gap year but be as productive as possible.

Volunteering with Solas Project seemed like a perfect way to challenge and prepare myself for my future, especially because I want to become a teacher.

Working with children is challenging. But that doesn’t take away plenty of beautiful moments.

I really enjoy spending time with the Bridge. But also outside the After Schools Club, the welcoming atmosphere of Solas Project makes me really enjoy my entire work day.

Even peeling 6kg of potatoes is bearable with such nice team mates!

After Schools Summer 2021 - Remember That?

Invigorating, fun, rewarding, enjoyable were some of the words used by volunteers to describe their experience this year at The Club’s Summer Project.

While Summer feels like a long time ago we always like to look back and mark the great times we had.

The trips over the 6 weeks in July and August 2021 ranged from education to pure adventure! We had perfect beach weather for our trip to Howth and Sports day the first week. Topped off with ice creams for all!

Curiosity was sparked at Dublin zoo as the children discovered some animals for the first time. EPIC museum gave the children an insight into Irish history. We also had more of this at Croke park stadium, and Dublinia.

Kildare maze was a challenge as well as rock climbing. The children showed resilience in persevering even when it got tough. All the hard work of hiking up mountains was usually met with awe at the tiny city below us.

Finally, we got to lounge back and take a breather at the cinema to see Space Jam in week 4!

Newbridge farm was a learning experience where children got to see the source of food products and enjoy the animals. 

We had a bit of rain at Clara Lara on week 3 which just meant we could fully immerse ourselves in the water on the slides and in the kayaks.

Days often ended up with heads flopping and snoozing on the bus on the way home.

Fort Lucan, a new experience this year was the all round favourite and finale in the final week.

“I had so much fun in Fort Lucan, I’m so happy that we got to go. Hopefully we can go next year.”

Finally, a massive thank you to our incredible team of volunteers. Many who joined the team just for the summer. We couldn’t have done it without you!

I really enjoyed chatting to the children every day and getting to know their different personalities as they warmed to the volunteers

Pass it on… parting advice and reflections from ESC volunteer Ines, Italy.

Volunteering with Solas project has allowed me to discover the power of community, to uncover my skills and apply them to make a difference, to convert challenges into precious sources of learning. Once back in Italy, I plan to become more involved in my community, volunteering as an Italian language teacher for refugees and offering my help and experience for after schools.

These were some parting comments from Ines, one of our European Solidarity Corps volunteers who finished up last month (August 2021).

We asked Ines a few questions and we’d love to share her experience with you.

What did you enjoy most about Solas Project?

I think its one of the experiences in my life where I have learnt the most.

Peer learning was invaluable to me. To spend so much time with the young people in a horizontal learning setting. Before I came to Ireland I worked as a teacher and I found that there were more limitations in my relationships with young people due to differing boundaries.

It was so rewarding to finally establish some bonds with the pre-teens in The Bridge group after several months. Even the most self-protective young people opened up eventually.

I know that everything is possible now. Even the hardest case is not worth giving up on.

I’ve enjoyed Ireland in general particularly the landscape. I’ve enjoyed great friendships in work and in the YWCA residence. Dublin has a lot to offer culturally. I love the outdoors and nature. I’m not a partier or a big drinker so it didn’t bother me that pubs were closed due to the pandemic.

What did you learn about yourself from your time here?

To give more time. Don’t give up so easily.

Change can take a long time. You can’t force results to be seen immediately.

Don’t be afraid to speak your mind. Communicate honestly with teammates.

I learnt about respecting yourself and meeting people halfway.

I learnt not to take things personally and how to build healthy boundaries with young people. I also learnt how to set healthy boundaries for my own well-being.

I have learned never to judge a book by its cover, to try to bring as much joy and light as possible.

With Solas Project there is a constant hope and resilience, always seeing the positive even if the negative seems overpowering. It’s always about focusing on the good to start afresh.

The energy of Solas Project is so positive and hopeful.

What advice would you pass on to our new ESC volunteers?

I would recommend to always feel free to talk with their supervisor, to share ideas of restorative practice for episodes of challenging behaviour, to be extremely patient and hopeful: the results will show, even if later on during the year.

I wish them the best of luck.

Make the most of every minute of this life-changing experience, because it will fly by without you even noticing it!

Getting back into the swing of things 2021

Traditionally at Solas Project the team get together every August before stepping out of Summer into a new school year. This is a chance to revisit our vision and values together, to remind ourselves and each other the purpose of our work, and why we do what we do. Thanks to the St. Catherine’s Church for giving us use of their space allowing us to all be together face to face safely with social distance!

This year we took some time to reflect on a crazy year and half of Covid19 and the implications the pandemic had on our work with young people. We were able to pull some useful learning from the changes that we made in order to keep everyone safe, such as increased working from home where possible and spreading staff out over our different locations.

August 2021 team week was also an unusual one and shortened as we were grieving the sudden death of a young person very dear to us. At this extremely hard time, the team were also kept busy facilitating a space in for young people to gather and share stories about this young man the whole community knew and loved.

The week culminated with a team day out kayaking at Avon Ri in Blessington served as therapeutic for some of us. Surrounded by mountains and the lake, we paired up to do a little tour of the lake on our kayaks including a refreshing dip in the lake, very much welcomed by us all on a sunny balmy day. We would highly recommend Avon Ri with its stunning scenery, excellent staff and great food options. It was a lovely way to unwind and spend some time outside of our normal inner city setting.

This face to face time as a team and particularly our trip out was a unique opportunity to get to know each other outside of the work context particularly after a year and half where social activities were not an option. It was also the first time some of our newer staff had met the team in person.

As is always the case, this was a small pause between summer programmes ending and yearly programmes firing on ahead. A few days later we welcomed our new European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers for 2021-2022…more to come on that…we’ll introduce them soon!

We are currently recruiting some new members of the team for a new programme and look forward to welcoming them to the Solas Project family.  For the upcoming year we’re hoping we can have more time together as team like this, through the hard times and celebrations alike.

Let's get our creative juices flowing

Our young people have been getting creative coming into Summer.

Art is a form of therapy. With our tweens and teens we love to get creative and encourage the young people to process their thoughts and feelings, subconscious or other through this medium.

Step Up has been running activities over the summer including some smaller group art sessions. We wanted to show case some of the young people’s wonderful artistic works on here.

The Coombe makes for a great bright location to facilitate these activities and we plan to keep those creative juices flowing!