Raluca Birle began her volunteering service at Olde Vechte, Nederland, in late September 2019.

“After I surrendered to the uncertainty and freedom of that essence, I was free from the depth of my soul and I was available to connect”

After her  induction period, she was taking care of the website of the association, create newsletters and she was working in the kitchen and other administrative and support tasks.Together with a Greek colleague, set up a system with local providers from where they get the ingredients  for the breakfast and lunch meals. In October 2019 she attended the personal development training Event wise which was challenging and brought so many insights for her.

When the pandemic started , after discussions with the Host and Sending organizations, she decided to continue to stay at Olde Vechte, considering that she is safe and following the state rules and the regulations and measures set up by the host organization.

Check out her latest story- May 2020:

“I am getting closer and closer to the end of this amazing experience of my European Solidarity Corps project, 8 months have passed and I am a different person since I started. I have attended three trainings from Olde Vechte Foundation and all three were challenging and beautiful at the same time. It taught me that pain never goes away is just transforming while cultivating compassion, radical acceptance and integration of my full humanity.It taught me a lot about myself and my ability to sit with the uncomfortable, my willingness to hold both the difficulty and the beauty simultaneously, and my ongoing exploration of what it means for me to show up fully as
myself in my life.

During this pandemic I chased ordinary moments, it’s all about small details they say, and it’s true. We grow up chasing extraordinary moments instead of being grateful for ordinary ones until hard shit happens. Every phase of your life will require a different you.

It’s wonderful when you surround yourself with people from different parts of the world, it shows me that diversity is beautiful and needed. Volunteers from Italy were surprised to see the wine made in their hometown on the shelves of the shops here, and I was surprised to see that objects from IKEA are made in Romania. After all the virus protocols blew over, things changed here, some volunteers left home so I needed to move, and went through some adjustments. My work wasn’t the same as before COVID 19, now it’s only practical work, mostly outside and to some farms. Everything shifted and we had to transition to a new reality, but thankfully we are in the Netherlands and we are blessed to be close to nature and to have the opportunity to get out and move. I am currently working on a very nice farm that hosts a Stichting Oases foundation that aims to reduce depression and burnout. We built a small hen house from recycled materials, and we are currently working on creating a deck for the front of a house.

Every phase of your life will require a different you. – Mel Robbins ”

Her full story and pictures here:mai-2020