Alive and kicking
I have finally sat down to write about my experience in Latvia. Ok, do not know how to begin, so I'll start by introducing myself.
Hi, my name is Tadej Dolamic and I come from a small chicken-shaped country named Slovenia that lies between Croatia, Italy, Austria and Hungary. I am now 30 years old, and here in Latvia locals and other volunteers gave me the best surprise for my round age. Before I came here I have been in two short term projects, first in Croatia working in bear shelter and that was fulfillment of my childhood dreams, and the second was in Belgium city named Lauvene working in Circus school where I was trying to learn some tricks and this experience was an eye-opener to go and find something new and out of my comfort zone because I realized that in this way I can get an experience much more and much deeper.
Hi, my name is Tadej Dolamic and I come from a small chicken-shaped country named Slovenia that lies between Croatia, Italy, Austria and Hungary. I am now 30 years old, and here in Latvia locals and other volunteers gave me the best surprise for my round age. Before I came here I have been in two short term projects, first in Croatia working in bear shelter and that was fulfillment of my childhood dreams, and the second was in Belgium city named Lauvene working in Circus school where I was trying to learn some tricks and this experience was an eye-opener to go and find something new and out of my comfort zone because I realized that in this way I can get an experience much more and much deeper.
So when I was searching for my next adventure I found an offer in Latvia despite the vacancy which said to apply till age 24. And I applied anyway and was very happy when I got accepted, and on the day of my departure as soon the plane took off I felt relief in my body. For me, this experience is turning my life for better, teaches me about socialization, trust in others and communication within a workgroup. At the beginning I was staying in a small and very beautiful village named Nica about 27 km from Liepāja where I am now.
Liepāja and its residents here are teaching me social and communication skills which I never tried to sharpen and now that I am surrounded by people that teach me and include me, I can improve my social skills, and that makes me very happy. Liepāja for me is a place where in a working place I do not have a feeling as it's working with coworkers but more like cooperating with friends. In my old life, I was too afraid of many things, situations, and people as for 30 years I only observed life instead of living it. Drowning my anger, sadness and emotional pain in alcohol, dreadfully waiting when will I break and lose myself in the darkness. The day I found the ad for the project in Latvia, I knew that it's my last chance to save myself.
And here I am improving myself while learning something new every week, gaining skills to get out of the black hole that was my life before. I would not be able to do that alone but here I am lucky to be among wonderful people from Latvia, Italy, Romania, and Spain. These people are like the second family that gave me the feeling that somewhere I belong. My work here is mostly fixing things such as isolating windows, coat hanger and chairs restoring, making doors. In near future, I plan to make a promotional movie for Liepāja, maybe some woodcarving workshop in House of hope. I hope I will also learn more Latvian language before the end of my project.
Liepāja and its residents here are teaching me social and communication skills which I never tried to sharpen and now that I am surrounded by people that teach me and include me, I can improve my social skills, and that makes me very happy. Liepāja for me is a place where in a working place I do not have a feeling as it's working with coworkers but more like cooperating with friends. In my old life, I was too afraid of many things, situations, and people as for 30 years I only observed life instead of living it. Drowning my anger, sadness and emotional pain in alcohol, dreadfully waiting when will I break and lose myself in the darkness. The day I found the ad for the project in Latvia, I knew that it's my last chance to save myself.
And here I am improving myself while learning something new every week, gaining skills to get out of the black hole that was my life before. I would not be able to do that alone but here I am lucky to be among wonderful people from Latvia, Italy, Romania, and Spain. These people are like the second family that gave me the feeling that somewhere I belong. My work here is mostly fixing things such as isolating windows, coat hanger and chairs restoring, making doors. In near future, I plan to make a promotional movie for Liepāja, maybe some woodcarving workshop in House of hope. I hope I will also learn more Latvian language before the end of my project.
Thank you, Linda, Luca, Marika, Madalin, Gloria,... and many others too.
Tadej Dolamič
Tadej Dolamič
Volunteering project “Solidarity Seekers” is financed by the European Solidarity Corps Programme of the European Union that in Latvia is administrated by Agency for International Programs for Youth.
This publication reflects only the viewpoint of the author.