Volunteer in IDEJU MĀJA

My name is Dimitrios Sarigiannidis and for the next year I will be working as a volunteer for IDEJU MĀJA in Aizpute, Latvia!

---

I was born in Veroia, Greece but I spend most of my teen life in Trikala a small town in the middle of Greece. Life in Trikala was important for my character development as we had to learn from an early age to socialize with a lot of people, share everything and build trust. At the age of 16 me and my family moved to Cyprus due to the economic recession of 2008. From my early years arts where a big part of my identity. I started painting from a really young age and this passion eventually gave birth to my interest in music. I studied music in both Music School of Trikala and Music School of Nicosia and I got a scholarship from a private Music School in Trikala.

As 2014 was approaching I had to make a decision on which is going to be my field of study. I decided that I was enough educated in music to able to continue my learning path on my own. I went to study Environmental Engineering in the Technical University of Crete. Although I was doing pretty well after looking at all the aspects of what my professional life would be like I chose not to continue with my studies. For me it was a bad investment of my time.
After 2 years of full-time work in Cyprus I decided that it was time to use my skills to help others and not just me. It was time for to apply for my EVS journey.
Aizpute and Latvia in general were a really good choice for me as they covered all of my interests in one beautiful country! From the never-ending forests to a deep and rich culture which has kept its identity alive in those modern times; I had a feeling that it was the place for me to be.

In the first couple of days I realized that I was correct.

People really welcomed me and made me feel like home from the first day. The nature is perfectly preserved and the locals protect their cultural heritage in every possible way.
During this year I would love to become a member of this culture, learn and understand all the differences we might have and of course learn how to speak Latvian.Climate change and environmental awareness is also a really big part of my goals so many of the activities I would like to involve in my action plan will be around this subject.
Besides that I consider my knowledge on music my biggest strength and I want to use it on everyday life in the youth center for the youth. From jam sessions, guitar lessons to simple talks and group singing
everything is on my list.
I hope that the locals will find my ideas interesting and will participate to the events be it actively or by supporting the organization.

Dimitrios Sarigiannidis

Strategic EVS project “Corners of Europe” is financed by the Erasmus+ 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.