INTRO

 

I started this foreign adventure as one of the 35 Red Cross EVS volunteers*. An adventure in which we try to support the Red Cross in their commitment to provide appropriate assistance to all those who need it.

 

We have been chosen by the Red Cross organisation of our home country (examples of countries taking part: France, Portugal, Germany, Turkey and Belgium) to strengthen the British Red Cross. But as usual there are two sides to an exchange. There are also British volunteers who make the opposite move.

What does our working week look like? On the one hand, we each support a specific department in its daily operations. This for about 80% of our working time. At the other hand, we are supposed to spend the remaining 20% on a personal project.

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The British Red Cross has offices throughout the United Kingdom. Together with two other volunteers (Greg and Andrea) I have been chosen to join the team in Manchester. The department I am going to focus on this year is IFT or International Family Tracing. The main task of this department is to reconnect people who have lost all contact with their relatives due to war, natural disasters or other life-threatening emergencies.

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An exchange is more than just working in a foreign country. It is also a way of stimulating your personal development and getting to know other cultures. That's why I decided to start this blog, in which I will try to give a monthly update of the experiences I remember the most and what lessons I learned for myself.

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* The term EVS refers to European Voluntary Service. This is the name of the European programme that allows exchanges like this. A few years ago, they disbanded EVS and set up a new programme called EUSC (European Solidarity Corps). This is the same programme apart from some details. But most of the people will still use EVS out of habit.