Omran’s experience with OCC

Omran’s experience in OCC

I’m Omran Al-tekla from Damascus, Syria. Some of my hobbies are playing video
games, editing video and pictures by using various digital programs. I also love
photographing and creating digital content. I always dreamed of being a digital
creator and I’m working on it to improve my skills and start working on digital
projects. I was living in Nea Kavala Refugee Camp for a few months, before I moved
to Germany. I did my European Solidarity Corps Project in May to March. I had the
chance to work with a team of amazing and interesting people for 11 months.

When I arrived at Nea Kavala Refugee Camp some friends told me that OCC offers
language classes to the refugee community in Nea Kavala, Polykastro and the
nearby villages. I started going to English, Greek and Spanish classes, where I met a
lot of people. After a while I was offered the opportunity to become a volunteer. I
gladly accepted it as I thought it would be a great opportunity to expand my
knowledge and broaden my horizon.

When I arrived in Greece, I had never interacted with people from Europe before. In
OCC I had the chance to meet a lot of people from different nationalities and learn
about them and their countries and cultures. OCC has a multicultural environment,
where we all learn from each other. This was a great opportunity for me to be
exposed to cultures different to mine.

Throughout the project I learned a lot not only on a personal level but also on a
professional level. I participated in various trainings, workshops and projects.
Something that empowered me to improve my skills and acquire further experience.
During my volunteering in OCC I was an Interpreter and an assistant teacher for
eagles, children 8 to 13 years old. Moreover, I was an assistant and an interpreter for
the adult’s online classes. I participated as a member in the bike space project,
where we rent bikes to the refugee community and the local community. The project
is really helpful for the people and the community because it allows them to rent
bikes for 4 hours in order to run their everyday errands. I participated in the logistics
team as well. In the logistics team along with some other volunteers we fixed and
built different things for the facilities of the organization.

In OCC I have met a lot of volunteers. We shared our different life experiences and I
was taught a lot from them. They helped me improve and acquire a lot of skills. We
spent a lot of time together during those months. In OCC my life changed a lot. I
evolved as a person and I gained more experience in different ways. I found such
nice souls here. They gave me the chance to improve and gave me hope to move
forward. Here I saw that many of the volunteers who came from different countries,
they left their lives behind to come here and help the people in any way possible. For
me OCC was such a great opportunity to meet these people. I am so grateful for
having met all of these people. I really want to say thanks from the bottom of my
heart to those who try to make the world a better place and they give a better
perspective about humanity.

I hope that everyone achieves their own goals in life. I wish the best for all the people
who are trying to make this world a better place to live in, and in general trying their
best. Once I asked someone why did you become a volunteer? She said “it makes
me happy making someone’s life better. It makes me feel that I did something, that
I’m actually helping”. I want to say, especially to her and to everyone like her, you
are great and amazing people. You are the future!

"The project is funded by the EU Commission, the ESC program and the Greek National Agency Youth and Lifelong Learning INEDIVIM."