Lucie, a Sacred Heart volunteer from France, talks about her three months volunteering in Argentina.
I spent 3 months in the community of La Cortada, in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. By going to volunteer, I wanted to experience life, take a break from my studies, and discover a new culture.
I didn’t have any specific expectations because I didn’t know what I would be doing. After contacting the sisters, I knew that they had several activities (tutoring, painting workshops, baking, masonry…) but everything was very vague.
Once there, I quickly realized that I didn’t have a specific mission. All I had to do was live in the moment and participate in daily life.
Through the people I met, I discovered a culture, the mentality of a country, its history, but also a way of life (very different from ours), whether in everyday life or in relationships with people. The natives are overflowing with the love they have to give. The children overflow with it and it is more modest amongst the adults, but you can feel it in their little attentions. I don’t know if I brought them anything, but I did my best to share as many moments with them as I could. What’s certain is that I received so much.
I don’t feel like I’ve changed since volunteering, I haven’t become a new person. But I have evolved and grown. I leave with memories, faces, words, and moments that will stay with me for a long time because it’s much more than just a simple trip.
I want to share this experience and encourage other young people to get out of their comfort zone and discover other realities, I want to keep in touch with the friends I made there and go back to Argentina to see them again, and above all I want to enjoy life and the pleasures it has to offer, because that is what they showed me every day; despite all their problems, they always find a way to laugh and celebrate, and I think that is their greatest strength!
Section |International News|RSCJ International Volunteers
