Meet our Volunteers!
SWYAA Venezuela - The Rhythm of Volunteering EVS
To all who made this project possible, my deepest gratitude... And as the fire ballons we flew our last night together, may our dreams fly high but always fighting to make them true.
The time came, really fast, but we are already leaving Romania. There are so many good moments that I cannot express in words my feelings about them... The people we met, the fulfilling work we did, the city that was our home for these two months, these are completely unforgettable. I just can say that this EVS was a really rewarding experience, where I acquired skills for both my professional and personal life, learned about myself and left something about me in each one of the people I met.
Hey guys reading this 'petit' blog!! After a long trip from Venezuela to Romania, we finally arrived to the airport to meet with Ioana Bere! One of the coordinators of the TROV programme. We were received the next day in the office by all the staff and were introduced to the other participant from France that already arrived in Cluj. The first day we discovered the city by ourselves. So, I'll be keeping you up to date on the special activities we will be organizing!! Stay tuned!
To all who made this project possible, my deepest gratitude... And as the fire ballons we flew our last night together, may our dreams fly high but always fighting to make them true.
Leonel Velásquez
Brief Bio
Hello people! I'm a 26 years old cheerful and energetic guy. I just graduated as a Chemical Engineer in Simon Bolivar University, Venezuela.
I love to interact with people from different cultures and learn from them. My passion and academic orientation is the Sustainable Development.
I like to learn new languages as a mean to understand others cultures. I have been to Japan two times, as part of the SWY21 Venezuelan delegation, and for a 1 year academic exchange program.
One thing I like is to motivate people. I believe in following dreams, and never give up on things you want to achieve. Dreams are the planning of future achievements!
Music, dance, painting and games came together in Crossing Borders, not only a multicultural event but also an afternoon for promoting volunteering and raising awareness about cross cultural understanding. On a Saturday afternoon, Cluj’s community had the opportunity to experience the product of the work of volunteers who came together with a simple idea and big dreams that became reality in the event organized by Venezuelan ex PY’s Stephanie Chacin (SWY24) and Leonel Velasquez (SWY21).
Later on, as you looked around, all eyes on Bulevardul Eroilor in Cluj. Napoca Romania, where fixed on the volunteers who took part on the dance workshops and came up with a multicultural choreography with small pieces of traditional dances from Japan, Romania, Italy, France, Azerbaijan and Venezuela. As a closure of the event with standing ovation you could hear the claps of the spectators and the smileys in the faces of the volunteers who in that moment new that all the work was worth it.
After a great first week of getting to know Amazing and intereting people, the city of Cluj-Napoca and a bit about the community of whom we will be part for two month, we departed for our first official session: "The Team Building". We left the city of Cluj, 14 EVS (European Volunteer Service) Volunteers, and began a 3 day trip to the mountains.
Music, dance, painting and games came together in Crossing Borders, not only a multicultural event but also an afternoon for promoting volunteering and raising awareness about cross cultural understanding. On a Saturday afternoon, Cluj’s community had the opportunity to experience the product of the work of volunteers who came together with a simple idea and big dreams that became reality in the event organized by Venezuelan ex PY’s Stephanie Chacin (SWY24) and Leonel Velasquez (SWY21).
"More Colours" was another event of the National Volunteer Week in Cluj Napoca where we participated in a hospital for disable children. We were painting walls with beautiful drawings and we made a whole sea world for kids. More than 8 walls were painted with several designs and we also had a lot of fun making it,
I participated in this event along with other volunteers from around the world and we were giving food to homeless. It was the first time in my life that i worked as a waiter, as i was serving food and arranging tables. This is the entire group of volunteers who worked to feed homeless in the Prison Fellowship of Cluj Napoca. Later in te afternoon, we did several games with poor children, most of them "Gypsies", and we shared laughter, experiences and cultures.
Here we were invited to participate in an Austrian Cultural Night where EVS austrian volunteers did a national presentation, gave us austrian food and even taught us a traditional dance from their homeland. I was drawing eastern eggs since it is an austrian tradition and all volunteers had a chance to share their own experiences drawing several eggs.
"More Colours" was another event of the National Volunteer Week in Cluj Napoca where we participated in a hospital for disable children. We were painting walls with beautiful drawings and we made a whole sea world for kids. More than 8 walls were painted with several designs and we also had a lot of fun making it,
Stephanie Chacín
Hello!! I'm a 23 Years old, Graphic Design student from La Universidad del Zulia (LUZ), Venezuela. who loves all about films and movie making.
I describe myself as a cheerful and optimistic person who smiles most of the time and likes to travel and discover new countries, their arts and culture. My biggest passion is dancing, practicing ballet, contemporary, latin dances and others.
I'm part of the ex participants from the 24 Ship for the World Youth Program, a journey that made us discover the great potential youth around the world has, and of course our own.
As a Japanese student I'm part of GOEN Maracaibo, a group of friends who give classes of this language to our city's community and is really involved in volunteering and activities focuses on the improvement of our society.
Nowadays, I'm part of The Rhythm of Volunteering TROV Project in Cluj-Napoca Romania. Organizing the up-coming National Volunteering Week. Promoting volunteering and active citizenship, always believing that we as youth can be the change we want to see if we take action!!
Ricardo González
Hello everyone, i am 22 years old and i obtained a degree in Mass Communications in 2013 at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela, I moved to Caracas where i am also studying Japanese and Italian as my fourth and fifth language besides already having English, Portuguese and Spanish.
I love Model United Nations and diplomacy work since i entered my university five years ago.
In January 2012 i traveled to Japan and organized a Model United Nations on board the ship Fuji Maru as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan and now i am participating in the Rythm of Volunteer in Romania as a volunteer from SWYAA Venezuela.
I love travelling, meeting new people from around the world, learning languages, listening to jazz and experiencing new cultures to get a different perspective of the world from a variety of points of views.