Hi Ragazzi, welcome to another “Interview with …”! Today I will interview my mentor: Ina Sasnauskaitė.
From North Europa, more precisely Lithuania, with only 26 years old Ina was herself an EVS volunteer.
In order to deliver to you her EVS experience and also to know what motivated her to remain in Italy one more year, now doing Service Civile, I decided to invite her to here! My main goal is also to show you the possibilities you have after doing EVS. As time is passing, the clock is getting closer to time when EVS is going to end. But don’t be sad because it is getting over, be happy instead because of this interview was very inspiring!

Resume your EVS (organization, city, how long it was, activities you were doing):

To begin with, I came to Faenza with Pigreco, my EVS was 12 months (1 Year) and I begin in September. What I was doing in EVS? In the beginning, was more, let’s say, graphical thing, more social media. But then, after two months I initiated English courses so since then I was teaching English. Later on, I was also doing some activities in the school, but mostly I was keeping with the English lessons, so much plus minus December. So in December it was more prepared for the next volunteers, the information that we had.

What was the good side and the bad side of going EVS, and the activities that you liked the most?

The good side I think is clear, that you are learning, that you are coming out of your comfort zone very fastly. The best side is that you sometimes miss your comfort zone. Activities that I liked the most? I think are the activities that I still do: graphical work and mostly the lessons.

How the idea of continuing staying in Italy came? What you are doing currently?

To be honest, Its wasn’t mine idea. My boss´s, one day asked “would I be interested of staying a little bit more and they offered me the opportunity of staying in the organization. And of course that organization is not very huge and cannot pay a real salary, I needed to find something in between so now I am going Civil Service (Servicio Civile). I am doing that in ….Diviso, or shortly called Ami – organization that is responsible for missionary service in Africa. And overall, emigration or other education in the schools. Overall we can say that is literally the translation of the name of the organization that means the friendship of everybody in the world.

What is your perception of this opportunity?

The part of the Civil Service? It is still a good opportunity to learn the language for me. As a came here in Italy knowing probably 13 words, it is a good opportunity to keep learning the language, the culture, and some other things. As a real work, does not give me as much as experience but I think for 1 year is a good stability point. A good point to rethink because wide in the things to do: you have many activities, very different activities so maybe it gives you fill the movement.

How you found out about this opportunity?

To begin with, Laura (boss of Pigreco) told me about it. It was her one of the recommendation to try. And then, of course, I was more interested in the search for different ones, to search possibilities where could I do that. I came up with a few ideas and my preferred one became my actual work.

Do you feel that your way of working changed after you have done the EVS? And after did you felt that If yes, how?

I would say yes because I begin to look at the time table not so strictly as I was used to. But overall I would not say that my way one working changed that much. But my work as an idea changed a lot because before coming to EVS I was accounter and now I am kinda free bird. That was the real change, but overall everything else did not change. I still have some things that I keep in my mind that probably does not go along with everything else, in today’s work, but nothing that I did not has before.

For do you advise someone that is finishing the EVS or is to start planning to do the EVS?

So, to be open to experiences. Don’t spread for anything. Never think that you have a lot of time, especially for those who are wishing to do EVS. Never think that you have a lot of time to travel, never think that you have a lot of time to learn something. Because time in the situations pass super fastly and then you cant count in the fingers or even more, how many places you missed, how things you could learn but you did not pay attention at that moment. Prioritize what you want actually to do and be clear about that for your mentors. And also if they give you work, always take it. is the best way to learn, even the work that you already did, every time is changing. At least in my case, it was.