From 8 till 21 July Eco-Center in Stina hosted a work camp Image Mapping 2018.
What is Stina?
Stina is a village situated in the deep Valley of the Rusava river which gives it a special climate and a peaceful, retired atmosphere. First mention of its name dates back to 1550. In 2001, there were 1033 inhabitants.
The camp has become the challenge for its participants; there was so much work around the territory of the Eco-center that some of the objectives had to be dropped and improvised on.
But only thanks to the enormous productivity, dedication and extraordinary great internal spirit of the team of the volunteers it became manageable.
Now the Eco-center in Stina has acquired two summer showers, two eco-toilets, the hut was bleached, supported with concrete and it got painted with love from the participants and the local children.
As a tradition the volunteers have as well created the “Alive picture”, that now stands out on the steep Stina canyon slope focusing the visitors onto the Castle Hill.
Anyway, the camp has not been just 2 weeks of work; it has been an incredible opportunity for get out of our comfort zone and to improve ourselves.
Indeed the volunteers were introduced to the traditional ways of coating the house, construction of the stone stairs and construction of the wooden toilets and showers.
All volunteers have acquired intense practical experience, learned own capabilities and proof-checked traits of character that show up in the working process during the living in simple conditions with the same minded people.
In the second week there was a concert of the French rock band "Brok” that came in Stina in frames of their Ukrainian tour with the organization from the ever dedicated former EVS volunteer Noémie Philippe-Dumestier. Guys have made the real rock with crazy dances in the local house of culture, together with the performance from the local art ensemble and exchange of positive vibes between all the participants
As well there were stars, communication till early morning around the camp-fire, heavy rains, pasta by Italian recipe from the fire, pleasure of communication with the local people, plums, milk, cats and smiles.
From my side, I can say that it has been an amazing experience.
Spending 2 weeks in a rural village, without any comfort (toilet, shower, hot water, internet) offerss the opportunity to be very close to nature and mainly to the other people.
In the begin it hasn’t been easy, but I soon got used to living in that way.
We had a lot of work… a lot of new work that i have never done before; but it’s very gratifying when, in the end, you can see the result of your work and efforts.
One thing which I appraciated has been being close to local people: everyday new people came to our house, sometimes with gifts for us (milk, fruits and vegetables), and sometimes people came just because curious… maybe they thought: “Why are this strangers here? Why Stina? And why are they helping us?”
Just by looking at them is possible to undestrand how different are our lives from their; and I noticed this gap especially with children: there, children are free from technology, for them paper, pencils and a lot of fantasy are enought.
Moreover, I think the best side of the work camp has been the “intercultural team”: there were people from 6 different Country.
Anyway, I advice everyone to do this kind of experience… beleve me, you will come back changed!
Antonio
