My name is Ömer (27- Muğla- Turkey). I graduated in Cinema and TV. I have worked several types of short-term jobs. My last work was about preparing film fests, and for this reason, I met many people I enjoyed while I was doing this job. I was trying to find a project which should be related topic of nature and helping locals. Because I did office work mostly also I live in a crowded city so I was mentally tired that it triggered me to find an oportunity. One day I saw ESC opportunities on social media so I decided to apply short term volunteering projects. It took between two months to be selected by the organization that fits their conditions for me. The project that I have chosen was about sustainability life in a rural area of Latinovac/ Croatia.
My expectations of this volunteering were living in a small village with fewer people, helping the locals, making friends, visiting some places, improving my English speaking levels, working with a group for some reason, etc. I took a taxi to go to Latinovac from the bus station even though we were going fastly I was already amazed by nature. There were lots of tree species covering the two sides of the road and the homes were behind trees. While we were passing by felt like I was in the first sequence of a movie scene. The coordinators of Eko Centar Latinovacs welcomed me well. The exciting parts were I was going to live for two months with villagers in their houses. My host speaks English barely. But it is not a barrier for us. My host Milka always mixes Croatian and English in terms of this, fun to have a conversation with her.
There is something that I like most we are 13 mixed nationalities people here and I believe we have been chosen in terms of good personality and for this reason, we have strong relations. Almost everyone is welcoming and it makes me happy. Our coordinators are also well experienced they know how to manage projects. I have enjoyed working with locals, interacting with villagers, working with different nationalities groups, and visiting some provinces of Croatia. I deeply believe these moments that spent time here will never forget…
