My life as a volunteer

Throughout our lives we repeatedly hear that helping others is essential, but how often do we help others? We constantly think about ourselves and we don't care about the reality of disadvantaged people or in different situations. Volunteering is not just working in a soup kitchen delivering food, it is much more, it is a lifestyle.

Being a volunteer means knowing the reality and problems of others, trying to help without expecting a reward, but I assure you that in most cases there is a reward. I started as a volunteer when I was 14 years old in a group called Marcha from my old school, we went to the nursing homes and we accompanied the older with songs, dances or games. I was very happy to see the elderly enjoying themselves with us, they said “Please come back”, because for them we were a source of hope and energy much better than any medicine.

But my reality changed when I was 18 years old, I became a monitor for this same group (Marcha) and I have been accompanying children for three years. My goal in Marcha is to create a place where they can grow, learn to express themselves and get to know themselves better, a space in which topics that are forgotten at school are discussed, but the fundamental question is: how are we? .

In this group we separate the children by stages, the first is called “Amanecer”, they are children between 11 and 14 years old, It is a stage in which they enjoy playing games in which they work on emotional content or do social activities, for example we painted the school a few months ago.

The next stage is “Aventura”, I am the monitor of a group of 10 childen of 4º E.S.O and we have meetings every Friday, the main thing in our sessions is to feel heard and learn to listen, the monitors are in charge of accompanying them during the adolescence and find in us a person who they trust to ask their questions and tell the problems that they have at school, with their friends or with their family. One of my greatest rewards as a volunteer with children is the connection that you can create with them, you can be really important to them and they appreciate your advice and words.

But my vision as a volunteer changed in 2019, here in the association they gave us the option of signing up for a service experience, they could select us to go to different centers such as an orphanage in Lisbon, a geriatric center in Salamanca or a reformatory in Ponferrada, but i went to Villasecino (Babia), a town lost in the mountains of the province of León. Watch the video to hear the experience that changed my life, first a small summary with photos and then I talk about the experience:

Immortalised moments

Dear readers,

I don't know about you, but, even if I don't seem like it, I'm really not one of those people who takes a lot of pictures... and that's something I'd like to change. As I become aware of it, I try to immortalise more moments in my life.

When I stop to think about it, I realise that it is not really something that involves a lot of effort or time and that it is thanks to photos and videos that we can remember and relive many moments that we have lived anywhere, in different circumstances and with different people. 

Without further ado, here are some pictures of me in different places that I have visited in case you are attracted and encouraged to go. I hope you like them!

The Arc de Triomphe is one of the many emblematic Parisian geographical points I got to visit on my last high school trip, in June 2018. It was the first time I had travelled outside the Iberian Peninsula, my first time in France and also my first time by plane! The truth is, I still don't believe I've set foot in the city of love!

In addition, I also got to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower, relax by boat on the Seine, appreciate the art of the Louvre Museum, stroll through the streets of Montmartre, walk along the Champs-Elysees, row along the canal of the Palace of Versailles, enter the Notre Dame Cathedral... In short, it was a dream come true! Hopefully I can go back there one day… and visit my French host family too!

On this occasion, the photographer was my godmother. My cousin and I went to spend a weekend with her in Vigo. Before reaching this little wooden house in the VigoZoo, we walked through the long central streets of the city, went shopping and sunbathed on Samil beach. When we got tired, my godmother proposed to take us to a surprise place and we couldn't refuse! Thus, I found this zoo a very beautiful and interesting place where I could get closer to animals I never imagined!

I took this image at Christmas 2018, in Puebla de Sanabria (Zamora). I went there with my parents and my brother after seeing on television that this place had been the winner of an award that allowed it to be adorned with many lights from a well-known brand of chocolates. It had caught my attention and was so impressive that I asked my parents to take me there. In addition, it was a charming and very cozy little town, although it was quite cold!

In this case, even though the day was cloudy, it was such a cool getaway that I couldn't get the smile off my face! If you live in Galicia, a corner of the Ribeira Sacra that you must visit one day is the Sil Canyon. Specifically, this day I decided to go with a friend of mine to the "Balcones de Madrid" (Parada de Sil). They really do have unbelievably spectacular views! Unquestionably breathtaking!!!

If you are a lover of nature and panoramic views, I also recommend the following stops: A Cova river beach, the walkways along the river Mao and the Augacaída Waterfall. In my opinion, one of the pleasures of life is watching the sunset... If you agree with me, you must know what we call in the Galician language the "bambán do solpor", the sunset swing, which is located in Nogueira de Ramuín (Ourense):

Above you can see one of my favourite photos of the sunset: the sun falling on one of the beaches of Benidorm, where I go on holiday every summer (since I was born); I almost know this city more than Ourense... So far, it is my favourite place in the world: the sea water is not cold, you can make friends from different places, it has multiple skyscrapers, you see a lot of tourists from all over the world...

As you can see, one of the things that I like the most and enjoy doing is travelling and visiting new places. Therefore, I am looking forward to summer so I can get in the car with my friends and family and not return until I discover many other destinations like the previous ones. Also, if this pandemic situation evolves in a positive way, I would love to be able to get on a plane again to fly to other continents!

I hope you liked my collection of images and fascinating places! If you want, write to me in the comments if you have been to any of them or if you would like to go. I'd be happy to hear other recommendations too!

"There are no photos of the best moments... because there is no time to take them!"