by Derio from Indonesia

Attending the second seminar for volunteers from the United Evangelical Mission (VEM ) in Hattingen was an adventure from start to finish. Picture This: BBQ, workshop, FOOD! A bunch of enthusiastic volunteers, all in a peacefull town that felt like the perfect blend of a retreat and community center. I was excited but had no Idea what the next few days had in store for me.

The first day kicked off with a classic introductions. You’d think we’d all be pros at this by now because we had this like 20 times, but there’s always that awkward moment when you’re supposed to share “something interesting about yourself”. I panicked and blurted out that I can make a german food. Surprisingly, that got a few laughs, and suddenly we all felt more relaxed.

Our first group activity is meet another volunteer that already came back from Asia and Africa and we do some games which is very fun and it went about as smoothly seems like we all felt we’d known each other for ages.

One of the best workshops for me was discussing about culture which I found really interesting. The real fun came when we had to act out like what Jason tell us, so we become like statue and finally get some peanuts. The point is to respect the difference in some way complicated.

Then, there was meditation with circle of life from Rebecca. The big takeaway? You can’t help others if you’re a stressd-out mess yourself. The solution? Take more breaks, treat yourself sometimes and don’t be afraid to tell people “no” when you need space. I might have taken that last part a little too seriously when I started saying “no” to helping with tidying up room that night…. 😊

One of the nights, we had a casual get-together, complete with snacks and drinks. It turned into this spontaneous jam session – I played the guitar, others sang. Jason taught us to dance, other just clapping their hand. I mean clapping off-beat is also a talent! And the night after we do drink racing, I am the one who actually gets drunk hahaha.

On the last day, we had a reflection session where we shared what we’d learned and how we’d use it in our volunteer work.

By the end of the seminar, I left Hattingen with a full heart. I also gained a bunch of new friends who I know I’ll stay in touch with.