Hi ! I’m Paul, I’m from France and I just turned eighteen in September. After finishing high school, I was completely lost about what I wanted to do next, and what I wanted to study. I was living in a small city, so I was seeing the same people all the time. I obviously needed…
Hi! I am Carolina, a French-Brazilian 21 years-old living in Paris. After studying history and art history I wanted to discover different parts of the world and their people. Taking a gap year and volunteering seemed like a great opportunity to do so! I just stepped foot on Macedonian soil two days ago and I…
While some celebrate New Year or Christmas a silent, eldritch species is threatening the world, the Woodcrawlers. They are not animals. They are tall, silent, and move wrong. They mimic voices and hide in plain sight, becoming part of the trees. The forest falls unnaturally quiet when they are near. When you go to the…
Hello and welcome to the November edition of VOICES, This month, we sadly say goodbye to two long-term volunteers at VCS. I’m Cassandre, also a long-termer, and watching volunteers leave is always bittersweet, especially Terry and Chloe, the last ones from when I first arrived. In this editorial, they share their final thoughts and reflections,…
Hello! My name is Arthur, I graduated in Philosophy, and have worked as a French teacher for more than one year now. I come from a small city next to Lyon, France, which I really like, but the call for adventure was bigger than that love for my hometown, so here I am. As a…
Hallo! I’m Nelli, an 18-year-old from Thuringia, the green heart of Germany. After finally finishing high school this spring, I knew it was time to try something new before choosing my life's path. Also, because different cultures and countries have always interested me, I thought volunteering for a year would be an awesome opportunity to…
Since I arrived in Macedonia, I have felt a small shift inside me. It might be the way people open me their doors without hesitation, or how a shared drink can turn strangers into something closer. The welcome I’ve received here has been more than politeness, it feels like a real invitation to belong, to…
I was certainly aware that the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), held in Skopje from July 20-26, would teach me something as an Olympic volunteer, but it went beyond my expectations. I spent the entire week at the venue with competitions in taekwondo, which allowed me to see a world I hadn't previously been aware…
Exactly one year ago, I gave all the documents to the Macedonian embassy in Poland and was waiting to receive temporary residence to go to Macedonia. I felt contradictory emotions about moving abroad for one year and volunteering at Volunteers Centre Skopje (VCS). On one hand, I felt excited to change my life, meet new…
Dear reader, birds chirping on the trees, water rippling down the mountain, the wind is brushing through the trees and you feel the warmness of the sun shining on your face. Spring is starting and with it a new Voices edition full of inspiration and ideas. Spring for me is a time to reconnect with…
初春風 無常迅速 春終わった Hello reader, another spring is coming. I bet you are surprised to read this beyond a word document. We haven’t talked that much lately, have we? Life has been a whirlwind of ever-changing circumstances. Although it was always like this. Change is a constant. Change is never changing. Next time we will…
Cześć! My name is Karolina and I come from Poland. I’m 19 years old. Now I’m taking a gap year after graduating high school with a literature/humanistic degree. Punk rock, mountain expeditions, folk, cats and playing with time are my thing. For me the most important thing in life is expressing myself in every way,…
My name is Mathieu and I'm 19 years old. I'm French and I really like photography, videos and video games. When I have time, I do at least one of three things. My schooling stops with the obtaining of my baccalaureate, and directly after I have taken the decision to get out of my comfort…
“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other.” As floods and wildfires are taking place in European countries, we are once again facing big challenges as a society. Let’s also not forget that we are still going through a pandemic. Everything is more difficult for us, but things are even more difficult for…