I am Melih from Germany and Turkey. I was born in Turkey and came to Germany on European Voluntary Service in 2005 when I was 18. That’s why I see both countries as my home. Currently I am living and working in Maastricht (the Netherlands).
When my sports teacher at the University of Antalya (Turkey) asked me one day in 2004 if I would be interested to meet an organisation which sends EVS volunteers to Germany I would never have guessed that it was a beginning of a new life for me. It was actually a coincidence that my teacher met me that specific day and suggester I go there. After that day in 2004, I went to the sending organisation which would send me to Germany for 12 months of EVS between 2005 and 2006. I was there just a couple of days before the official application deadline for the placement. This year on EVS gave me the chance to stay in Germany for my study and to join the freshly established EuroPeers project which was only a German initiative back then. Now look at the EuroPeers network: there are more than 10 countries involved in the project, with EuroPeers inspiring other young people to explore Europe and beyond.
I became part of EuroPeers at the very beginning of this long journey in 2006. Being a EuroPeer opened hundreds of doors for me. All these local EuroPeers projects, youth exchanges, youth initiatives, SALTO training courses, lots of conferences and bigger events in Europe supported by EuroPeers were unbelievable experiences which gave me the chance to meet great people, build up a European wide network of engaged professionals, and gain lots of competences. Thanks to my EuroPeers engagement I even found my first full-time job and started my working carrier.
Without being so active within EuroPeers network it would not have been that easy to start a full-time job.
Would you like to discover more about my EuroPeers journey?
You can have a look on my EuroPeers profile on the page of the German network. No worries my profile is mostly in English:
