In early March me and my Co-Volunteers were returning from our Seminar in Haifa when we arrived at closed doors. Our workplace decided that because there were people who recently had visitors from Germany we where not allowed to return. Since we were volunteering in a place with disabled people, of course we were understanding of that decision. Luckily our coordinator was able not offer us to sleep one more night in Haifa and in the next days helped us to secure a place to live in for the next two weeks since we couldn´t return. Our place of work didn´t offer any financial help for our basic needs and so both the German Embassy and our sending organizations had to help us. In the end we couldn´t stay anyway as our workplace decided that they would stop hosting volunteers. Most of us decided to go back home and just hours later most of the Organizations send all their volunteers in Israel back to Germany.
I think that many people are facing situations like this and even more difficult ones. Waiting in front of the gate just meters from my own room and having about two hours two pack all my things to move was hard. It was hard to go without saying good bye to my co- workers and the people I was taking care of.
It is hard for all of us not to see our friends, to be in isolation, to be in a place where your loved one’s lives could be in danger and all the while fearing your economic security. But I think we can support each other; in the days of uncertainty and an emergency situation I grew closer to the other volunteers than I was able to in the six months before.
This is the time to reach out to your friends and offer support. If you’re a EuroPeer or participant in an ESC project right now connect with the people who are send home and ripped out of their new found social circle or who are left in a foreign country while others are going. Volunteer locally to help people with financial needs, who are unable to do something on their own or are in need of emotional support. Remember that even if harsh preventive measures don´t go against you personal and are supposed to help save the lives of others.
By Miranda
