Detail_Blog Inken Wilms

A voluntary ecological year in Armenia

Updated on 08.04.2020 - PIENSA! Foundation
"Dear Sir or Madam, mMy name is Inken Wilms, I am 18 years old and I come from Mönchengladbach. I recently graduated from the Stiftisches Humanistisches Gymnasium and will now be going to Armenia for a year as part of a development aid project from September 1st and doing volunteer work there.

This project focuses on the reforestation of Armenian forests and the preservation of a unique natural environment, as well as ecological education and knowledge transfer to teenagers and young adults...."

Through these first lines we got to know Inken Wilms in August 2019 and decided to support Inken in her project.

Inken has been back in Germany since mid-March 2020 - earlier than planned. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, she had to end her volunteer service and return after just over half a year.

In this blog, Inken reports on her experiences in a foreign country, the difficult and abrupt end and all the positive things that remain forever:
Photos: Inken Wilms
_____________ March 2020
Mönchengladbach, March 2020

Everything has an end - but I never expected that the end of my voluntary service would come so quickly and unpredictably. It is conceivable that Covid-19 had a part in it, after all, you can no longer watch the news or read the newspaper without being confronted with the corona crisis in every article. But first things first. ...
_____________ February 2020
Yerevan, February 2020

Half time! It's unbelievable how quickly half a year can go by. It's equally unbelievable that every day that passes brings the end of my voluntary service closer. But I don't want to think about that at the moment, I'd rather think about the exciting and eventful months that still lie ahead of me. ...
_____________ January 2020
Yerevan, Januar 2020

Neues Jahr, neues Glück sagt man ja so schön. Ich würde mir eher ein neues Jahr mit altem Glück wünschen, da das letzte Jahr in jeder Hinsicht einfach toll war. Ein großer Teil davon war definitiv die Entscheidung, nach Armenien zu gehen und somit die Chance zu haben, in eine komplett andere Kultur einzutauchen, eine neue Sprache zu lernen und für ein Jahr einfach ein ganz anderes und neues Leben zu haben. ...
_____________ December 2019
Yerevan, December 2019

For many people, spending Christmas in a foreign country, far away from family, sounds like a challenge and unthinkable. For me, it's more of an opportunity to delve deeper into the culture of a country, to pass on my own Christmas traditions and simply to enjoy the Christmas season in a different way. ...
_____________  November 2019
Yerevan, November 2019

November - actually a month that is always associated with gloomy weather, discomfort and the colour grey. However, so much happened this November that made the month golden for me. The many trips with my friends, lots of newly planted trees and two puppies are definitely part of it. ...
_____________ October 2019
Yerevan, Oktober 2019

Was ein Monat! Ich weiß gar nicht, wo ich anfangen soll zu erzählen, weil einfach so viel passiert ist. Yerevan fühlt sich inzwischen nahezu zu 100% wie mein Zuhause an, immer mehr armenische Wörter und Sätze fließen in meinen Alltagsgebrauch ein und alleine mit dem Bus zu einem fremden Ziel zu fahren bereitet mir keine Alpträume mehr. ...
_____________  September 2019
Yerevan, September 2019

"Warum denn ausgerechnet Armenien?" und "Komm bloß heil wieder!" - Sätze, die ich in den vergangenen Monaten mehr als einmal gehört habe. Dies sind die Reaktionen auf meine Antwort zur häufig gestellten Frage, wie es denn jetzt für mich nach der Schule weitergeht. ...
Teile diesen Beitrag:
Share by: