João Matos, 25, Portugal

João is a a friendly individual with a healthy dose of sarcasm added to his personality.

His main interests gravitate towards the creative and artistic areas especially music, his instrument of choice being the guitar, and song writing. He's also interested in cinema and photography. For five years he was in a band with which he participated in many cultural events. He loves his friends and travelling; he discovered half of Europe by hitchhiking.

Before his EVS, João finished his studies on Electrical Engineering at the University of Lisbon and underwent an internship in the field of consulting for a big corporation.

He was attracted to the project offered by TRATWA as he found it very interesting and diverse and a good opportunity to learn new things. It was important to him that the project was related to culture and music and the chance to work with people from various backgrounds was essential for his decision. "It is important to make an impact on people's lives.". Moreover, he is keen on living new experiences and the TRATWA experience has proved to be a wonderful experience for him so far. He loves Wrocław and he's commited to learning Polish and discovering more of what Poland has to offer. João appreciates the members of TRATWA and the people that he works with even though almost none of us can manage to pronounce his name correctly; he has come to terms with it.

João will let destiny decide what happens after his EVS project.

Anabel "Carrie" Carrión, 28, Spain

Carrie, as we have come to call her, is a lively, sensitive and happy person that's always ready to help.

Traveling and music are an important part of Carrie's life, but she's also interested in Human and Social Science as she wants to learn more about cultures and meet new ones. She has a passion for people and communication; she considers herself a humanist and she can speak English, Spanish, Italian, French and Catalan. "I study languages because it's a way for me to discover different realities". Tolerance is very important for her, also; she does not believe in boundaries and claims everyone deserves equal opportunities.
On her free time, she also enjoys sports.

Before her EVS, she studied translation and interpreting, then she went on to work in Lyon, France at an international department of a professional school where she enjoyed working with young people preparing relations and logistics, as well as exploring multiculturality and non-formal education methods. She appreciates non-formal education greatly as a way to teach good values, develop skills, inspire and motivate. "I believe that through education we can change the way things are.".

Carrie is happy she chose to do her EVS with TRATWA due to the diverse work she's doing that also aids her in learning more about non-formal education while helping other people. She has grown to love Poland.

She has many ideas for the future, but what she wants to do next is to keep working in Non Governmental Organizations as they're great means of discovering new things.

Yasin Acar, 27, Turkey

Yasin is a good entertainer with a great voice.

He graduated from university with a degree in Public Relations. He loves singing and playing the guitar, his specialty being 'Ederlezi' by Goran Brengović.

Before his EVS, Yasin was working in pubs and took part in the organizing of summits, concerts and events. It's the first time Yasin ever left Turkey and he's enjoying having friends of different nationalities and experiencing the Polish culture.

He feels that he really belongs in the TRATWA association. He loves doing activities in the name of TRATWA and he's proud of everything he accomplishes.

For the future, Yasin would really like to continue doing these types of activities that TRATWA has proposed so far.

Claire Sallaz, 27, France

Claire is humble and always ready to listen when someone is in need.

Her passions are travelling, dancing, reading and writing. She studied Psychology and Educational Science and has participated in many projects around France, one of the most notable focusing on women who suffered from gender violence. She loves to meet people from other countries because she's open to sail into the different cultures.

Before her EVS, Claire was working in Australia as an au pair and in South Korea as a teacher of French then she taught in primary schools in her country, a job that she took one year off from especially for the EVS project as she believes in volunteering and in the project offered by TRATWA.

Whenever Claire takes part in organizations like TRATWA with multicultural projects, she feels useful for society and it's very restorative for her. She likes TRATWA because it's a dynamic NGO involved in many types of projects focusing on human interaction; as a consequence, she meets many different people and learns a bit from each of them.

As for the future, Claire wants to be either a French teacher or a social worker in a foreign country and she has yet to decide which country it will be.

Ricardo Tardáguila Garzón, 24, Spain

Ricardo is a playful and friendly guy.

He has lived in Madrid his whole life. He started playing the cello at the age of 11. He went to a Conservatory school to gain more knowledge about music and afterwards he studied Primary Education at university. Music and sports are his biggest motivations. He enjoys going to concerts and theatre. He played the cello many times alongside orchestras.

Before his EVS, Ricardo played football for an amateur team. He decided to take advantage of this EVS opportunity to improve himself personally and improve his English, even if that meant temporarily parting with his family and friends.

Ricardo chose TRATWA because it focuses on two things which he deems as the most important: culture and education. What he likes most about the association is taking part in artistic events. He feels that the activities proposed by the association improve his skills and he can not wait to do an individual project of his own.

In the future, Ricardo would very much enjoy being a music teacher. He's thinking about staying a few more months in Wrocław after the end of his EVS as he thinks seven months are not enough.

Sabina Maria Costinel, 24, Romania

Sabina is very sociable; she likes surrounding herself with interesting people.

Her hobbies include photography, reading, watching movies and visual art. She's motivated by kidness between people and by seeing that what she does actually has some value.

Before her EVS, she was studying at the Art University. She finds the idea of EVS to be very interesting because one can gain self-knowledge and see different standards, but also because it's a great opportunity to start from zero being the person that you always wanted to be. She says that the skills of cooperating with others, as well as the leadership skills can improve; "You can learn things about yourself that you never expected you had inside your personality.".

She considers herself lucky to have been chosen by TRATWA because the city it's in is also the Capital of Culture for 2016. She believes 7 months, the period of her EVS, is little time because TRATWA continues opening her mind and helping her discover new things. The city captivated her completely due to it being active and colorful from the point of view of events.

Sabina's plan after EVS is to remain in Wrocław; "I just feel that I am in the perfect place at the right moment". The fact that she can speak the language very well, due to her mother being Polish, also aids her in this decision.

Nicolas Caplat, 21, France

Nico is very dynamic and enjoys endurance sports like triathlons, track&field and cycling.

Before becoming a TRATWA volunteer, Nico was a student in sports management.  Even though he chose this EVS project which is not so much focused on sports, but more on organizing and human relations, it's not completely new to him because of his experience in organizing events at his University and his role as a sports organizer for teenagers.

The beginning was difficult for Nico in regards to language- not the Polish one, as you might suspect, but English. He was often asking the other French speakers, Claire and Carrie, to explain and translate. He has made great progress in the past 2 months, though, now being a lot more comfortable with English, as well as public speaking. He's also more secure with his ability to organize something by himself thanks to TRATWA. "This organization offers you the option to say no .. you have the option to be fast and get out of your comfort zone or go step by step."

One of the reasons why Nico chose this project was because of the country it's in as his mother is Polish so he knew a bit about the culture and the language beforehand. He decided on EVS because he wasn't passionate about the master programs at his university so he wanted some time to think about what he wants to do. "After EVS, I don't know what I'll want to do, but I'm sure what I don't want to do- continue in sports management. ... If I have an opportunity, maybe I can stay here in Wrocław because I feel good here."

Irene Fernández, 25, Spain

Irene is positive, peaceful and fair with experience in conflict management. "In my life, I always try to fight for justice.".

Before becoming a TRATWA volunteer, she studied journalism. In addition to her EVS time, she's also studying for a master's degree in Intercultural Education. She has already participated in various international mobility projects with Erasmus+ in Netherlands and Latvia much which she enjoyed very much. She loves travelling and meeting new cultures. She was also in Brazil as part of another student exchange. She has been working in the past for other NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross.

Irene thinks everbody should try volunteering and that the EVS program is a perfect opportunity for it due to its intercultural exchange. "It's one of the best ways to develop yourself personally and your professional skills."

She is very happy with the organization and project she chose as she gets to interact with different people, but she also loves Poland and Wrocław even though her bicycle got stolen; her positivity easily overcame that and the fact that she got a better bicycle after also helped.

She has no plans for the future, but she does know one thing for sure: she wants to continue learning and helping people.

Pedro Silva, 27, Portugal

Pedro is a heartful and funny guy, he describes himself as healthy-crazy.

Pedro got his degree in Content Creation For The New Media, but he prefers pursuing his musical talents. He is a multi-instrument artist- he plays the piano, the maschine, some guitar and is keen on rapping. He has had many artistic and personal dissapointments in life which made him reflect and seek the right path to success. His motivation in life is to change this "broken society" and he's attempting to do it through his music, which is a good tool to reach people.

Pedro visited Poland once before and he jumped on the opportunity to come again when he saw this project for which he confidently thought he was skilled enough. He saw the project as a way to start fixing the society through other means, not only through music. He strives to inspire which he succeeds in. He is very active and sincere, giving the team dynamism and also helping to improve with critical thinking. In this project he wants to develop his music and multimedia skills, but also in the personal field he is learning to manage his emotions and some aspects of his personality.

He has grown much in the past 2 months that he's been part of TRATWA and has learnt to be more careful and to prioritize as opposed to the first week when he lost his wallet being too caught up with flirting.

He is enjoying Wroclaw so much that he wants to stay here after the project as he already feels it as his second home. "Right now in my life, I wouldn't be elsewhere but here".

Alexandra Platos, 27, Romania

Alexandra is a beautiful young woman with a big heart.

Upon asked which word best describes her, she answered freedom. "Imagine horses in a big empty plain just running around. That's how I see freedom. The horse is my favorite animal." Her calling is travelling and her motivation in life is discovering anything new and having new experiences due to her super-curious nature. She dislikes the monotony and the banal.

Before becoming a TRATWA volunteer, Alexandra was working with autistic children. As per her studies, she finished social work and psychotherapy which gave her the knowledge she needed to help people with problems in various areas of development.

What Alexandra likes most about the EVS project is that it helps her grow and develop herself, but the period she was the most motivated in was the week of the Central European Jamboree when she and the other volunteers made workshops and interacted with scouts from 29 different countries. "I felt like I really wanted to be there. The vibe was amazing".

As mentioned before, Alexandra likes freedom which implies that she's not a very organized person. Although she can look into the future, she decides not to for now as she has 5 more months of the project in which to decide what path to take next.

Horațiu Botez, 22, Romania

Horațiu is a determined and helpful person with a lot of energy.

What inspires him is based on his passions and interests which change very often. In the length of a month, he can have a multitude of different inspirations, many of which can be contradictory, but at the current time, what inspires him the most is every person that has managed to make a steady income through youtube videos -something that he is currently working on doing himself. When he has a goal in mind, he strives to reach it no matter the cost, highlighted by his recent purchase of a camera and a tripod to futher advance his youtube dream.

Before becoming part of the TRATWA voluntary team, he was volunteering in his home country at various events such as the Transylvania International Film Festival where he won the title of 'volunteer of the year', accomplishment which has persuaded the TRATWA coordinators to select him.

Horațiu spontaneously chose TRATWA before even hearing about the Erasmus+ program and the reason why is his thirst for knowledge both about himself and about the outside world, knowledge that he is definitely gaining as part of this organisation which he constantly praises. "I feel freedom, as well as the sense of being useful and actually doing something." His desire to learn, to taste as much of life as he possibly can and to collect various human experiences is what motivates him to give his best to the project.

Horațiu's ideal future is the good, old ambiguous dream to live a comfortable life having enough money to sustain himself, but also enough time for his hobbies which fluctuate much like his ever-changing passions.

Elena Ioannou, 21, Cyprus

Elena appears shy and quiet at first, but she's a kind and empathetic person once she opens up.

She is vegan and her goal is to raise awareness about healthy eating and habits, not by forcing people to see her point, but by promoting delicious vegan alternatives at cooking workshops.

Before becoming a TRATWA volunteer, she recently got her degree in English Language and Linguistics in Manchester, England. She's glad she was selected for this EVS project as it's a great opportunity to develop her skills and also to engage others to develop their English language skills. She is pursuing EVS in order to acquire experience and inspiration before starting her professional life.

Elena connects very much with Wrocław as the city is dynamic and multicultural and she wants her family to visit Wrocław.
Elena evolved in the first 2 months of the project in the sense that she is getting more confident in all aspects of her life, as well as more social, and has eliminated any stereotypes that she might have had.

After the project, Elena wants to continue travelling, get the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate and afterwards proceed with a career in teaching English.