Interviewer:  So what are your passions?  What makes you tick?

Eva:  I love learning about different cultures and languages.  In fact, for my last three years of school, I would go to a specific school – what we call culture school.  So I would learn Chinese and French.  And it was a lot about integration, and how different cultures can work together.  And it was really fun.  So apart from that, I like to travel, mostly to just see other cultures.  Yes, that’s my main two things that I love to do.

Interviewer:  Was that why you decided to come to Northern Ireland, that duality of culture and different sides of the country?

Eva:  Northern Ireland wasn’t at the top of my list, but I was just looking for placements that had a good community programme because I really wanted to help in the community, and not just an office job all year.  I’m not too good with environmental stuff.  I love environmental volunteers, but I would never be able to do it myself – It’s hard work.  So I was really looking for a place that had this kind of community engagement and Volunteer Now really has it.  So that’s why I’m here.

Interviewer:  So when did you first volunteer with volunteer now and why did you get involved?

Eva:  Okay, it was through the European Solidarity Corps programme.  So I only came here in September – and as I said, I really like Volunteer Now, what it’s doing.  So that’s why I wanted to be part of it.  It’s different from being a local volunteer, but it’s still very interesting.

Interviewer:  It wasn’t the first time you volunteered, right?

Eva:  No, it wasn’t the first time in my life, I’ve been volunteering since I was 12.

Interviewer:  What do you like most about it?

Eva:  I like being useful, I like feeling like you have an impact.  Because sometimes I also think why people often volunteer is: your job is there to provide money for you, and you still have some growth and some things – but when you think about community, not every job is very connected to the community.  Sometimes you feel very disconnected and volunteering is always making you feel like now what I’m doing actually matters.  You can see results.  And that’s what I really like about volunteering.

Interviewer:  Are there any funny stories or moments that you would like to share through this journey?

Eva:  Well, if I if I think about me volunteering here… I think it’s just quite funny for me to hear the slang of Northern Irish people.  Sometimes I’m like, what does that mean?  And it’s also funny, as they always try to guess where I’m from – if I volunteer with people, they try to guess my accent and they never get it right, nobody ever says, “Yeah, I know you’re from Latvia”.  People would guess Spain or United States… every time it’s very far away from where I’m actually from.  So it’s just really funny.  Yeah, I just like talking to people, that’s the funniest part.