A Little Village, an International Community & a Lot of New Ideas
- Reflections from Our Three-Week Field Notes Volunteer Camp
When a group of young people from different countries arrives in a small village in Zala, there is always a bit of uncertainty. Who will get along? How will we work together? What will it be like to live in the same place for a few weeks?
This summer in Habitat Hub, things came together really nicely.
A Slow Landing into a New Environment
We started with two days of simply getting to know each other, the Habitat HUB, and the area. We call this our landing period, and it turned out to be just as important as the practical work that followed.
By the end, people felt comfortable asking questions, making mistakes, and being themselves. And that made a big difference when we started building things together.
Building Skills and Confidence
We took down the old garage and built a new lean-to roof. For some volunteers, the tools and techniques were completely new. But that was the point. Nobody was expected to know everything from the beginning.
It was great to see people become more confident, try things on their own, and realize they could do much more than they first thought.
We also cleared the old garden and started planning a new one. There was plenty of room for ideas, and the volunteers had the freedom to shape the space themselves. We learned about composting, too, mostly by doing it together.
The work mattered, but what mattered just as much was everything that happened around it.
A Little Bit of Village Life
We didn’t want the program to stay inside the Habitat HUB gates. We joined the Reszneki Parasztolimpia, helped prepare for the Szatta Feszt, went hiking in Őrség National Park, and spent time discovering the area.
For an international group in a small village, meeting local people can take a little time. But when we joined local events, we were welcomed with a lot of openness and good energy. The Parasztolimpia was a great example of how language and cultural differences don’t have to get in the way of having fun together.
More Than Just a Volunteer Project
One of the nicest things about these programs is watching a group of strangers slowly become a community. People who arrived not knowing each other ended up cooking together, playing games, sharing responsibilities, making decisions, and helping each other out. Habitat HUB became a temporary home for many of them.
One participant said:
“With some guidance we become an unstoppable force.”
We think that sums up the group pretty well.
And the learning went both ways. The volunteers brought questions and ideas that made us think about our own work, the future of Habitat HUB, and how we want to live. Many of them were interested not only in building a garden or learning about greywater systems, but in bigger questions too: How can we use less? How can we live differently? What could a more self-sufficient life look like?
These are questions we care about, too.
So, thank you to everyone who joined us. For the work, the conversations, the laughter, the ideas, and for making Habitat HUB feel a little more like a home.
