Volunteers of 2022 in Budapest

Mid-term training

I attended the mid-term training held in Visegrad between 13.09.2022 and 16.09.2022 as a Budapest volunteer of the Szatyor organization. I was very happy to see the friends we made from Arrival trainig again. In the 3-day program, we shared what we learned from the volunteering project in the six-month anniversary we left behind, and we learned new information about how we will contribute to volunteering in the upcoming period. We experienced different activities and different experiences. We went to the Hungarian national restaurant with local clothes, local food and music, and in the evening of the same day, we learned the Hungarian local dance. Training added a lot to my life in terms of volunteering and helped me improve myself.

Car painting

At the event organized by Open doors Hungary on 10.09.2022, a group of young people came together to paint a caravan and have a barbecue. The event took place in the "Szeszgyár" community garden, which is one of my favorite places and I've been there for a few events before. Painting a caravan was my first experience and I really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we got together with people from different nationalities, cooked food, gathered around the fire and had a very nice chat.

Small step for the mankind, huge step for us!

Yes, it is just a handful of tomatoes, yet, for us, this is the result of months of visiting, watering, caring, asking questions, doubting, if we are capable - and now, we harvested the golden coloured results of our efforts: a handful of coctail tomatoes!

Topic of the month: Deforestation

Azerbaijani night

On July 29, an Azerbaijani and German night was held in Etyek. As Azerbaijani volunteers, we were struggling to cook traditional food because mostly traditional dishes are very hard to make and mainly based on meat. Since I came to Hungary, I reduced my meat consumption and discovered new dishes, so we combined these dishes with Azerbaijani dishes and came up with something. Nearly 30 local villagers attended the night. All of them said they enjoyed the food very much and some even took their recipes from us. Afterwards, a game based on information about Germany and Azerbaijan was organized among the villagers and volunteers, and the winning group was awarded the Azerbaijani wine.

Open day in the Kisdiófa garden

On 02.07.2022 ~open day~ was held in the garden where we worked as part of our volunteering project.

Sustainable partying?

HOW MUCH WATER I WASTE EVERY TIME I GO OUT

Event with guests from the National Agency

A couple of Thursdays ago we had some very special guests. The National Agency sent us a group of about twenty people to share our experiences with volunteering, and with the city. My mission, together with Enrico, was to take them to a place near our organic garden in district seven that would awaken great memories in us.

Public transport options discovered in Vienna

Public transport in Vienna

Mission of Urban Gardens

The day i went to the garden with my friend - and spreading the idea of urban community gardens!

Szatyorshop 10th birthday

On 21.05.2022 the 10th anniversary of the Szatyorshop was celebrated with a big event.

Ecofeminisim festival

I attended the "ecofeminism" festival held in Budapest on 14.05.2022-15.05.2022.

Ignacio de Angel Fernandez

My name is Nacho and I am Spanish. I have just finished my studies as a lawyer, and it was at that moment when I realised that maybe this life was not for me, or at least not the way I had planned it.

That's why I decided to turn my life around and join this project. The people involved are wonderful, and the lessons they teach us volunteers are the basis for a sustainable lifestyle that respects the planet and the environment.

Although I live in Budapest, where I have the opportunity to work in a shop whose products come from local producers, and to have access and the possibility to work in urban gardens, it is also possible for me to get to know this project on a more local scale, in Etyek.

I have been involved in various volunteering, but this is the first one with such a strong sustainable development component, so I am looking forward to learning more!

My name is Aysel, I am 23 years old from Azerbaijan. I was working after I graduated from university but after two years of working life, I realized that some things were not going well in my life. I started to search for new opportunities around Europe. Then this project caught my attention and I said "why not?".

I usually spent the sum-mers with my grandmother in our village, we had a big garden and since my grandmother was old, I always took care of the garden. It was really hard for me towards the end of the summer because I was always forced to leave the village-life and return to the city. And right now, the happiness of being able to do the same things in the middle of a big city is undescribable.

I had the opportunity to meet new people from different countries because of the project and I believe that we will reflect our cultures in the best way with these people.

The organization also helps us a lot to participate in other activities besides the project and I am very grateful for that. I believe that I will be involved in the project with my full potential and I will reflect myself in the best way possible.

Aysel Huseynova

Volunteers of 2021 in Budapest

For a couple of weeks now, we’ve been able to observe a smiling girl (though she’s less visible in a mask, but we’ll show her now) who recently joined our team as a volunteer for European Solidarity. Greet Erika, who is from Miercurea Ciuc, Transylvania, with great pleasure. During her school and college years, she was active in several student and NGO organizations, so he was happy to join our community as a new volunteer. Growing up in the mountains and going on a lot of hiking with her family as a child, nature has always been close to her heart. She became acquainted with the so-called sustainable economy and the green way of life during his time in Budapest, so she hopes that she can learn and gain new experiences during her work with us.

Kelemen Erika

Federico Apollo

My name is Federico, I was born in Cremona, a small town in northern Italy, 26 years ago from Sicilian parents. Even if agriculture is a fundamental part of life in Cremona, I actually lived and felt the soil only during the hot Sicilian summers in the tiny country house of my grandparents. Cultivating with my grandfather and having the excuse to be dirty was the best game. Thanks to my job I could feel again some of those flavours and perfumes of my childhood. I am an educator and I worked in the schools and in the fields with youngsters, who have mental disorders: we grew vegetables and sold them to the people and some restaurants. I also worked with disabled people: we managed small caterings during sport events and we helped serving in some bars. The contact with nature and being among people is very important for psycho-physical well-being, including mine. Besides all this, there was always the music. Cremona is the home to violin makers and the music flows through the streets. Since I was young I have been studying music, and teaching piano is another job of mine. I got to know Szatyorbolt 3 years ago thanks to my partner. I entered this shop and I could smell the perfume of the products. I was really interested to know more about them because I liked their ethics. I worked a lot in these years, and I loved my job a lot, but I needed to change air. The old country house of my grandparents has been sold, my Sicilian roots have been cut, so I decided to create new ones here in Budapest with my girlfriend. I wanted to start with the things that I love and I think that the volunteering at Szatyorbolt could be a great solution.