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The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous Cross Cultural Solutions volunteer. For more information about CCS, please see their organisation entry.
My reasons for volunteering were very selfish: after learning Russian for 5 years I
wanted to spend some time actually speaking Russian! I didn't want a typical tourist
holiday in Russia as I wanted to speak Russian via interacting with ordinary Russians.
Given that Russia is not an open society, I realised I couldn't just turn up, stay with
friends and do some work experience, so CCS seemed the next best option.
I did a lot of research into the most effective way to spend a fortnight in Russia (I
couldn't spare more than a fortnight, because of my work commitments) and decided that
CCS really was the best way as they've already got all the local contacts and are
organised to make best use of their volunteers' time.
In practice, of course, CCS is not set up to provide people like me with opportunities to
speak Russian, but I did benefit hugely from my experience in Russia. My contact with
Russians was 'high-value', in that I did speak Russian with Russians in natural contexts;
my free time in Yaroslavl was very productive in terms of absorbing Russian culture; and
my contact with deprived Russians who needed input from rich Westerners was mutually
beneficial (I hope!). The highlight was the children's hospital, which I and two American
colleagues went to three times a week. These children were supposedly 'psychiatrically
disturbed', but we had never met nicer kids who just wanted love and attention. We
prepared project work for them and at the end of each session I led a sing-song from the
guitar of Russian popular and folk songs (recommended to me by my Russian teacher in
London and learned from YouTube) - children and staff alike seemed really to enjoy these.
The staff of CCS were conscientious to the point of devotion in looking after the
volunteers and the Russian project partners. They were enthusiastic and interested, and
even took care of us during their time off - we had evening activities organised for us
including concerts, a visit to the banya and trips to the circus, concert and museum. I
felt confident enough of myself and our situation to go out alone on many occasions,
something I wouldn't have done as a tourist.
CCS gave me a culturally rich, happy and busy fortnight in Yaroslavl: an experience that
I would recommend to anyone with an interest in Russian life and culture and a love for
our less fortunate fellow humans.
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