Leonidas, a volunteer of METAdrasi’s educational programme in Athens, talks about his experience.

I became a volunteer at METAdrasi because… I wanted to fulfill a personal need to give back and to be able to actively participate in the improvement and development of other people who do not have opportunities like others.

Being a part of METAdrasi’s activities gave me the opportunity to… deal with a subject I know and love; History. I teach history classes to adults and through this process I give people from different cultures the opportunity to learn about the history of this country. At the same time, I also learn about perceptions and attitudes from other places.

Through volunteering… I came in contact with people and heard different and interesting points of view. The feelings are even more intense as you see history unfolding before you. People who both themselves and the place where they come from have suffered are “tied” to the history of today. It is often said that history is no longer just events but the lives of people.

The feelings I have experienced through volunteering are… receptivity, interest, curiosity, a constant quest to satisfy the curiosity and interest of students, and satisfaction as I see students asking to learn more.

If I could describe my overall volunteer experience in one sentence, it would be… teaching and being taught.

I believe that through volunteering… we can all find the side of ourselves that is often missing or lost. Willingness is the basic motivation to see another side of ourselves, that of volunteering, which in a sense gives us the meaning of being human.