Inas- volunteer who learned how to push the limits with love

Do you know the book “Eat, pray, love”? The one with the woman who gives away everything to travel and to find herself. I think every travel that we do outside, we do inside.

Voluntary year can be different for every individual: a year of break, a year of freedom, a year of independency, a year of serving, a year of… For Inas it is definitely a year of learning, professionally and personally. Being driven by the passion about human rights she found herself in Greece working with Greek Forum of Refugees and having multiple interesting responsibilities. This was for her the one and only chance to enter the professionality field she truly desired and it’s a fortune! “This experience has totally revolutionized my naïve idea about NGOs and about international law. Thanks to this experience I have more concrete view of the reality: the theoretical point of view and the practical point of view. I have learned how difficult it is to reconcile these two perspectives. Step by step I have started to be more critical in the analysis of the reality and to be in the same time more practical in finding solutions.”

But not only has her project have had great impact of her professional career and development, as well personal development. She has learned how to let go more of the anxiety that is being supress to us by our society and ourselves and to be more relaxed. “To be more calm has pushed me also to go over my limits, I don´t look at them as an insurmountable mountain.” So by being relaxed we don’t mean being lazy. It´s about being balanced even in stressful situations. “I have finally faced my biggest fears. I took courage to speak in public on a stage during the antifascist festival, because I felt that it was my responsibility to bring the voice of the refugees with whom I spoke in the detention centres; I have finally learned how to swim; I have learned how to appreciate my body and how to love more myself.”

It must be said that it´s every individuals´ own decision how they want to create their experiences and what they are willing to learn. But if you once start travelling outside and inside, it is hard to stop.