European Volunteers Blog

Valerie’s Blog – 06 June 2022

 

6 months, 168 cup of teas, 27 really sunny days, 15 delayed trains and buses, 33 different places and 960 (or more) biscuits later I am happily back in Austria.

But there is so much more I’ve experienced, things I can’t express with numbers, not even in words.  I had so many beautiful conversation (I never thought I would enjoy talking about the weather so much), many laughter, many moments were I felt good and appreciated, but I’m not going to lie some moments have been quiet challenging and overwhelming, but it was all about finding the balance between being comfortable, making myself a home and leaving my comfort zone!

I’ve gained a lot of new skills on the one hand refurbishing tools, packing kits, de-nailing wood (learned how to cope with my anger management!) and on the other hand learning a lot about myself.

I want to say thank you to everyone who was a little part of my journey by teaching me a little skill, helping me with a problem or just having a nice chat! I will miss working in such a nice environment like Tools for Self Reliance!

Lots of love,

Valerie (the girl in the red boiler suit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alfiia’s Blog – 09 March 2022

23 true facts

Fact №1 – People
I never told you before but people whom I met here are amazing. You are amazing!  Thank you very much for your support, knowledge, jokes, tea time’s conversations, help, your stories, your time, food (especially chocolate).  It is like have lots of young grandads and grandmas under one roof. All of you done for me so much and teach me to do lots of thing.  Thank you for making my time hear special!

Fact №2
Sorry everyone, but my favorite day definitely is Wednesday.
I like every day, but Wednesday in my heart (especially my chocolate shearing hammer).
My first writing about Wednesday on my diary – «very funny guys».

Fact №3
I don’t like «oiling bench», too much oil.
Richard, you one of my heroes. How do you work there?

Fact №4
My favourite moment when volunteer show me something, and after that, tell me «but you should not do like that» or «don’t tell Stuart».

Fact №5
18 February 2022 unbelievable happened – Stuart tell almost the same thing «don’t tell …(volunteer’s name)».

Fact №6
Jim was first volunteer who show me how to refurbished my first tool.  It was hammer claw.

Fact №7
Sewing machine refurbishing was fiasco for me, probably, like first online tools auction (maybe also plus second one)

Fact №8
I have my own special cross point screwdriver which I used only in difficult situation (I used it 3 times, Stuart made it for me on 18 April)

Fact №9
Andy’s box. I just want to say that Andy is exist and I saw him.

Fact №10
I think 19 May 2021 was the day when volunteers start bring to us food.  It was very kind of you!

Fact №11
I think mostly I refurbished here planes.  I refurbished my first plane on 12 of May 2021 with Rick.

Fact №12
26 May 2021 – finished introduction course.  And had final Marmite test. (It was disgusting. Stuart told that I failed)

Fact №13
28 May 2021. Important day, we checked all boxes for shipment. Stuart said that it will be happiest day in my life when we will finish (I think we have different opinions about happiest day in life)

Fact №14
I hate uploaded the container with bicycles.

Fact №15
Steps of growth:
• 10 June 2021. It was day when I could decide what I want to refurbished.
• 14 June 2021.  I showed to Tim how to make file set.
• 15 June 2021.  I checked refurbished tools on «oiling bench» and put them on yellow side.
• 29 June 2021.  That was the day I first showed the workshop to the person who brought the donations.
• 6 July 2021.  Opened and closed workshop for the first time.
• 24 August 2021.  I’m really proud of myself. That day I showed Ash how to assemble the kit and didn’t kill him when he started doing something wrong for me.

Fact №16
Haberdashery – when I saw how this word was written, I decided that I would never remember how this word was spelled. (I was right)

Fact №17
I get mixed up Tuesday and Thursday.  For me it is day after Monday and day after Wednesday.

Fact №18
Once I was so upset (almost cried) that we didn’t have chocolate biscuits.  But my other hero saved me and gave me a chocolate bar.  The hero’s name is Janet.

Fact № 19
I thought this would never happen here, but it did.  Again!  Again person ask me why I laugh all the time.  I don’t laugh all the time, okay. (this is one of the most annoying question for me)

Fact №20
No ice cream on a pub, but there is ice cream on a theater.  Are you sure that it is okay?  Don’t you think that it’s strange?

Fact №21
Once I refurbished spirit levels all day (40 small ones and 20 big ones).  I think you should not be surprised that after that I saw dream how in my garden growth spirit levels.

Fact №22
I finally find hedgehogs!  I visited hedgehog rescue center with Jim.

Fact №23
I have two lovely sweaters from Sarah.

P.S.
Staff I love all of you, don’t trust all of you but love all of you (It’s not fact, it can be lie)»

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oleg’s Blog – 08 February 2022

Heya!  It’s Oleg.  So I celebrated Christmas for the first time!  Many people were surprised by it when I told them, but we don’t really celebrate it in Russia.  I’ve always seen it in the US movies so I was pretty excited to see how it’ll turn out.  So we decorated the house, put up the tree, prepared some nut roast and had a cozy Christmas eve 🙂  It wasn’t too different from how we celebrate New year’s eve in Russia, (we have the tree and everything) but, still, it was nice to touch this part of western culture (and have an earlier holiday than I’m used to…) All props to Valerie, really, she’s mostly responsible for the whole Christmas organization. The nut roast was good though.

After that we went to an “Aladdin” pantomime in Winchester (thanks Stuart).  Oooh boy, that was different!  Loud, bizarre and fun.  Never seen so many screaming kids in my life.  The Winchester cathedral was stunningly beautiful!  Gothic architecture is one of my weak spots.  I really enjoy just looking at British churches and cathedrals.  Lovely stuff!

 

Oh, I almost forgot, I’ve finished my last carving, photo attached.  It’s a pleasure to learn this wonderful craft 🙂  Big thanks to my woodcarving teacher Allan, he’s a great man.  I’ve already started working on a new project and hopefully I’ll manage to finish it before leaving, but we’ll see!

Anyway, have a nice day everyone and be safe!

 

 

Valerie’s Blog – 27 January  2022

Since more than 2 months I am living here in the UK.  And today in this very moment I would proudly say I am getting used to it.  Finally, I have a routine in my life, even though my routine changes every day, I have at least the feeling I kinda have a routine again.

I adapted brewing and drinking tea to my life as I’ve never lived without it.  I make myself a cup of tea when I need a break and want to feel cosy and relaxed.

But those two last months haven’t been only about drinking tea, it was a mix between settling down, looking for new adventures, exhausted evenings in my bed and trying to find the best biscuit (I’m open for all recommendations!).

I’ve travelled a little bit, discovered new places, been to museums, painted and decorated more than I could ever ask for, packed tool kits, have seen the sea and felt warm.

I figured out to cook more than pasta with tomato sauce (very proud).

And the most important part I figured out is, that I don’t have to figured it out all yet.

I’m looking forward for the next months (with hopefully a lot of biscuits ;))!

 

Alfiia’s Blog – 10 January 2022

Five months of September

This is what I’ve been thinking about England for the last 2 months.  And it seems to me that the people who live here have never seen a true golden autumn, snowy winter and blooming spring.  That makes me sad.

For me, autumn is the smell of a red or yellow leaf nested between book pages and the sound of rain drumming on the roof.  Spring is the smell of the street after the first thunderstorm, the sound of birds’ songs at the dawn and the murmuring of the brooks of thawing snow.  Winter, the smell of a Christmas tree which was brought from the frosty outdoors and the howl of a blizzard outside the window.

Agree that it is very difficult to find all this here, I would say it is impossible.  (But I was not born here, so you might know it better.)  I have written all the time about what I saw and felt here. So why not tell you what I can’t see and feel here.

I don’t like autumn.  I consider it is gray, sad, rainy, dirty (let alone a lot of work in the garden).  All colours are getting withered away, as if everything is dying.  But there is always that one.  But, in this case, the main thing is to catch that moment, and you will see that beauty.  Golden, flaming forest with the ground covered with golden fallen leaves.  It is warm, the sun is shining, and you shuffling your feet and scatter the leaves in different sides, to hear this special autumn sound.

Spring.  You have never seen the first snowdrop in the forest among the snow.  You have never seen a stream of melting snow, whose murmuring is beautiful.  You haven’t seen a blooming buds of trees.  And after that flowering is everywhere.  You have never worried that the snow won’t melt (who knows), and because of it summer doesn’t come.  (Maybe it’s just my fear).  You have never been surprised, what a really wide road you have on the street when the snow melts down on it.  You haven’t broken the ice in the puddles every morning just to hear it cracking.  You have never waited for the first thunder and lightning and have never felt the first freshness in the air that such weather brings about.  You have never felt this relief when you changed your winter jacket and shoes for spring ones and felt so lightweight and slimmed (as a bonus, you could find something valuable left in your pockets from the previous year).  You have never felt that joyful moment when the snow melts on the road and you walk on the clear dry asphalt.  And you don’t need any skating rink when the snow starts melting and it is getting everywhere so slippery that you can’t just keep the balance when walking (Yes, and no one cancels the risk of getting fractures).  The birds return and everything comes to life.  And when the grass appears, it is so juicy green.

I wrote before that in the fall everything is withering and dying.  And the spring is a new life. But here I cannot see it.

Winter.  I have said all the time that I miss the snow.  And now I’ll tell you what I mean exactly.

Do you have stories about the moment in your life when you leaved home and fell into the snowbank up to your chest or up to your waist, and then laughed, not understanding how to get out now.  Or how you couldn’t open the door because it was covered with snow.  Or it was so dark in your room because, again, the window was covered with snow, like the door before.  And these patterns on the windows are from frost, they are perfect (But if the windows are plastic, then you will not see them).

You haven’t had snow above the roof.  Or you haven’t jumped from the roof into the snowdrifts. Or you haven’t slid down the hill on a sled, then lost control and crashed into another snowdrift with laughter.
You have not had a story about how you and your friend decided to go to ice slide at -25, and he slipped and broke his arm.

You haven’t felt this beautiful moment when you and your friends walking on the first New Year’s Eve frozen, flushed, but happy, because everything was so magic.

You have not played the king of the hill (I think you can’t even understand what I mean).  You haven’t dug tunnels in the snow.  You haven’t made two meters snowmen. You did not play snowballs with friends, almost every day.  And you did not return at home red from the frost, with frozen clothes and snow wherever it could be.  You haven’t stood in the hallway and didn’t wait for your parents or brothers to shake off the snow with a broom, otherwise the road at home was closed.

You have never heard the cries of your parents: «where do you go without a hat into the cold?», or «where do you enter at home without shaking off the snow?».

You haven’t felt this smell of the washed clothes that you brought in from the frost outdoors.  You will not hear this crunch of snow under your feet.  You have not seen this glitter of snow under the moon and crystal clear sky strewn with stars.

You don’t know what valenki are and how comfortable and warm they are.  You don’t know how slippery it is to walk in ugg boots in winter.  You haven’t played snowballs with a cat.  You can’t understand this feeling when the first snow fell.  You cannot make a snow angel.

You never came home and saw that your eyelashes were covered with frost.  You never went to school in a blizzard with almost zero visibility, and the only thing that you had open was your eyes, and the wind was so strong that you could hardly move your legs (one step forward two back, but the way back was much faster.  You just ran and it wasn’t your decision).  You have never followed other people’s tracks, because the snow was deep and it was easier to walk, stepping on other people’s tracks, than to trample your own path.  You have never made tractor tracks in the snow or «ladybug» on the wall (Again, I’m not sure that you understand what about I am talking).  You will not be able to ski in the forest and you will not see this quiet forest covered with snow, where you could see the footprints of various animals.  You do not know this feeling after the new year, when there is a snowstorm outside the window, you do not need anywhere and you are sitting wrapped in a blanket with a book, and a Christmas tree is flickering next to it.

I can go on and on.  For me you have lost all this splendor without seeing my world.  But I cannot know what I have lost without seeing your worlds. I’m sure you have a lot of wonderful things.

But still, for me, your autumn, winter and spring are the five months of September.   And this does not please me at all.

 

 

Valerie’s Blog – 9th December 2021

3 weeks since I left my home village in Austria.
21 days since I left my cat.
And 504 hours since I left my friends and family in Austria to start my biggest adventure (so far) to go to England.

But let’s start in the beginning.

My name is Valerie, I am 18 years old and I am the new esc/evs/ltv volunteer. To get to know me a little bit better, I thought I will give you some random facts about me. : )

• My favourite pasta form is penne.
• I love bread and chocolate.
• My favourite colours are yellow and purple.
• For me are brains and flowers one of the most fascinating things on this planet.
• My favourite number is 3. That’s the reason why I am going to tell you three things I have learned, I have seen and I have discovered in England so far.

3 things I have learned:

1. That I love the small tooth wire brush.
2. It is a difference, if someone is asking: How aaare you? or How arrrre you?
3. “If you don’t like it, throw it!” ~ Alfiia; There are a lot of things which Alfiia teached me in the workshop, but this is by far the most important one.

3 things I have seen:

1. Brighton Beach; Like Oleg told you in his blog that eating fish and chips at the Brighton beach is a 10/10. But not only for eating, but also for walking and enjoying the sun, I can recommend the Brighton Beach.
2. Cinema in Southampton; The seats are amazing, comfy and great. You can change the position of the seats, if you are pressing a button (magic).
3. New Forest; I’ve made a small pushbike tour through the New Forest. It does almost look like Austria.

3 things I have discovered (category: welcome in my brain):

1. I have discovered, that it is harder than I thought it will be, to manage, that cars are driving on the other side. It is maybe a little bit cliché, but it is really hard to not be involved in a car accident, because you’ve looked at the wrong side while you were crossing the street.
2. Who can start a culture? Can I create my own culture, for example with my Russian roommates? A Russian and Austrian mixed one? Or does it need more time than I will be alive here on earth to establish a culture?
3. “Love as an act of resistance”, I’ve seen this slogan in Brighton and I liked it. But wouldn’t it be easier, if we would just respect each other. We don’t need to love everybody, just acceptance and respect. Because than we wouldn’t need the resistance part, right?

Have a good!
Valerie

 

Oleg’s Blog – 29th November 2021

Hello there! It’s Oleg and I definitely haven’t forgot to write my last blog post. Anyway, last few weeks were great fun. I finally started working on power tools which is… Challenging. But it wouldn’t be fun if it would be easy, right? I’m also quite close to finishing my second woodcarving project and it seems like it’s going to look half decent, which is surprising. It’s more or less easy relieve carving project: a few leaves and acorns. Ooh, and we have a new international volunteer! I think she’s also going to write here so I’ll let her introduce herself. She’s nice.

I finally visited Brighton! It wasn’t as crowded as it’d be in summer so we had a chance to enjoy the city without many people around. There’s a great museum called “Hove Museum & Art Gallery” I never really enjoyed going to museums but this one was quite different. All and all that was one of the nicest British cities that I visited so far, really lovely. Expensive beer though.

My new favorite thing about the UK is eating fish’n chips at the Brighton beach.

 

Alfiia’s latest blog!

I’ll tell you about one underestimated place in my life that you all know. This is the workshop. The place where I spend most of my time besides home. (That’s a surprise the house has a name, not a number, but the name!)

I realized that the workshop is an underrated place in my life. I understand that you have all seen it and, in fact, know everything about this place. But it seems to me, that there is no person who would know everything about this place. It’s always changing. Everything moves there regardless of you (especially markers, those travelers who are still missing). BUT at the same time, there are things that can lie in one place for weeks. (Until someone asks what the thing is lying there. One of the most difficult question)

Let’s start with the fact that it is huge, remember what I said in previous blog, that I am great at sweeping. So, you will need about two hours to completely sweep it. (very interesting activity)

Minute of useless information.

I re-read Harry Potter, so at the moment in my head a workshop is a kind of Hogwarts. And all volunteers can be divided into four houses.

Ravencla is all those who are associated with sewing machines and electric tools.

Gryffindor is definitely the wooden workshop.

Hufflepuff includes all the rest people.

Slytherin is work staff.

Let’s go back to a boring world without magic. It’s a two-storey building, with many rooms. And I am still amazed at the presence of secret shelves, holes in the wall or mini rooms in it. It seems to me, that I have not seen and discovered everything yet.

Warehouse (I found out that this place is called that, only this month). Small hand pallet trucks and fork lift live in this place, each has its own character and abilities. (I still think you need to take a license to drive them)

Sorting area for me is some kind of chaos. But for each chaos there is a genius, in our case, this is a machine man. («Only the fool needs an order — the genius dominates over chaos» Einstein)

Sewing machine shop or sewing machine rescue center. There is something clever and a little heavy.

Wooden workshop, very quiet place (at night). Every machines are potential machine for chopping off limbs. (definitely Gryffindor)

And the place where a small bunch of monsters lives (grinders, degreaser, linisher, gritblaster (I still think that we need new one), wire wheel machine etc.), led by the most terrible red monster (I don’t know how it is called, but it has inscription Blade 4. I doubt that this is the 4th part of the film, we are not the Marvel and I don’t need vampires), which always makes the most noise and always turns on abruptly. In addition, this is the dirtiest place, the monsters’ place is rarely cleaned.

Office. Do you know that the glass between two office rooms is shifting? I know, but when I decided to check it out, all of the Slytherins’ people were not ready for this. (Poor fellows)

And this fire ladder. This is the fastest way to reach the force nexus in this building. The force nexus is where the biscuits are stored. And next to the force nexus there are two places of fear, these are two red doors that cannot open and close without a sharp sound. (I do not like sharp and sudden sounds)

And the window is magic. In summer it cannot be opened, but in autumn and winter you can, but you need to be very strong to close it (maybe one day I will slam it so hard that I will break it. It will be the day when I will be strong as a bear.)

And these protective masks on the wall like the heads of the elves on the wall in Harry Potter book.

And haberdashery …

I promised the blog would be short. (Not this time)

Last thing.

I cannot but mention this cute, but a little beaten by life, legless and little-known representative of this organization. This is a goat, whose name I don’t know (maybe he doesn’t have one) lives on a tree on the territory of the organization, and I think he is lonely and cold. He needs a little attention.»

 

Hello, it’s Oleg!

Recently I tried to listen to an audiobook while working. It was a fantastic idea! Just in a few days I’ve finished this book and switched to an audio podcast. I never was fond of listening to anything except music when I work, but now I changed my mind, it’s really fun 🙂

I’ve been to Birmingham, Malvern Hills, Clun, Llanelli and Swindon on our group visits. It’s really interesting to see how different groups organize their workshops and warehouses. Every group is different, but one thing is constant, all of the groups that I visited are really nice and chill 🙂

My new favorite thing about the UK is the culture!

 

23 September 2021

What about the blog? I would say not this time

But the things I do for Julia (I will miss).

 

I’ve been here for six months. Half a year. Half of the project.

Here are the main skills I learned in 6 months.

1. Sweep (I’m just Cinderella, with hair like a mermaid, Thumbelina’s height and love of sleep, like a sleeping beauty. (So, by the way, there are princesses in Russian fairy tales too, I like them more, but Andersen is love))
2. Asking questions. (Stuart [bossy], another 5 months and no more questions from me.)
3. Hear the question, understand half of the question, think it over, answer. (If I often answered your questions in a wrong way, that’s the reason)
4. Just weakness leaves your body.
5. Are you happy with that?

 

What I haven’t learned in 6 months is climbing the stairs. Well, it’s not mine.

I will never learn to pretend that I am even a little interested when I am not interested. (I know who does it well, but keep it a secret)

 

What else?

I began to forget that my name is Al’fiIA, not AlfIia.

I evicted the spider out, my stuffed toys didn’t like it.

I bought myself sunflowers and garlands. (Beauty! When is it already possible to decorate the Christmas tree? I am not a big fun of autumn, I am not Pushkin.)

I miss the stars. (Where is the nearest observatory?)

You have obvious problems with tasty strawberry, you do not have it. (Poor man`s)

 

Traveled to London. (My brother is happier than anyone else, but he still can’t believe that I didn’t like London.)

 

Probably, for most people in Russia who studied English, Great Britain is associated with the phrase:

«London is the capital of Great Britain».

If you know this phrase, then you know English.

 

Questions about London. (Proof of point 2)

 

Why is everything so grey?

Why is it so cold?

Where is the sun?

The water in the Thames is as grey as everything around. (My friend suggested me to use photoshop and add clear sky on all my London’s photos. I think that’s what they do in English textbooks).

What’s with Big Ben, why is he under restoration since 2017? (Didn’t see Big Ben, consider that you haven’t been in England)

And what about a kilometre-long queue?

 

The subway is a real horror.

Conclusion, if you are an introvert, this is not your city.

Well, not everything is so bad, especially if you are not on the street.

 

The National Gallery is beautiful!

Firstly, Van Gogh is a miracle.

Secondly, there Davinci is a genius.

Thirdly, you walk through the gallery and see a picture and think: Monet! And then you wonder, maybe Manet. (I wonder one day I’ll remember who is who)

Those 5 hours were worth it.

 

Parks. Not bad, but too many people and it is cold. And the squirrels, I can’t understand are they brave or perky? The ice cream is delicious. And my scheme «How to take a photo if you are travelling alone» is working.

 

Sherlock Holmes Museum. Details. (found a Singer sewing machine there)

Did you know that children in China love him very much?

 

Harry Potter!

I would stay to live there. (I LOVE MAGIC!!!)

I’m done.

 

9 September 2021

Hello people! It’s Oleg again, and here’s my new blog post 🙂
Since I work a lot with sharpening different tools, I always wondered how I could use them, so I decided to do some woodcarving, and thanks to all of the volunteers in our workshop it was really easy to do, cheers everyone for the help! I carved my first spoon a few days ago and although it looks awful I really enjoyed the process, really meditative and calming. And easy (which is good).

At the end of August I spent 4 days in London. I think it’s a really unique and diverse city. Quite expensive though, but beautiful! Also I had an opportunity to see a bit of Wales (Cardiff) a few days ago, which was nice. Such an interesting country! I love the Welsh language, it sounds like it has nothing in common with English 🙂

Anyway, thanks for reading! My new favourite thing about the UK is the Welsh accent 🙂

 

1 September 2021

Alfiia at The Ross Fountain in EdinburghWhat to do if you have taken a vacation and do not know where to go? What to do if you are in a panic? What to do if you can’t sleep because it’s too light outside at night? What to do if you want and don’t want to eat at the same time? What to do if you are tired, but cannot understand how much? What to do if you have a lots of unanswered messages and you don’t have the energy to respond to them? What to do if you have so many thoughts in your head? What to do if you need to write a blog but you can’t write it? (no pressure)

 

I think the best answer is «Let it go, let it go»(but I’m not Elsa, I’m rather Olaf, I think that when I grow up I will understand everything)

 

So by the way, I’ve been here for five months. Five! No blue police box, no Knight Bus, no wonderland with a rabbit, no hedgehog in the end. (But there is progress with the hedgehog.)

 

Warning! Further text does not carry any semantic meaning. There is no logic in it. These are just random thoughts in my head during my weekend (Yes, I chose where to go, the day before departure.) or in general during these 5 months. (Don’t try to understand it, I don’t understand it myself.)

 

In general, the summer is over, why not take stock.

1. Surprisingly, I was not hit by a car this summer, and I seem a little used to your roads. (Although why do you need traffic lights and why do you ignore them, I do not know, most likely you are immortals.)
2. I think I need to celebrate this summer. Since this is the first summer in my life when mosquitoes didn’t bite me and I didn’t wake up from a mosquito squeak over my ear in the middle of the night and then didn’t watch him for the next hour to kill him. (Harsh Russia, evil me.)

 

If you are hoping that this blog will have answers to the questions that were at the beginning, then I do not have the answers to them. You will figure it out along the way. (I have no strength to respond to them, as well as to messages, and I repeat, I have not grown up yet.)

 

Although I can advise you to find someone smart around you and address the question to him, he is smart, let him answer. (Or whatever I call it, let it suffer.)

(“To all stupid – happiness from madness,

All clever – woe from wits. “) I’m not sure if the translation is correct.

 

I would also recommend reading Russian classics, not my blog. There is more logic. (But it is not exactly)

1. «Eugene Onegin» Alexander Pushkin.
2. «A Hero of Our Time» Mikhail Lermontov.
3. «The Master and Margarita» Mikhail Bulgakov.
4. «War and Peace» Leo Tolstoy.
5. «Crime and Punishment» Fyodor Dostoevsky.

This is what I re-read. And the phrase is an epigraph to «Woe from Wit» Alexander Griboyedov.

 

I can also advise on how to take a photo if you are traveling alone. (Of course I don’t need it, but my relatives and friends are afraid to forget how I look. Their memory is bad, and I suffer because of it.)

So.

1. Find a place to take a photo. (It’s simple, you see a crowd of people who are photographed against one background, this is exactly what you need.)
2. You find two girls who have been taking pictures for 10 minutes already. (If you, like me, do not like to be photographed, then take a closer look and choose a pose for yourself.)
3. You approach them and ask them to photograph you. (There is a risk that you will be stuck there for 10 minutes, because they will approach this matter very responsibly.) And that’s all, now you have a photo. (Now for sure no one will forget how you look.)

 

I used a train here (a lot, almost 18 hours) and one day, one nice man sat down with me, after 5 minutes he put on a mask, and after that, he scared me the rest of the way. (Have you noticed how a mask changes a person? You are in a mask, and you are without it two different people. One will obviously be more pleasant. (And what kind of mask I mean, think yourself.)

Speaking of trains, the availability of outlets is impressive. I really liked it. (But at the same time, it’s scary, addiction is a terrible thing.)

 

And this phrase, which is constantly played everywhere and always,

– See it, say it, sorted.

If you spend a lot of time at railway stations, you can learn the full phrase. But I only liked this part. (Security.)

Why don’t we have the same phrase in TFSR? Something like … (Maybe someone has options? A question for the smart ones, it’s definitely not me.)

 

Speaking of phrases, I also liked:

– Sometimes it’s alright not to be alright. (Wisdom from street “artists”) We can assume that this is a sign from above, especially after the panic station.

(Thanks to those who replied to my not very funny messages when I was a little in a panic. (I remind you they must be smart and forgot to say not very impressionable)

 

You know, I love trains, or rather, I like to go somewhere and look at the landscapes flashing by (I would say that I do this the best in my life, but no, sometimes it makes me sick.)

 

If someone does not want to read Russian classics, you can read Allan Poe (Before going to bed, that’s it)

«By a route obscure and lonely,

Haunted by ill angels only»

This is what is in my head when I walk through your narrow and deserted streets. I really like them, but the feeling that someone in the back will hit me on the head for some reason does not leave me.

 

Talking about trains. Where you sit on the train decides a lot (and it works not only on trains). All that you see and how you see depends on the place where you sit. Whether with your back to the traffic or against the traffic, by or beside the window, on the right side or on the left. And everyone who travels on the train will observe essentially the same picture, but no. (Sounds like an explanation of different points of view. The train is the same, but the places are different and the view is also different.)

 

So if you have read this far and do not understand anything, then remember that you are on the train and look out of my window from your seat, not from mine (and I warned you at the very beginning there is no logic here).

 

Let’s continue. Have you ever had an argument with seagulls?

I had, I can say with confidence that they do not understand Russian and Tatar. English too. (But maybe it’s all about my terrible English.) Or maybe you explained to the squirrel that it was paper and should not be eaten? (I tried, but she was distrustful and didn’t believe me until she tried it sheselfs). Or maybe you waited five minutes for the snail to cross the road (that was fast one).

In general, you have a bunch of spiders, I have one in my room, his name is Gosha. But there is a rule, if a spider becomes larger than a 5p coin, then it will be moved out on the same day and minute.

You know, in the beginning, I did not understand anything about your coins. Why is it impossible to write numbers on all, why write in words? And what about their size, why 10 pence is more than 20, and 2 pence and 1 is more than 5.

I bought a new umbrella with a painting by Van Gogh. I like his work. (But why do I need two umbrellas?)

I also like to ignore strangers with the phrase: Sorry, but I don’t speak English.

I bought myself an umbrella, but I could not buy sunflowers. I had to convince myself that I didn’t need it, I had to return home for about 7 hours, they would die. So I was left without sunflowers. (one logic place in this text)

In general, so much has happened lately. That I almost do not remember anything, or I remember everything, but everything was confused.

I think it’s enough, I close my window. It’s time to pay attention to your window.

 

19 August 2021

Hello, it’s Oleg! So the last few weeks were really interesting! I’ve participated in our tea for tools event. It was interesting to see what charity events here are like. I think it’s quite different from what I’m used to in Russia.

I’m still exploring new skills to develop, I’ve been refurbishing a couple of axes recently, which is not as easy as I thought! Oh, and I’ve continued working on blow lamps, it takes some dedication to refurbish them, but I think I’ve grasped the most important things 🙂

Also, I’ve been doing some traveling! I’ve been to Bournemouth a couple of times to visit my friends, it’s a lovely city. I’ve been in Lepe which is a really nice hamlet, I quite liked it, it has a lot of history and astonishing nature. Well, thank you for your time!

My favourite thing about the UK is marmite!

 

 

29 July 2021

I’ve been here for a long time, already a quarter British. (Or maybe not so long ago, everything is subjective.) But there are several things that I do not understand or still learning to perceive adequately. (Work in progress)

 

First. Who does not know, but in Russia, right-hand road traffic. And when I first time crossed the road I got confused. (Where to look? Where are you going?) Roundabout is a nightmare. (If I’m gonna get hit by a car, then here. (Joke, but it’s not certain)). And when I get into the car, first I go the wrong way, and then in the end I find a place for the passenger.

 

 

I express my deep gratitude to the inscriptions on the roads, that say which way to look.

 

Second. Buses. Do you even have them on Saturdays and Sundays? And in general, someone can tell them that the schedule is not for beauty. (Of course I like walking, but not so much, and I’m not getting younger)

 

Trains. Can you please stop canceling trains? (I am certainly strong and independent, but not so much) Thank you.

 

Third. Shops on weekends. Okay, clothing stores, but grocery Et tu, Brute? And if I want ice cream at 9pm. Where should I go? (How do you survive?)

 

Fourth. Unexpectedly, Pub, where is the ice cream?

 

Fifth. I don’t like cutting beautiful flowers.  And I like getting answers to my questions right away, especially if it’s a question «Where are biscuits? ».

 

Let’s add some positives.

 

The sun. (Surprisingly). Sea. Beach. (I didn’t get sunburned. Don’t forget sunscreen.)

Visit other volunteers in Bournmouth and have a great time. (All because breakfast was prepared for you in the morning).

Made new green friends. (Cacti, not a hedgehog of course, but also thorny).

Stonehenge and strawberries (It’s like drawbridges in St. Petersburg, it’s enough to see once, I’m not talking about strawberries)

 

P.s Of course I can come to terms with all of the above. (But it is not exactly).

But

Where’s

My

Hedgehog?

 

15 July 2021

Hey there! It’s Oleg. Hope you’re doing well! Recently I’ve done the impossible – I’ve sorted out all of the chisels in the racks, which took me a few days to finish (It was a mess, I wish I took a photo of it). I feel complete now. It was a good experience – now I know a bit more about this tool and steel in general which is useful. I also had an English breakfast for the first time! It was really good, I liked it!

My new favourite thing about the UK is the people!

 

 

 

 

 

1 July 2021

Sometimes a wonderful day can be described in words which have nothing to do with each other. For example, in my case it is: breakfast, cup, grave, stranger and kidnapping in Romsey. (Nature comes a priori.)

Off course there are lots of options for the development of events with these words. But I will be brief, as they say, brevity is the soul of wit.

Breakfast. My first typical British breakfast was at a cafe called The Big Blue Cafes. (Hopefully one day I will find a blue police box, rumored that it’s bigger on the inside) I ordered Half House Breakfast. Jim and I decided that I become half British at that moment. (Let’s be honest, I didn’t finish my meal, too much, but delicious, let’s just say that now I’m a quarter British.)

Cup. Now I have this cafe’s signature cup. The water in it is tastier. (Thanks Jim!)

The grave. I understand perfectly that this word does not fit at all with a well-spent day. But if half of your childhood you were reading Sherlock Holmes, then everything will fall into place if I say that this was the grave of Arthur Conan Doyle. (Elementary, my dear Watson).

Stranger. You walk, enjoy the nature and views, for some reason you go to the store to talk to a stranger and accidentally find out that this person went to some peninsula (well, I have problems with geography, sorry) for fishing in Russia! For fishing! Crazy British.

Kidnapping in Romsey. I will tell you right that there is nothing criminal. I just got a little carried away by studying the church and my companions lost me a little, suggesting that someone kidnapped me. But in fact, I had already been kidnapped, or rather my heart was stolen by homemade chocolate cake, which I ate before going to inspect the church. (Maybe someone knows where Willy Wonka lives here?)

Bottom line. Sometimes you can find unexpected things in places where you don’t expect to see them. Meet people who are so passionate about their work that they can leave for it to the other side of the world. A small thing, such as a simple cup, can make you incredibly happy, because it doesn’t matter what they give to you, but it is important with what feeling they do it. And your heart could be stolen by a piece of chocolate cake in Romsey. And nature never ceases to admire. (The fish in Stockbridge are great, of course, but I’m still waiting for you, hedgehog).

 

 

21 June 2021

Hello again! It’s Oleg. Today I’d like to share with you what I’ve done for the last couple of weeks or so. I try to do as many different activities here as I can, while I’m here. Around a week ago I’ve had the opportunity to learn how to refurbish saws, which is, as it turns out, quite a difficult craft! It’s mind blowing how many things we don’t know about the tools that always seemed common to us. For example, experienced carpenter would use different saws depending on whether he/she would cut along the grain or across. After refurbishing around 4 saws I’m starting to understand how it’s done. Big thanks to Malcolm, Graham, Cliff, Richard and Roy for helping me out with this job!

Last month we finally had decent weather! We traveled around a little bit. Jim took us to visit his hometown Hythe, a really lovely small seaside town. From there we took the ferry to Southampton where we walked around a bit and looked at old monuments. That was really nice, thanks Jim! Well, thank you for your time everyone, see you next month!

My favourite thing about the UK is the architecture.

4 June 2021

Hi! My name is Alfiia. I’m country girl from middle of Russia coming here by ESC program. I’ve been here for three months already.

Time goes fast but I still don’t believe that I am here in England. And finally it’s summer and sunny (sometimes)! I hope that the sun is not so rare thing here. But never mind, I bought the umbrella.

I’m big fan of nature. I really love it. Rabbits, squirrels, birds (They are very fast, maybe one day I could take a good picture. But not today. And yes, hedgehog, I’m waiting for you ) . And birds songs are everywhere. It is perfect, isn’t it?

All is green. It’s amazing! Trees are different here if you compare it with Russia. But not all of them. And I found birch, it’s Russian symbol. I think if you want you can read the one of Sergey Esenin’ poem, The Birch.

Minute of un-useful information. (Take a rest) All my life I thought that in UK there are only red double-decker buses. Surprise, it’s not true. All my life was lie.

Ocean, beach. I live in the middle of Russia, and there not so match water. That’s why I always look for place where I can find water. And now I have lots of ocean and beach photos.

I just want to say that you live in very beautiful place. I know if you live in one place for long time, you get used to everything. Just don’t forget that it’s really amazing place even if it’s rainy.

The whole summer is ahead, and please don’t forget about sun cream, when you go to the beach.(Do not repeat my mistakes.) It’s very important thing.

And thanks all of you for such a warm welcoming.

 

21 May 2021

Hello there! My name is Oleg Filatov. I am 19 years old and I came to Netley Marsh from Russia on April 16^th to volunteer in this great project.

My first month here was really nice. I had an opportunity to work with all sorts of stuff: kit packing, tool and sewing machine refurbishment, receiving donated tools.

One time we went to drop some items to our “Robin’s Nest” (An antique shop) stand and Stuart suggested us to walk around a bit and look at some stuff that we might want to buy there. Little did he know that I’ll go record digging for the next half an hour 🙂 Anyway, despite all of Сovid regulations I’ve really enjoyed living and working here, thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

 

I’ve really liked the idea of working alongside retired volunteers and that’s something that I would like to see in my country. I’m looking forward to diving more into the local culture, visiting other fellow volunteers all around the country and learning more practical skills!

 

My favourite thing about the UK is… tea breaks. They are really good.

 

 

 

January 2021

19 year old Max Welzenbach from Austria joined the team at Netley Marsh in March last year to start his six month European Solidarity Corps volunteering project. He sadly was just with the team for ten days before he had to return home due to the pandemic. Max also visited us for a week in 2018 during his school holidays so he could experience the work and meet the volunteers.

Here, in his own words he explains how his time with Tools for Self Reliance “might have changed my life in just ten days” Max Welzenbach

The odds to stay in Netley Marsh for a longer time never were in my favour. Nevertheless, I tried to make the best out of the Covid pandemic. The mission of Tools for Self Reliance is such a great one to me. Seeing how two generations work alongside and benefit from each other got me thinking. With lots of impressions my adventure ended very unfortunate in a lock down in Linz, just 10 days after I left the military service in Austria. I still miss all the great people, the workshop, teatime and many more things. However, looking with regret in the past isn’t a thing I would want to waste my time on. Instead, I talked to one of my best friends who still served in the alternative service as a paramedic. He told me that he had patients who didn’t leave the house for 6 years, because they neither had family nor friends and loads of patients who just wanted to talk to young people.

 

This impression really got us thinking and I talked about my experience at Tools for Self Reliance that elderly benefit from the young volunteers, while they can pass along the knowledge they have. The idea to match retired people with students (like a dating platform for intergenerational learning and support) was born. While many elderly people need for instance help in their garden, nearly no one of the younger generation knows how to prepare fresh and healthy meals. Together with two friends we presented the idea at a local incubator program to see if the idea was worth to be continued. Soon we got accepted to the program. We got mentors, a small funding, a place to work and we founded our very own company. Since this day, we are working hard to fight loneliness and applied for further governmental funding, which we received in December.

 

Tools for Self Reliance, has not only changed my life, but also helped me to see, how easy a solution can be, for a very complex issue. One day hopefully, I will be able to bring this service also to the UK and might finally be able to return to the UK for a longer time and catch up on all the teatimes I missed this year.

 

30 March 2020

Hi there and welcome to my very last Blog. I am Anna Winkler and I am from Austria I spent the last six months in Netley Marsh. But before I want to tell you why I left two weeks earlier, I am going to tell you about my trip to Liverpool.

At the end of February, I spent a weekend in Liverpool. I organised a weekend full of sightseeing and fun with some friends from London. One of the highlights was definitely the Anfield Football Stadium, we did a stadium tour and learned a lot about the history of Liverpool FC.  We also went to a radio tower where we had a fantastic view over Liverpool. We had a very nice time and were lucky with the weather.

I am back in Austria for two weeks now and I am really sorry that I could not say goodbye to most of our daily volunteers and office staff. I decided to fly back to Austria because of coronairus. It was not the end I have expected, but I think it was the right decision to leave earlier.

 

It was nice to meet you and I hope I see you soon in the future.

Stay heathy.
XOXO
Anna

 

6 March 2020

Hello everyone welcome my new blog entry. My name is Johannes and I‘m a volunteer at Tools for Self Reliance as a part of the EU exchange program European Solidarity Corps.

It is now almost half a year since I came to Tools for Self Reliance. Which not just means that my time in the UK is sadly almost halfway over but also that the time goes very fast. But that luckily also means that spring is slowly arriving, the days are getting longer, the first early bloomers are growing and maybe the weather decides to get better as well soon.

Since it was quite warm last Sunday and mostly sunny, I decided to go to the Motor Museum in Beaulieu. As there is neither a train nor bus connection going directly to Beaulieu, cycling was the only option. The route there was actually quite nice and did not take to long either.

 

26 February 2020

Hi there and welcome back to my blog.

It´s me again, Anna, the girl from Austria. I can´t believe I am only here for one more month volunteering for Tools for Self Reliance and living in the UK. But now I want to tell you about what has been going on in the last month.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been volunteering for another charity organization called Waterside Scrapstore Totton. The Scrapstore takes clean waste material donated by local people. We sort them in our store and sell them at minimal cost for use of art, craft and play activities.

Last week my family was in the UK to see where I live and work. I took a few days off to take them on trips. We went to Cornwall by car, this was a wish of my mother because she wanted to see the locations of the Rosamunde Pilcher films. We saw beautiful cliffs, beaches, and castles that gave us the Rosamunde Pilcher feeling. The next stop was Bristol. There we saw many of the city’s sights, one of them was the Cabot Tower, where we had a wonderful view of all of Bristol despite the bad weather. We also looked at the new graffiti by the anonymous artist Banksy. Unfortunately, a part of the artwork was destroyed, and we could only see one part. We had a really good time although it rained a lot.

My favourite thing about the UK is travelling around the country and see how different each region is.

 

10 February 2020

Hello everyone it‘s me Johannes. This week we have been busy at the workshop packing boxes for the next shipment, on Saturday two of the volunteers took us on a trip to Buckler‘s Hard.

Leaving in April, our next shipment will contain more than 300 tool kits for our partners in Malawi. That means a lot of packing, collecting tools from the warehouse and box making. Since there are about 30 different varieties of kits and every partner has individual requirements the process of packing is very divers and alternating.

Jenny and Roy are two of the longest serving volunteers at Tools for Self Reliance. This Saturday, they took Anna and me on a day trip to the historical village of Buckler‘s Hard near Beaulieu. It used to be a shipbuilding yard, as it was close to the New Forest for wood and because the Beaulieu River was passable for larger ships. The museum was quite interesting, giving a lot of information about the ships that were built there, an insight in the houses and how the people used to live there. All in all, we enjoyed a very nice day there having a good time and good weather.

My favourite thing about the UK is that the weather does get better!

 

24 January 2020

Hi there and welcome to my blog: I am Anna from Austria. It is my 4th month here in Netley Marsh and I have travelled and learnt a lot since my last blog post. Today I want to tell you more about a new skill I gained at Tools for Self Reliance and about my trip to Stonehenge.

Gavin (a volunteer from our workshop) has taught me how to refurbish sewing machines. First, we disassemble the machine, then we remove the dirt, clean everything and then we oil the moving parts of the machine so that they run smoothly. Although it sounds easy, the sewing machines have a really complex but clever system. The first sewing machines were a challenge but with every machine, I learned something new and became better.

Last weekend, I took a journey to Stonehenge with a friend called Sonia who I met at the On-Arrival-Training last November in London. Sonia is from Spain and currently works in Cheltenham. We met in Salisbury and took the bus to Stonehenge. Before we saw the stones, we went to the museum to learn more about the history of Stonehenge, which was just as impressing as the stones. It was a really great trip and was definitely worth going.

 

My favourite thing about the UK is that I have the opportunity to learn new skills every day. One day I could be doing sewing machine repairs and the next doing tool repairs.

 

9 January 2020

Hello everyone, it`s me Johannes and welcome to the new blog. I hope you all had a good Christmas and I also wish you a happy new year!
Since I was not going home to Germany over Christmas, my mum and my sister came to the UK to visit me and to see where I have been living and working for the past three months.

They arrived on the 23. of December and we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve as it is typical in Germany. On Christmas Day and Boxing Day I showed them around Southampton and the local parts of the New Forest. They were quite surprised seeing ponies walking around on the streets without any fear of people or cars.

After that we went to London to stay there for a few days and visited some popular attractions like the Tate Modern and Borough Market. We also did a tour around the House of Parliament, which I found very interesting as it is just amazing how much history took place at that location. The tour also helped to understand the way the British governmental system and the House of Parliament is build up in the way it is today.

Thenceforth we went to Brighton and spend some time there at the sea, enjoying the good weather we had as it was mostly sunny during our stay there. Taking a bus to the Seven Sisters was quite a journey to get there, but it was definitely worth it at the end with a stunning view on the rock formation.

My favourite thing about the UK is that the New Forest is right at our doorstep.

 

11 December 2019

Hi! I am Anna from Austria. I have been a volunteer at Tools for Self Reliance for two and a half months; I can´t believe that I am already halfway through my time in England, time goes by so fast. This last month was very busy and I would like to tell you about the group visit to Southwell and Downham market and about my trip to London.

On the 2nd and 3rd of December Ben and I visited a partner group of Tools for Self Reliance. Do you know that Tools for Self Reliance has over 30 partner groups around the UK, which refurbish tools and pack kits?

The first stop was Southwell, where we met all the members at their “workshop” (a room in the basement of a church). Ben updated the group about the progress in Africa and the work in the UK. After that, we had a cup of tea and loaded the van with tools that the group had refurbished over the year.

Another day, another group! The next stop was Downham market. We drove to an old farm where 5 men work on tools for Africa. It was wonderful to see how interested they were when they saw the development in Africa and how delighted they are to be part of the progress.

Last weekend I went to London to see my childhood friend Magda, who is currently an Au Pair. The highlight of this weekend was going to a restaurant called Kipferl. It is an Austrian restaurant; we really enjoyed the typical Austrian food they had like Frittatensuppe or Käsespätzle.

 

My favourite thing about the UK is that I have been in the Christmas mood since the beginning of November!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

2 December 2019

Hello it’s Johannes, welcome to my new Blog, last week Anna and I were busy at the workshop refurbishing and flat packing some treadle sewing machines for our next shipment. On Thursday we went to the Tools for Self Reliance Christmas Quiz.

For our next shipment to Sierra Leone we need 23 treadle sewing machines (aka: treadles). Since the shipment leaves in January and the workshop won’t operate over Christmas and New year, Anna and I also got involved in refurbishing treadles. Those do not just comparably take more time to refurbish but also a lot of space once packed, which would make it impossible to fit all of them into one container. Eventually the idea came up to flat pack them. This now reduces the space needed to pack them to a minimum. All in all a busy week at the workshop supporting our sewing machine specialists as they also have to handle the demand of regular sewing machines for the shipment.

On Thursday the 28th of November Tools for Self Reliance held a Christmas Quiz at Copythorne Parish Hall. Our team of Gavin, Pete, their wives, Anna and myself had a lot of fun quizzing for the win against eleven other teams. Despite our stunning performance, we only managed to take the 8th place. Nevertheless we all had a lot of fun and a great time, raising money to support people in Africa developing sustainable livelihoods.

My favourite thing about the UK is developing my skills at Tools for Self Reliance.

 

18 November 2019

Hi there! My name is Anna, I am 19 years old and I am from Austria.   Since the end of September I have been living in Netley Marsh and volunteer for Tools for Self reliance. During that time, I have learned a lot, saw a lot of new places and met many different people. Today I want to point out two events (Curry Night and On-Arrival training) in more detail.

On a Friday night, Johannes and I have been invited to “Curry Night” with the Wednesday Group (volunteers that work on a Wednesday in our workshop). So, we went to Ashurst and enjoyed the time at an Indian restaurant. I really appreciate spending time with them beyond the workshop.

After six weeks in the UK, we went to our On-Arrival-Training in London. We learned a lot about British culture and got useful tips for living in Great Britain. But the main intention about the training was to meet other volunteers around the UK. Soon I built up relationships with some of them and we try to stay in touch and meet each other soon.

The favourite thing about the UK is meeting new people from different cultures and to get better acquainted with our volunteers and hear the story of their life’s.

5 November 2019

Hello everyone, my name is Johannes Baur and I am one of the two new European volunteers here at Tools for Self Reliance. I am from a smaller city called Aalen in the south of Germany. Arriving in Netley Marsh four weeks ago, I had an exciting time meeting all the people that volunteers at Tools for Self Reliance and learning about the workshop and the organisation.

The past month has been based on an induction programme not just about all the different parts of the workshop but also about the staffs tasks. Starting with the Africa Programs on to Fundraising and Volunteer- and Group-Coordination. In the workshop we learned about box making, the refurbishing of hammers, chisels, planes, vices, treadle sewing machines as well as the checking of those mentioned and more. So yeah, a very interesting time with a lot of things learned and I am still looking forward to learn more.

My favourite thing about the UK are the tea brakes at Tools for Self Reliance.

 

 

1 October 2019

We warmly welcome Anna from Austria, and Johannes from Germany as our two newest European Volunteers who will be supporting tool refurbishment, kit packing and day to day activities in the workshop over the coming months.

 

9 October 2019

Our new European volunteer Anna is getting stuck into saw refurbishing in the workshop today!

 

 

Erik’s 1000 mile cycle home

Scroll down for the latest update from Erik!

On Sunday 1 September 2019, Erik will leave Tools for Self Reliance on the back of his bicycle, with a tent, camping stove and a few more essentials, as he prepares for his greatest challenge yet – cycling for over 30 days, 1000 miles and across six countries to his home town of Linz, Austria – to support young people in Africa look forward to bright futures.

Sponsor Erik 1p for each mile he pedals at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eriksjourney

He will be sharing regular updates on his Instagram profile @eriksjourneyyy, these will be shared on Tools for Self Reliance’s Facebook page and  here on the blog!

1 September 2019 – Day one

And… he’s off!

Erik left Tools for Self Reliance at 8am on Sunday to begin the first 30 mile leg to Portsmouth on Sunday 1 September. He arrived to blue skies by the seaside!

Day two – Portsmouth to Brighton!

Day four – Erik is on his way to Hastings!

5 September 2019

Erik has reached Dover! From Portsmouth he travelled to Brighton and spent the evening with Rotaract friends sharing a meal and playing Jenga. Before he cycled to Hastings and onto Dover!

He has encountered sheep, cows and soaked up the coastline as he made his way East before he catches the ferry this weekend to France.

17 September 2019   

Erik has arrived in Amsterdam!

20th September 2019

Erik has left Amsterdam and had a great time exploring the city by bike, including a visit to the Van Gogh museum.

26 September 2019

Erik has arrived in Germany! On Monday he gave a talk to Rotary Club of Oberhausen.

On Instagram he shared “I have a plan and a few impressions from the previous days  arrived in cologne today”

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 September 2019

30 days in to his cycling adventure home and he is in Cologne, Germany

“Spent a few days in cologne ! 🚴🏻‍♂️ now on the way to Karlsruhe not enough internet to show you more.”

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored Erik on his epic journey home – if you keep meaning to and haven’t already there is still time to cheer him on 👉http://bit.ly/Eriks_Journey

 

 

 

5 October 2019

Erik will soon be in Austria! He has shared some photos from last week.

 

 

Hello! Here’s Yvonne for the last time, our projects are going to an end now. Lilian already started her journey back home, Erik stays a bit longer and tomorrow is my final day at Tools for Self Reliance. But I think we all made the best out of the previous weeks.

I had the chance to visit Ilfracombe with my diving club. After a concert from a Swedish rock band, swimming in Woolacombe and hiking in Lynton we went diving with seals. We had luck to see quite a few and they were also playing with our fins. It was a very varying weekend and it was great fun.

A week later Lilian and I made our last trip together to Manchester where we watched the final tour of Kiss. It was an incredible concert and overall an amazing trip with much food, tea, shopping and walking through the city.

So I had a great ending of my time in the UK. I spent my last working day at the New Forest Show where I got shown how to be a blacksmith by making a leaf by myself and next weekend I finish the year with a festival off. The months just passed too fast and I’m glad about every moment I got to enjoy.

My favourite thing about the UK is that so many people have a great passion for steam engines and old vehicles.

23 May 2019

Hi, my name is Lilian Steinmetz and I’m 19 years old. Since October 2018 I work as a volunteer at the charity organisation Tools for Self Reliance.

At the beginning of May my colleague and good friend Yvonne and I went off to explore a little bit of beautiful Scotland. The journey itself was quite an adventure because we travelled by coach which took us almost 12 hours. We were very excited and so happy when we finally arrived in Glasgow, our first destination. Because of the arrival so very early in the morning we searched for a nice place to have breakfast and a good cup of coffee or hot chocolate. This nice place we found, called Kamber & Jones, became I our favourite spot in the next 4 days between all the sightseeing and shopping. Glasgow offers a wide range of cultural activities and really impressed us in its own special way. We’ve been to various museums and to the University campus. Our next destination was Inverness where we spend three days in a very extraordinary and lovely Air bnb. It was set up and equipped like a Japanese Tea house build by a dedicated elderly man who told us a lot about his interesting life story. While our stay at Inverness we went hiking. We walked so much that our feet could do nothing more than just rest in the evening and we wished we had brought some blistering plasters with us. Although it was very cold during the days, we had mostly sunshine and we simply fell in love with the beautiful landscape around us. Our last Scottish destination was beautiful and historic Edinburgh. We enjoyed the  sight and atmosphere of the amazing buildings and the Harry Potter flair of the capital. We hiked to Arthur’s seat and visited lovely spots like the Grass market and the meadows. We were so happy in Scotland that we tried to miss the coach back home which sadly failed…

My favourite thing about the UK is the changing landscape.

 

 

 

9 May 2019

Hello!

The last weeks were really exciting because my parents, two aunts and an uncle were visiting me over Easter. 

We did a lot of things in this time. It began with hiking on the Jurassic Coast from Abbotsbury to West Bay. I would say this was my favourite day. We just had a great time talking with each other and enjoying the sea and landscape. Afterwards we relaxed at home with nice weather and BBQ.
The next days were getting more busy. We visited Bristol and Bath shortly where we went to flea markets, visited the roman baths and cathedrals, and just walked around the cities.
We also had a look around the stone circle in Avebury, made a trip to Stonehenge and went hiking on the Seven Sisters. The last two days we visited London, because my aunts and my uncle have never been there. For me the best part of this was the Van Gogh exhibition. But I think we can all say that we liked the rest of the UK more.

All in all we had a really great time. It was interesting, we learned and saw new things, and it was just fun. We did many different things but we still had time to just sit together, talk and laugh. I’m glad they all visited me!

Yvonne

My favourite thing about the UK is the difference in landscapes, architecture and also in the atmosphere you can see from place to place. 

 

25 April 2019

Hallo everybody!

The last month I was working on several project apart from preparing the Zambia shipment like building a shelf for the workshop and also for Robins Nest which was great fun.

Surprisingly the weather was not April-like so we were able to enjoy some of the breaks outside which has definitely a noticeable effect on my and other peoples mood. Not only we benefit, also the plants start thriving which I never witnessed like that before. The reason for that is that I planted a garden for the very first time rather than just enjoying the efforts of my mum and dad back in Austria. It is just amazing to see all sorts of vegetables and herbs growing day by day. I have planted three types of potatoes including; Arran pilot, Foremost, Red Duke of York, onions, lettuce, coriander, chives, thyme, tomatoes, peppers, radish, strawberries, asparagus and marigolds.

Luckily, some of our volunteers gave me tips on how to do it and what to care about. It surprised me how much effort it is to maintain a garden and also the knowledge behind it. I read a few things about companion planting which I will try and hopefully I get rewarded in a few months.

Erik

My favourite thing about the UK is our house at Tools for self-reliance.

 

17 April 2019

Hello, for everyone who hasn’t read my first Blog, my name is Lilian Steinmetz, I’m 19 years old and primary I come from southwestern Germany.

Since October 2018 I live here in Netley Marsh and I ́m very happy to be a volunteer at Tools for Self Reliance.

Last weekend my friend Erik and I went to Aberystwyth in Wales to join a Rotaract event. It was great! Not only because we had great weather and visited our friends, but it was amazing to see a bit of wales. While we were sitting seven hours on the train, we watched the landscape passing by. At almost every meadow there were flocks. Particularly the baby sheep melted our heart and we wanted to take them home with us.

In Aberystwyth itself we walked with our friends and Rotaract members along the seaside and the view was stunning! It looked a little bit like in a farytail. We heard a very interesting lecture about dementia by our friends father Dr. Voller who is like Eric and Yvonne also from Austria. At the end of the day we joined a very funny wine tasting which got even more fun the more wine the guests had.

My other friend Yvonne showed me, when we were back at work how to refurbish a treadle machine. This was great because she was taught by one of the volunteers and this was an opportunity for her to show someone else her knowledge about it. We had a lot of fun sitting in the woodwork shop and I learned so many new things!

 

28 March 2019

Hello! Here’s Yvonne again. In the last few weeks many things happened. We had a Haberdashery and Tool Sale, got a new shipment to prepare, had a presentation skills training and a volunteer took us out for afternoon tea. But my highlight was that I finished my first table as part of my personal project.

I made a new table out of a treadle machine which dates back to the Victorian era. The base got cleaned and oiled but stayed basically the same. I made the table top out of three different original tops. I cut them all in different pieces, prepared them and glued them together so that a pattern was visible. Afterwards I sandpapered it, waxed the surface, and screwed it on the base. After over two weeks of work it got a place at Robin’s Nest Emporium in Southampton and will hopefully find a new owner soon.

It was a nice opportunity for me to give the treadle a new life before it gets thrown away and I just hope someone will have such a big joy as the former owners had.

My favourite thing about the UK is the happy faces of the people when spring is coming.

14 March 2019

Hallo Everyone! For those who are new, my name is Erik and I am from Austria.

This month was rather relaxed for us Volunteers because we still have a few days left before we can start preparing the Zambia shipment. Apart from our daily routine tasks which include the PPE & LTE checks on Monday, receiving donations and emptying bins we are free to choose on refurbishing whatever we want to. Therefore, I addressed myself to electrical tools which became my favourite type of work at Tools for Self Reliance. Slowly but steadily I get a routine on some issues like replacing the plugs or faults that are likely to occur on particular tools. Although it is still sometimes overwhelming how much you have to know to see through these devices even though most of the tools are a bit older. Luckily, I can always ask the other volunteers.
The work also includes not only refurbishing the power-tools, but also testing them before we decide whether they go to the Africa stock or for one of our tools sales. Sometimes I get really surprised by the tools that come in. Here’s an example. By the way make hoovers not war!

My favourite thing about the UK are bourbon biscuits.

 

5 March 2019

My name is Lilian Steinmetz, I´m 19 years old and primary I come from southwestern Germany. Since October 2018 I live here in Netley Marsh and I’m very happy to be a volunteer at Tools for Self Reliance.

The last two weeks have been very busy, because we finished our second big shipment to Ghana. On Monday we loaded all the ten pallets full of tool kits and sewing machines into a big container, which was really hard work. But in the end we were really proud that we finally made it!It is a great experience to be part of such a good and friendly team. I really appreciate this. I think it´s wonderful that our work supports others and at the same time it gives me such personal benefit. I must admit that the British winter weather is a challenge for me from warm southwestern Germany. The more I enjoyed the beautiful weather which surprised us this weekend. Daffodils and crocuses are starting to show their beauty and I’m very happy
that it gives me the opportunity to spend time with gardening, which is one of my favourite hobbies.

Last Saturday when I walked through Winchester it was so warm, that I saw young people wearing only T-shirts and hot pants. I love this time of the year, when spring seams to come and the world shows itself in such colourful and blooming way.

My favourite thing about the UK is the great team spirit and good and obliging attitude one can feel in places like Tools for Self Reliance.

14 February 2019

Hello!

My name’s Yvonne Hoffmann, I’m 20 years old and I’m from Austria. Normally I’m used to heavy winters but I came with the expectation to the UK that I won’t see any snow this year. But on the 31^st of January it happened right in front of our eyes. It was snowing.  

It began to snow in the evening and it continued the next few hours. Surprisingly the snow stayed lying on the ground for the next days, where I experienced a perfect day. I went out for a walk in the New Forest and just enjoyed nature with the trees, the sun and the snow. Suddenly a deer was standing in front of me and looking at me. After some seconds he ran away and I saw that he was in a group of 7 deer. I was totally flashed when I saw that one of them was white. He looked totally majestic with his big horns when he jumped over a fence.

I couldn’t get enough of this view, it was just perfect.

My favourite thing about the UK is that you can always get surprised by nature.

 

 

1 February 2019

Hello,

My name is Erik Schmidt and I am from Austria (Linz). I am 22 years old and I moved recently to Totton to volunteer for Tools for Self Reliance. In the last two weeks we were preparing toolkits for the next shipment to Ghana. Apart from that I was able to gain some experience in repairing and assessing power tools. 

This week we ran out of angle-grinders which we desperately need for the welding kits which go to Ghana . Hence, Kevin, one of the volunteers showed me how to refurbish angle-grinders. On the following picture you can see me adjusting the spindle of an angle-grinder. It was to first time I was not only replacing parts, but also fixing existing parts of a power-tool. Although it took me hours to fix it, eventually I made it work again. That was a great achievement for myself. Now I am even more eager to know, on how electrical tools work. Earlier I might have resigned sooner after detecting flaws but now I can proudly say that I slowly but steadily learn how to approach problems with more patience and overview.

My favourite thing about the UK is that the people are really open.