Three Volunteers, One Community: Stories from Novi Pazar

Volunteering can take many forms. Sometimes it means creating a space to talk about emotions; other times, it means bringing new ideas to work with young people or helping with practical tasks within the organization. In Novi Pazar, Serbia, as part of the project Humanitarian Volunteering in Support of Local Communities (HVSA1) Three volunteers took turns—Maria Sole from Italy, Marina from Spain, and Joana from Portugal.

They all worked for the local organization Merhamet Sandžak, but each of them arrived at a different time and focused on a different area. Their assignments thus naturally built on one another and brought new activities, experiences, and perspectives to the community.

Maria Sole

Maria Sole from Italy was the first to arrive in Novi Pazar. During her seven-month assignment, she focused on developing social programs and psychosocial activities for young people aged 14 to 21.

One of the topics she explored was emotional awareness. During the workshops, young people talked about various emotions, such as joy and anger. In one of the activities, they drew what they associate with the feeling of happiness. During a workshop focused on anger, they wrote down things that made them angry on balloons and then released them.

Through simple and creative activities, a space was created where young people could talk openly about what they were going through, better understand their emotions, and listen to the experiences of others.

Marina

As Marie Sole’s assignment was drawing to a close, two more volunteers arrived in Merhamet Sanjak—Marina from Spain and Joana from Portugal. In her work, Marina focused primarily on young people, creativity, and mental health.

She organized workshops at local schools, where she introduced topics related to mental health through interactive exercises and open discussions. She also brought these activities to rural schools, where she linked the topic of mental well-being with creativity and environmentalism. For example, the children created mosaics from recycled materials.

Marina also brought a piece of her homeland to the day center. The workshop on notable Spanish painters provided an opportunity to learn about a different culture while also fostering creativity and self-reflection among the young people.

Joana

Joana from Portugal drew on her experience with data analysis to set up monitoring and impact assessments for projects. Her assistance, however, also took a very practical form.

Together with the local team, she helped sort and organize a large quantity of donated clothing at the day center. The clothing was then distributed to low-income households in Novi Pazar, helping them get through the winter.

Volunteer Work That Benefits the Community

Although all of them have already completed their assignments, their work remains an integral part of the experience of the Merhamet Sandžak organization and the people they met during their time there. For young people, their workshops were an opportunity to learn something new, speak openly about their feelings, and discover their own creativity. For the local organization, they provided a helping hand, new ideas, and valuable experience.

Partly because of this, international volunteering isn’t just about what a volunteer gives. It’s about the relationships that are formed, the experiences that linger, and the small changes that can continue even after the volunteer leaves.