Sarah Isabella Jasmin Fuchs

One day in the kindergarten

Hi, my name is Sarah, I am 19 years old and I am participating in an EVS volunteer program here in Hungary to be more precise: in Veszprém.

Me and two other volunteers, have been working in a kindergarten since September with three German minority groups. The entire EVS period is a total of ten months, which means we are slowly coming to the end. We all work in small groups  with two kindergarten teachers, one helper and 30 children. We work every day from 7.30 to 13.30. Our daily program is as follows: We play with the children and speak German to them from 7.30 am to 8 am.Until 9 p.m., the kids, including us, have breakfast. I love breakfast because the kindergarten kitchen always makes very nice little breads and we can have tea every other day as well. After breakfast we usually sit around and the kindergarten teacher tells stories, teaches Hungarian and German poems and sings with the children. Then everybody goes to the bathroom and changes clothes for the outdoor game. Sometimes a little exhausting when 30 kids have to go and there are only 3 washbasins and the locker room is also a bit small, but once this challenge is completed successfully and every child is in the playground, everything is much simpler as there is plenty of free space to run around – children are often faster than you would expect.An hour later, it’s lunch time. So we break in, everyone changes their clothes again, we wash our hands. For lunch, first everyone gets a bowl of soup and then the main course. I really like that everything is freshly prepared in the kitchen then. After lunch, it’s time to go to bed, which means  that every child goes to the restroom again and brushes their teeth. When every child gets to bed is the minute when our work ends … that’s when sometimes I sit in a bed and fall asleep for 30 minutes.I have to say I really like my “kids”! I never thought I would have that much love. Of course, sometimes they are in their annoying day, but all in all, they have become my family, so to speak.So all I can recommend is to volunteer in a  kindergarten.