Hi!! My name is Ana. I’m the new volunteer who will be here at LINK for the next six months. I’m Spanish and I’m 27 years old. I’m a social worker.

Before coming to do this volunteer program, I was working in an association for people with intellectual disabilities. Specifically, I worked in supported housing, providing direct care as a social educator. I was also responsible for coordinating volunteers and serving as an information point about state resources related to dependency and social support services in the area.

I absolutely love traveling—I consider myself a globetrotter—and I have lived abroad before. I spent six months in England as an au pair in a small town near Nottingham, with a family who had two girls aged 6 and 9. I was also supposed to spend a year in Belgium as an Erasmus student, but the COVID-19 pandemic began and I wasn’t able to go. So when I found out about this volunteering opportunity, I saw it as a great chance to reconnect with the international experience I couldn’t have because of COVID-19.

I learned about this kind of opportunity three years ago when I participated in an Erasmus+ project in Germany. It was a one-week permaculture project, and that’s when I was told about the possibility of doing long-term volunteering. From that moment on, the idea stayed in my mind. When I discovered the LINK project, I felt it was a perfect match for me.

First, as a social worker, I’m interested in developing the skills this project offers, such as working with children and helping to design and promote new initiatives. Second, ever since I was little, one of my dreams has been to become a librarian. And third, on a personal level, I truly enjoy meeting new people, understanding different cultures, learning new languages—and, of course, eating very well (I love Italian food!). I hope to go back home a little fuller and very happy!!
I think that’s all! I’m very excited to start this project and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone!