ijab.de: How long have you been in Germany?
Natalya: We travelled together from Kiev and got here on 8 March, so we’ve only just started our placement.
ijab.de: The Ukrainian government has closed its borders, and may even do so for its own citizens. Aren’t you concerned that you won’t be able to return home for a long time?
Liliia: We had been planning to complete a volunteer placement for a long time and so we are determined to make this happen. Maybe it’s actually better for us to be here. Of course, the Corona restrictions have meant that our work is different from the way we planned, but we are making the best of the situation.
ijab.de: What are your duties at SCI?
Liliia: We do office work and prepare workcamps. I help to select the volunteers who want to come to Germany. We are also both assisting with SCI’s public relations work.
Natalya: I have the same duties, but am taking care of the German volunteers who want to go abroad. So far none of the workcamps have been cancelled, only postponed. But of course we need to think about what to offer if workcamps actually do get cancelled. We need alternatives, for instance digital workcamps.
ijab.de: Normally a workcamp involves physical labour. What exactly is a digital workcamp?
Liliia: Well, one very important aspect of a workcamp is that people can get together and interact. There’s some pretty good tools for that already, like Zoom. Also, workcamps focus on a whole range of different issues.
Natalya: Exactly. A good example is sustainability. We all have old things in our basements. We don’t need to throw them out; instead, we can sit down together and think about what they are still good for, or how they could be repurposed. This is something that can be done effectively online, too. It generates knowledge that the participants can share with their communities so they can take action locally.
ijab.de: What other themes are you considering?
Liliia: We’re currently learning a lot about data mining, which involves generating new knowledge from existing data. How can we take data and media and produce shared activities? We’re thinking of using Wikipedia articles that people can work on in a group. We estimate that around half of the themes of traditional workcamps are also suitable for a digital, online workcamp.
Natalya: Of course, this is not only up to us. We need people who are willing to develop and implement these ideas together with us. If any readers are interested, we’d love to hear from you! Also, digital workcamps cost money, even if some people think they don’t. We are going to need funding. We believe that online projects are a great opportunity for SCI. Finally, we also want to promote SCI more on social media, especially Facebook and Instagram.
ijab.de: Should activity levels have to be scaled back due to the pandemic, what other content could be promoted?
Liliia: SCI turns 100 this year. A lot has been achieved over the last century and that deserves to be promoted. Plus, there’s recurrent anniversaries to be celebrated, such as International Volunteer Day. We are also thinking about producing serial content, such as Quote of the Day or Interesting Facts. We want to keep communication channels open. Our motto is “Stay at home, but stay in touch”.
Natalya: We also want to keep people’s spirits up. It’s no use if everyone starts panicking – the show must go on. And volunteering does lift the spirits. If you’re a volunteer, you’re important. People rely on you; it’s almost like a chemical reaction. It feels really good, and that is the message we want to put out.