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I am Celine Brill, 19 years old, and have spent the past 12 months in beautiful Namibia. My partner organisation steps for children supported me through the highs and lows throughout the whole year.

For me, it was always clear that after school I wanted to go abroad, ideally to see different conditions and perhaps support a project, so I ended up spending a year in Gobabis at Light For The Children/steps for children. There I lived in a round house which I shared with a Herero family. I lived in the upstairs flat and the family in the downstairs flat; we shared a bathroom.

In the project I worked in all areas. I helped with gardening, preparing the children’s meals, supported the teachers during lessons, learned numbers in English with the children, played a lot with them and also brushed their teeth.

I really enjoyed the work because it was so varied. In particular, working with the teachers and the children was incredibly wonderful. The project itself had a really family-like atmosphere, which was lovely.

A volunteer service like this has its highs and lows; the arrival, culture shock, settling in, etc. — all of that is part of it. But what I learned this year is that you have to give yourself time, you have to be patient, and everything happens as it is meant to. A real life, just as I had lived it in Germany, suddenly built itself up in another country on another continent. Which is why it was very difficult to leave all of that there.

Because of all the experiences I was able to have, both good and bad, I grew and matured as a person. I got to know myself anew and now know how to deal with certain situations better. I can only really recommend to anyone who is thinking about it to do a volunteer service in Namibia or in another country. In any case, I am incredibly glad that I spent my last year in a country that was foreign to me at the time and is now my new home.

Yours, Celine

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