Volunteers' stories
About my time at Baikalwave (April – June 2007)Nikola Allinger
“Siberia, that’s so far!” This was the reaction of most people when they got to know that I would go to Irkutsk for three months to help as a volunteer in “Baikalwave”. But I actually wanted to live in a culture that really differed from the European one for some time, so it was my aim to go quite a distance. And as I would stay there with an organization, I had no worries to be left alone with problems. “Are you fine with the Russian language?” was the next question, that I got to hear time and again, and this one raised many more worries in my mind, as I only had very basic knowledge. And so I came to Irkutsk in the beginning of April, very curious, as I had only general ideas about what Russian life would be like and what I would be doing in the Wave, and very glad that the journey had been so fine, with the help of a Russian “babushka” and an Armenian traveller, who had shown me the way for changing airports in Moscow. Natasha, who cares for the volunteers in the wave, gave me a very warm welcome at the airport from Irkutsk, and after a first Russian breakfast with “kasha” (porridge) and “vareniye” (berry preserve) at her flat, where she had offered me to live, we took the bus to the office, so that I could get to know the other women and (very few) men working in the Wave. They were all very friendly, and I liked this place and the people at once, but it was also clear quite quickly that my Russian didn’t reach far indeed. Especially in the office, this turned out to be a great difficulty: in most situations of daily life I could get along somehow with the help of my dictionary, but at first it was nearly impossible to follow the explanations, discussions and jokes of the women from the Wave. They cook and eat together for lunch every day, and their very family-like relationships and interest in each other (and the volunteers, too!) are expressed in lots of chats that they have at this opportunity. With my very small skills to talk and understand, I was sitting there like a piece of wood at first, but of course, this became better from week to week. My wish to get to know another culture was really fulfilled as well: in the bus, on the street, in every little situation, there were new impressions. Some things I never got used to, like for example the way that women dress in Russia, and this may sound like a very unimportant thing, but it’s impression of differences in societies as well, and apart from that, if lots of little things differ from what you are used to, it’s drawing your attention away from other topics you would like to deal with. But there were also nice discoveries again and again that forced me to go on, and what was very important: I liked to be and to work in the Baikalwave a lot. In the beginning, I wrote short content descriptions of books from the Wave’s library which were written in English. Quite soon, there was another project, that Natasha asked me and the two other international volunteers, Jesse from London and Clare from N.Y., to work with: an exhibition about the energy problem should be improved. We could change the content and form of the exhibition, and it was fine that we were three people to do this, because it was quite a lot to do, and it was just more fun, too. But maybe we sometimes were discussing too much how to deal with the exhibition, the fact is, that we were working with it for a long time, with interruptions for other activities: There was, for a start, the yearly collecting of rubbish in a park near the river Angara; we washed gloves therefore and made flyers and posters to get people to come and help. It was a bit disappointing that hardly any people followed this invitation, but the members of the Wave collected with a lot of engagement for several hours. Then we helped preparing a meeting, where people would protest against an international centre for the enrichment of uranium in the neighbour city of Angarsk. Quite a big part of the people coming belonged to little political groups which were demonstrating their opinions at this meeting. Next, there were the awards of the prizes for a pupils’ competition about energy saving; it was the task of our group of volunteers to decorate the hall with pictures and information boards about this topic. We told the pupils about life and environment protection in Europe, as we did several other times: Once, we visited a class in Angarsk, another time, children visited us in the office. We thought about “ecological games” for them, and it was a lot of fun to have them playing those games. The kids were very open and interested, they wanted to know everything we could tell them; the youths were more reserved, but their contributions to the competition made us realize that there exists lot of knowledge about topics like alternative energy sources and energy saving in Russia, and that the missing realization of those things is much more a question of habit, money and system than of knowledge. Meanwhile, I found my way in the daily life of Irkutsk and had contact with young people from Russia and many other countries: The Great Baikal Trail Club (“GBT”) that builds hiking trails along the shore of lake Baikal (also with the help of volunteers) has got weekly meetings which are open to everybody who is interested. They talk about their projects there, but also about what is going on in Irkutsk, and it’s a nice opportunity to meet people. It was also through the people from GBT that I found a room at a language teacher’s flat and his mother gave more independence to me and more place in her flat to Natasha. Besides, it was an uncomplicated possibility to take Russian lessons, and this really helped a lot.
In the Wave, there was an internal meeting of Wave members for the planning of aims and activities of the organization for the coming year; we didn’t join this as volunteers, but took over daily tasks and the preparation of food. There was no problem with only doing such simple things for some days, anyway, we always had something to talk about in our group of volunteers that was also joined by Igor, a student from Irkutsk, now. Still, there was developing a certain dissociation between the women of the Wave and our group of volunteers in this time, which was a pity, though the basic ambiance was always ok. In my second month, I had the opportunity to be near Baikal for some more time at last: There is a tourist centre on the island Olkhon whose founder, Nikita, knows the people from the Wave; there I spent 9 days to help with translating for tourists and to do things like setting sunflowers, painting walls, serving food. I really enjoyed this time! Lake Baikal and the landscape around it, and all the different plants and animals there are just great, and I liked the simple life – There is no flowing water from the tap, for example, but you don’t miss it in this environment. Nikita tries to consider ecological aspects in this tourist centre as well, so we did a rubbish collection on Olkhon, too: the area around the little lake in the centre of Khuzhir which is surrounded by mud and rubbish, should be cleaned. My attitude towards such cleaning actions was quite sceptical meanwhile, as it is not more than a momentarily improvement of the situation, and maybe even has got negative consequences on the motivation of the population not to leave waste everywhere. But if there are no resources for long-term actions, it’s maybe better to do something that only helps for a short period of time – besides, the Baikalwave is also engaged in discussions and plans for a better rubbish system. Back in Irkutsk, I was somehow frustrated about the noise and dirt of the city that I was confronted with again. In addition, there was not a lot going on in the Wave: the summer break had started. I used the remaining time to go to museums, to get the exhibition to a level at which it could be used, and to prepare my last project: a seminar about radioactivity for the members of the Wave. I held it on the last day of my stay and was really proud, that my Russian knowledge was sufficient for this. Parting from the friends I had found in Irkutsk and from the women of the Wave was hard, but I hope to meet them again. It’s admirable how these people go for the protection of Baikal despite all resistance, and I’d like to support them in future, as well, as far as it’s possible. I learned, also personally, a lot during my stay in Russia, and surely won’t forget this experience. Of course it was not always easy: there was behaviour and circumstances that made life hard for me sometimes, like the roughness in public communication or the difficulty (not only for volunteers) to get information. But there were positive things that I estimated a lot while living in Irkutsk: Russian warmth and sense of community, the spontaneity and the talent for improvisation, to name some. So I really recommend to everybody who plans to do something like this, to volunteer, and not just somewhere, but... in the Baikalwave! Some more hints for people who are actually volunteering now in the Wave or who will go there soon:There are some things that helped me a lot and maybe will help you, too:
The water reservoir (âîäàõðàíèëèùå) in Irkutsk – there is a half-island, a nice hill with woods on it, where people go to relax and to barbecue; A concert in the polish church near the square Kirova; The excursion along lake Baikal in this historic train (“Êðóãîáàéêàëêà”); For more ideas ask Natasha and the other women from the Wave or people from Irkutsk! |
Looking for partnersSTORIES Iwona Frydryzhak and Anastazja Golaj, Poland APPLICATION FORM |
