Just go for it!

Hei liebe Freunde,
Vor einiger Zeit wurde ich von meinen Partnern hier gefragt, ob ich nicht einen kleinen Text über mich schreiben könnte um vietnamesische Jugendliche zu ermutigen, das selbe zu wagen das ich im Moment tue: Ein Freiwilligendienst im Ausland.
Am nächsten Donnerstag werde ich zum gleichen Zweck und Thema nun auch noch einen Vortrag halten. Das ist für mich sehr aufregend, weil ich es nicht gewohnt bin so über mich selbst zu reden und das auch noch in Englisch. Ich werde auf jeden Fall mein Bestes geben.

Hei everyone!

My name is Jannis Niethammer, I’m 19 years old and I’m from Germany. Recently I became a Volunteer at Volunteers for Peace Vietnam and I really enjoy being one.

                                           

When I tell people that I’m here for a whole year, many of them say: “Why are you doing this? Wouldn’t it be better to study?” Basically I’m doing this because I strongly believe this year will teach me more lessons than any year of studying in the past did or in the future will do.

After I finished High School I had an urgent need to go out into the world. I really liked my time in school with all my friends and family around, but I just felt like there’s so much more to see, so much more to experience, so many lifestyles I want to live. So I decided to not just continue studying by going to a university, but to take a gap year. I made sure that my new environment should be as different as possible from the one I lived in recently to reach my goal of expanding my horizon. Therefore I chose Vietnam as my destination and challenge.

But I have to say my motivations were not as selfish as they sound. I chose voluntary work over travelling because I wanted to give something back to the society that gives me so much and I dreamt of improving the world, even if it’s just in a little, personal way. I wanted to share love with people that are in need of it, because love is the best thing we do, and support cultural understanding in a world where the lack of understanding creates terrible wars and hate. In fact I wanted to stop talking and start doing.

I have been living in Hanoi for 7 weeks now and I love it. Surely it is completely different from European cities and Surely changes are always linked with difficulties, but I feel very welcome and VPV gave me a new home.

The new environment gave me new opportunities. I have the chance to invent and create a new me, try new things and make new friends without any presumptions from anybody, because nobody knows me.

I have to be more independent. I have to make my own decisions, my own plans and even do my own laundry. It’s crazy how many things get more and more natural and you grow a new self-awareness and confidence over the time without even noticing it. In my time here in Hanoi I already met so many people with different backgrounds and stories to tell that teach me lessons in just what they are and what they say. Therefore I create a bigger cultural understanding and empathy.

Eventually all these chances and difficulties are helping me to find my own true personality and the way I want to live in the future. I just want to encourage everybody to just go for it. GO for a voluntary work; GO for a foreign country; GO for whatever your passion is. Even if it’s not for a whole year like for me, the experiences you make are totally worth it.

In addition, I even think a gap year can totally help improve yourself and get you better prepared for your job life, you should always remember:

Life is not only about getting rich in money, but to get rich in life, experiences, love and happiness. And I can only talk for myself, but you should believe me: My gap year is making me a freakin’ millionaire in all of this.

Ich möchte mich hiermit nochmal ganz herzlich bei all meinen Unterstützern und Spendern bedanken, die es mir ermöglicht haben, meine Motivationen in die Tat umzusetzen. Dieses Jahr wird mir sehr viel geben und ohne euch wäre das nicht möglich. Vielen Dank!!

Allerdings wäre es sehr toll, wenn der Rest des Spendenkreises noch voll werden würde. Dafür fehlen im Moment noch um die 1000€, die ich bis Februar aufbringen sollte. Wenn ihr Lust habt mich zu unterstützen, dann klickt doch oben auf der Seite einfach mal auf "Unterstützung". :)