Dear ones, it’s Nora and Lena! You may also know that many students are concerned about what they want to do after school. In Germany we have a lot of possibilities and many doors are open for us.
Many possibilities after school
For example, you can opt for a voluntary social year, a federal voluntary service or a voluntary ecological year in Germany. In addition, you can go abroad with various organizations with an international voluntary service, an au pair program or “work & travel”. Of course, there is also the possibility to start training or studying immediately after school.
What’s the right way for me?
Have you read Alma’s article yet? Here you can also find some information about the different possibilities for a perspective after school. Alms looks back on her decision in the post…
After school, we were both unsure which direction we would take. We were looking forward to new exciting experiences and therefore decided on an international volunteer service.
Lena’s time in India:
I lived in India for a year after graduating from high school and worked there in a children’s home for HIV-positives and from AIDS suffering children.
There are 2.1 million people living in India who are infected with HIV. Girls are particularly hard hit worldwide. Here you can read more about this topic
The children’s home belongs to the missionary sisters of Hiltrup. There are also many other organizations that offer international volunteer service. For example, you can find many different providers though the international youth volunteer service.
India – the land of the superlatives
- More than 100 different languages spoken in India
- India is the largest “democracy” in the world
- It is the seventh largest country on earth with 3.3 million square kilometers
- 1.2 billion people live in India, making it the second most populated country in the world
Here you can learn more about India
Nora’s time in Namibia
I spent a year in Namibia after graduating from high school and taught in a boarding school for children and teenager between the ages of 6 and 17. My volunteer service was organized by mundus eine Welt e.V.
A magic dwells in each beginning…
These words (from Hermann Hesse’s poem “Steps”) literally accompanied me during my project arrival time in Oshipeto, Namibia. Eight nuns and 160 children from the boarding school greeted me there with great joy and curiosity. It was exciting and at the same time very interesting to get to know everything: my new room, the surroundings, the church services, the food and above all the new way of life.
Life in Namibia
My day started with a “bucket shower” because the shower didn’t work. There was no washing machine, so I had to get used tor washing my clothes with my hands. Every now and then, the power went out for several hours. But this was usually not problem at all, because we had candles in case of need. I liked to have dinner with the children; mostly we had porridge made from the traditional grain “Mahangu”. Cutlery was only for the elderly, so we used our hands to eat. I spent a lot of time outside with the kids during the day. We played with everything that was there: old car tires, sticks, ropes for jumping and we draw hopscotch boxes in the sand. There were hardly any real toys as we know them from Germany (especially no PlayStation or mobile phones!), so our creativity was in demand. I especially liked the church services. The children and sisters sang from the bottom of their hearts and danced to the music. It was so vivid.
Many positive impressions, such as these, have accompanied me, not only in my early days, but throughout the whole year. Again and again there was something new! Of course, I also had negative experiences in the year. But it is precisely these ups and downs that have made the time so special. Overall, I spent an exciting, instructive and wonderful year in Namibia, which has shaped me positively to this day.
Fun Facts Namibia
- Namibia is named after the Namib Desert
- In Namibia is the oldest desert in the world
- Namibia has only 2.8 million inhabitants
- Namibia is home to the largest number of cheetahs in the world
- – In Namibia you can even ski, down the dunes at +30°C
Travel and security information about Namibia can be found at the Federal Foreign Office.
One-year break – Was it the right decision?
In the year abroad we experienced a lot and learned a lot about ourselves. By working and living on site, we became aware that the social sector interests us professionally. Thus, we started to study social work at the Catholic University NRW in Cologne and graduated in 2018/19.
For us the year break was the right decision to collect ideas for the future. What we want you to know:
It’s not bad if you don’t directly know what you want to do after school. Don’t stress yourselves and give yourselves the time to find what you enjoy!
What can you imagine for your time after school? Orientation for the first time or direct learning of a profession?
Yours, Lena and Nora
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