Arts Lab Report: The beginning of an adventure

Hi, I'm Sandro, I'm twenty-six and I come from Sardinia, an island in Italy. I left for Romania about a month ago to start a volunteering project. Why? Because I have a dream: to be able to give an emotion and help people with my artistic expression, painting.

From the very first days the Asirys association welcomed me warmly, introducing me to other volunteers from other parts of the world such as France, Norway, Belgium, Mexico and Romania. Despite my elementary English I didn't have big problems communicating, they were all patient and understanding and thanks to this environment I was impressed to know the diversity of culture and tradition of the different countries.

In the following days I collaborated with them in some nearby schools with children of all ages. It was a very strong experience. I helped blind children to express themselves with artistic games, I played with other kids to give them the opportunity to open their minds, to be curious to know the world without prejudice. It was interesting to hear their stories and they enriched me a lot, but the thing that struck me the most is to see their amazement when they looked at my drawings as if it were something magical. This aroused in me great interest in learning about the history of this beautiful country.

Thanks to the association I saw the archaeological site of Cucuteni, a wonderful culture, rich in ancient symbols and tradition that influences the present and future of this people. I still try to create paintings inspired by this culture, their landscapes and their history in order to make them known and appreciated by as many people as possible.

I can also guarantee that the association is really active in trying to solve certain social problems by asking people what their life is like, what this country is and how it can be improved for subsequently create solutions that improve the situation. I think that this association and its collaborators have great potential to achieve really important goals in Romania. I have high expectations for this project and I want to commit myself as much as I can.

I want to thank Mihaela, the Asirys association and all the collaborators, not only for the immense opportunities they have given me, but also for welcoming me with open arms.

I send a warm hug to everyone who reads this article, hoping to entice you too to start this wonderful adventure.

Written by Sandro Piliu

Sandro is European volunteer for 8 months, in Arts Lab project,  funded by European  Voluntary Service, with the support of European Union.