Get to know our ESC volunteers - Sofia

Where are you from?

I'm from a coastal city called Gijón, a town in the region of Asturias in the north of Spain.

What is your training or background in circus or the arts?

This is my first year in circus, but I'm a ballerina. I've been dancing Ballet since I was three years old. I also graduated high school in the field of arts.

What made you want to volunteer at Galway Community Circus? 

The project fascinated me a lot. I wanted to discover how a circus works behind the scenes but mostly the idea of working with kids was the main reason what inspired me to apply.

Who is your sending organisation? Tell us about them. 

I came here through a sending organisation called Caminos, a Spanish organisation that specialises in volunteering with kids.

What do you love about working with Galway Community Circus? 

What I love about GCC is that I can try new things every day and I’m able to teach kids as my daily job. Also getting to know the rest of the GCC Team, my coworkers have super interesting and cool backgrounds!

What project or projects are you working on at the Circus and what results do you hope to achieve?

For the past months I've been working on my personal project which is a game session for the kids at the school. I’ve learned how to create a game system, run a class, and I got to experience how kids master different types of challenges. Since I want to be a teacher in the future, I wanted to learn how to create an activity from scratch and how it impacts kids.

What do you love about Ireland? 

What I love the most about Ireland is the international community I’ve found in Galway as well as the beautiful landscapes.

What are a few important things you have learned or are learning while volunteering with Galway Community Circus?

I have learnt loads about how to work in a team, how to put up a tent (it's not that difficult!) and how to deal with the emotions of the kids.

What is one thing you love about circus in general?

What I’ve come to love about circus is the inclusivity of circus and how you can modify almost every trick and activity if you're not able to do it in the conventional way.

Why do you think a programme like European Solidarity Corps is important? 

The ESC program is important for young people to experience new challenges and to take them out of their comfort zones.

Would you recommend that other people apply to volunteer at organisations through the European Solidarity Corps programme? Why

I would recommend it a lot because it helped me develop as a person and realize who I really am and what I want to do.

Learn more about the European Solidarity Corps and discover more about the ESC programme at GCC.

Galway Community Circus's European Solidary Corps programme is supported by Erasmus+ and Léargas.