My name is Ruth Weymann, I am 20 years old and I am from Germany. After my A-Levels I decided to do a voluntary service before starting university. Actually I first wanted to do something ecological but I did not find something and in the end Rifugio happened to be my project. It was not exactly what I wanted to do. I thought that I was not good in working with people and that it would be very hard but I told myself that you never know how something will be and that it makes sense why things happen. Besides I always wanted to learn Italien because I love the language and also think the country is very beautiful. So I spent six months – from 13.09.2018 till 13.03.2019 – in Rifugio Re Carlo Alberto, a home for people with Alzheimer and Demenza in Luserna San Giovanni near Torino. As a volunteer you do not do the work of an operator like washing or going with them on a toilet but Animation. That means that we played games with them, sang, danced, celebrated birthdays once a month of all who´s birthday was in this month, went for a walk, went in the city on the market or to drink a coffee, made little wellness sessions and helped when professional people came to do music and art therapy, pettherapy, gymnastics and gardening. We brought the elderly people to the hairdresser when he came once in two weeks and to the sermons that where once a week. One catholic and one protetant. In general you can say that we tried to make the peopke feel better, happier and worthy. Besides this work we helped feeding the people at breakfast and lunchtime. Rifugio is divided in different sectors, depending on the degree of the illness and each of us volunteers were in one of this sectors to do this. In the beginning I was in the sector where the people are at the end of the journey. Most of them cant walk, speak or eat without help and and only mashed things. It was quite hard for me because I could hardly speak Italien so I could not speak to the old peole and also not to the operators who mostly did not speak English and I was very insecure and afraid of doing mistakes and I felt like a weight and not like a help because I was often not sure what to do and afraid to ask. But after some weeks it became better and felt more comfortable. Besides my tutor Susanna who did the work of animation with us changed me to the daily center where the people come in the morning and go again home in the evening. They can speak, walk and eat alone. Of course there are differences but in generel they were much better thenn the other gusts of Rifugio. The daily center is like a family and I felt very comfortable there. I am very happy to have been part of this family for a time whose members I learned to love so much. From the beginning I loved Rifugio because it is a really special place but It took some time to make me be part of it and to feel like home.
Another thing that made me feel like home were the other volunteers. Because the volunteers changed during my stay there, I did not find my family immediately but in the end I had the best second family I could have imagined. In generl, I met so many great people, who already invited me to visit them and I will never forget the time I spent in Rifugio.
When you do a voluntery servise you give something but you earn so much more. You get the chance to live in another country, get to know its culture, learn its language, meet many new people, make new friends and learn so much and I am very grateful to have been able to do this experience.
Ruth Weymann ( Germany, 6 months volunteering in Rifugio Re Carlo Alberto in 2019)