My name is Gülcan Güzel, and I come from Mardin, in the southeast of Türkiye, a place where cultures meet and intertwine. I am a professional Social Worker, and throughout my career in my home country I have had the opportunity to work with many different groups: refugee children and women, emergency response teams after earthquakes, elderly people in need of social care, individuals struggling with substance addiction, and survivors of gender-based violence. My profession has taught me that every human story is unique and valuable.

I have always dedicated time to volunteer work. But this time, I wanted to add an international dimension to my experience — to see firsthand the working conditions and challenges in other countries. With that motivation, I joined the Humanitarian Aid Volunteering for Solidarity Activities program at Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO) in Serbia, as part of ADRA Czechia  European Solidarity Corps Humanitarian Aid project. I am now halfway through my journey, with six months completed.

The experiences I’ve gained here have been among the most special moments of my professional life. I have carried out different workshops with children from the Roma community, refugees from the Middle East, and Ukrainian refugee families.

One of the moments I will never forget happened during a workshop at a refugee camp with a group of Afghan teenagers. During our conversation, I learned that they had passed through Türkiye on their migration journey and had learned Turkish along the way. In that moment, I decided to conduct the workshop in Turkish. It made them feel safer, more understood — the presence of someone who could speak their language brought a visible sense of comfort. We were people from different countries and very different life stories, yet we were together under the same roof. It reminded me that, despite everything, hope still exists.

Working with different cultures has helped me grow not only as a professional but also as a person. Alongside improving my English, I have even started learning Serbian. The wide variety of projects in the organization I work with is a great privilege for me — each new project offers a new perspective on the world.

I still have six months ahead, filled with new stories, new faces, and new experiences. This journey reminds me every day of the most universal aspects of being human — solidarity, empathy, and hope. And I know that when I return home, I will not only have seen another country but will have touched the lives and stories of many people.

I would like to thank my sending organization;ADRA Czechia and my host organization; Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO) Serbia, for giving me this opportunity.