“The time that spent at EDEC is one of the reasons why I can successfully take on new responsibilities and meet all the new challenges with confidence,” – 26-year-old Victoria Valentaite, a volunteer at EDEC, tells us about her experience and dreams of living in Georgia.
Victoria is from Kaunas, Lithuania. She received her education in her hometown, gained a bachelor’s degree in international politics, and has worked in many places in her country. Eight trips were more was enough to fall in love with Georgia so much that she decided to connect her future to this country and started searching all possibilities to make her dream come true.
“Despite the pandemic, I actively started looking for ways to make my dream come true and move to Georgia. This is how I discovered EDEC. After looking into details, I realized that the activities of this organization are in line with both my education and other interests. I grew up in a family where getting an education is vital. Therefore, I know the importance of quality, diverse education in human life, both formal and informal, regardless of physical condition, nationality, or other factors. “Also, as a bachelor of politics, I was happy that the organization provides a variety of opportunities for young people to get involved in civic life, so I decided to contact an organization and join the team,” – says Victoria.
Victoria has worked in EDEC in various directions. She was actively involved in the project implementation process, participated in meetings and presentations with various interest groups, organized focus groups, wrote the project, and performed various activities. As she tells us, it was all very interesting for her and most importantly, it was her first volunteering experience:
“I know that there are people who do not understand why someone wants to work as a volunteer, without monetary compensation, but I think that sometimes other forms of earning are very important – it is experience, personal and professional development, new acquaintances, new skills and development of the existing ones and many other things. That’s probably what I liked the most – working in a diverse environment and having plenty of opportunities for professional and personal development. ”
Working in a friendly Georgian environment has given Victoria the opportunity to master the Georgian language perfectly, which helps her a lot today. At present, She is employed at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Tbilisi as an Assistant to Counsel.
“I think the if a person wants to succeed, she/he has to leave the comfort zone, face the new challenges and refuse running away from opportunities. That alone is the major charm of the ongoing process of development, ” – tells us Victoria.
