Volunteering

Details

Created on Thursday, 26 January 2017 15:02

Written by austria

Volunteering in Taufkirchen an der Pram

by Laura Schauer, Austria

Although Taufkirchen, where I live, is only a small village close to Schärding, there are a lot of opportunities to play a part in voluntary activities. Volunteering in Taufkirchen also means to have fun with peers and that’s why many adolescents participate.

If you enjoy playing an instrument, the Taufkirchen brass band is the right opportunity for you. You are going to practice once a week, mostly on Friday evenings, and twice a week before concerts or other events. Additionally, you are going to provide musical entertainment on all possible occasions, such as funerals or public events. Firstly, you can gain a lot of musical experience from playing with a band or even learn to conduct. Secondly, the inhabitants of Taufkirchen will be pleased with your performance.

In case you are the sporty type, you can join our gymnastics club and teach younger children. There are lots of courses to learn how to warm up and to practice the correct technique. You can also attend a course lasting several days to receive a trainer-certificate. To show your little gymnast’s abilities, your group can take part in local competitions.

On a more serious note, our local church is currently being renovated and the church council is looking for volunteers to empty the church, to paint the walls or just cook food for all the assistants.                                                                                                                                    And, speaking of the church, there is the possibility of acting as a server. Servers are mostly younger kids, who are in elementary school. I was a server myself for more than three years. You acquire great knowledge of all possible church festivities and mass routines. Once a year, all servers go on an excursion for one day – once we have visited our priest’s hometown and afterwards a fun park.

Another topical opportunity is to help with the German lessons for refugees. Since the wave of refugees has also reached Taufkirchen, they need to learn German to avoid communication problems. Retired school teachers have volunteered to offer them free classes and are grateful for any help.

From my point of view, the most challenging voluntary work is to join the fire brigade. A friend of mine is a member and she told me that they actually do a lot. They are being asked for every event in Taufkirchen to the pilotage and to cordon the area of the event. In case of high water, road accidents or storm damages they are in demand. The most dangerous, of course, is firefighting. My friend told me that they train a lot, especially how to handle the respiratory protection and the oxygen cylinder.

As you can see, there a more than enough opportunities to contribute to social life in Taufkirchen, although we are only 3000 inhabitants. Besides the serious aspects, it is always a lot of fun to join such activities.