Volunteering at Gyöngyöspata – the Milestone Humanitarian Society Experience

December 12, 2018 | Ferenc Oláh

The cooperation between Milestone Humanitarian Society and Napsukár Tanoda started two months ago. Our goal is to help disadvantaged students to receive those opportunities that everyone deserves. As part of our very motivating program we teach the children IT, Maths, Reading comprehension, English language and Social studies. Tamás Léderer, the leader of the Tanoda was enthusiastic to help us and together, we have organized this program to provide opportunities to broaden the participants’ horizons and to get to know other cultures and different people.

 To celebrate this project and our cooperation with Napsukár Tanoda, we would like to invite those Milestone Students interested in our volunteering program to a Christmas party along with Gyöngyöspata students. It will take place on the 22nd of December at Napház (1081 Budapest, Népszínház u. 31). Alongside with the Jewish Club we will give presents for the children. We will be honored to listen to speeches from the organizers and from the leadership of Milestone and directors of Napsukár Tanoda and Napház.

 

Please read more about our event in the link below and indicate in the RSVP form, if you would like to attend.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1966708276964278/

RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kbqam6TfSblhET6Y1AXZrIdrh14dvgA2SA2Wo5x4c-4/edit

Below, you can read about how our volunteers found the Gyöngyöspata experience:

The minute we arrived at Gyöngyöspata in Tamás Léderer’s (the leader of the tanoda) minivan and got out, dozens of children greeted us excitedly. They were all smiles, jumping up and down the dark street at around 6 pm, enthusiastic about the prospect of studying for another one or two hours. In the little building of the tanoda, the 15 or so children were disciplined in a strict and rather intimidating manner by Tamás, but it totally worked because they deeply respected his authority. We studied English together a couple of Wednesdays – topics included Halloween and Europe’s geography. They weren’t that familiar with the latter, but they proved to be highly enthusiastic, although often about Australia, which, we had to inform them, was not on a map of Europe. We then got together for some afternoon snacks, where we openly conversed with them; and tried to separate them when a particular dialogue escalated into a fight. All in all, they are all lovely kids despite the very different mannerisms and interests we have due to our distinct circumstances. It made me happy that whenever they experienced a sense of achievement, they suddenly became a lot more engaged with the topic, and with learning in general.

Dalma Vatai

When I finally had the chance to go to Gyöngyöspata I had no clue what to expect from the volunteering. I have already heard stories from other members of our society, but they were not even close to the real experience itself. It was a rainy day when I have got into Tamás Léderer’s van with Feri, and we headed straight to Heves County. In the van Tamás told us our tasks, we had to teach the children an English poem. We only got this single task because we were not expecting too many children to attend due to the rain. At first glance it seemed pretty easy to teach somebody a short poem with only four lines, but later on I had to realize that it was not a piece of cake. I have no teaching experience, and I have never thought about myself as a person who is suitable for transmitting knowledge to other people. But this is why this volunteering is such a great experience because it could push you to your boundaries, out of your comfort zone, and it could enhance several skills of yours. It was a pleasure when I was able to finally make my student learn and memorize the poem. I and my student put in lot of effort into the learning process during that afternoon, and it was such an amazing feeling to see that the time I spent with him was valuable, and he was actually able to successfully learn something from me. Moreover, it is not just the teaching you could really enjoy, but also the students themselves. From the start I was concerned with how I would get along with them, but all of my worries just disappeared during that day. All of them are very energetic, curious, motivated and ready to learn when you give them a reason to study. In my case I have promised them to speak in Chinese if they could memorize the poem. Every one of them learned the poem properly and had the inner motivation to achieve their goal, the most important thing is to set a goal for them. All of the kids were really wonderful and awesome people despite their living conditions. After the visit I rethought my life and I realized how fortunate I am. I believe these children all deserve to have the same opportunities in life as many of us in Milestone and I hope with this volunteering programme we can make their lives a little bit better.

Jia Qi Lin

The first time I heard about Napsugár Tanoda, I became very motivated to travel to Gyöngyöspata and to get to know those children. Alongside with Lin, our vice president, I met  Tamás (The leader of the tanoda) on a rainy day at Blaha Lujza Tér. After an hour of travelling we arrived at the tanoda. We took a quick trip around the house where the teaching takes place, and our first pupil arrived, we introduced ourselves and right after, his friends came along well. After a quick discussion, we started to work. We organized into two groups. We were teaching a short english poem while Tamás taught IT next door. Amazingly, we  could work really easily, despite that we never had an experience of teaching somebody else. After two hours of hard work, they studied the poem perfectly and we had time to teach a little about Chinese culture. They were very interested, and they couldn’t stop asking Lin for saying chinese words. All the children were amazing and it was a mind-opening experience. After our hard work, we took some pictures and Tamás rewarded us with tasteful chocolates. On the way back to Budapest we had the realization, that we are so fortunate to have all those opportunities that they deserve as well. With this cooperation with Tamás, we would like encourage the children from Gyöngyöspata to work for their dreams and to never give up.

Ferenc Oláh

 

The cooperation between Milestone Humanitarian Society and Napsukár Tanoda started two months ago. Our goal is to help disadvantaged students to receive those opportunities that everyone deserves. As part of our very motivating program we teach the children IT, Maths, Reading comprehension, English language and Social studies. Tamás Léderer, the leader of the Tanoda was enthusiastic to help us and together, we have organized this program to provide opportunities to broaden the participants’ horizons and to get to know other cultures and different people.

 To celebrate this project and our cooperation with Napsukár Tanoda, we would like to invite those Milestone Students interested in our volunteering program to a Christmas party along with Gyöngyöspata students. It will take place on the 22nd of December at Napház (1081 Budapest, Népszínház u. 31). Alongside with the Jewish Club we will give presents for the children. We will be honored to listen to speeches from the organizers and from the leadership of Milestone and directors of Napsukár Tanoda and Napház.

 

Please read more about our event in the link below and indicate in the RSVP form, if you would like to attend.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1966708276964278/

RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kbqam6TfSblhET6Y1AXZrIdrh14dvgA2SA2Wo5x4c-4/edit

Below, you can read about how our volunteers found the Gyöngyöspata experience:

The minute we arrived at Gyöngyöspata in Tamás Léderer’s (the leader of the tanoda) minivan and got out, dozens of children greeted us excitedly. They were all smiles, jumping up and down the dark street at around 6 pm, enthusiastic about the prospect of studying for another one or two hours. In the little building of the tanoda, the 15 or so children were disciplined in a strict and rather intimidating manner by Tamás, but it totally worked because they deeply respected his authority. We studied English together a couple of Wednesdays – topics included Halloween and Europe’s geography. They weren’t that familiar with the latter, but they proved to be highly enthusiastic, although often about Australia, which, we had to inform them, was not on a map of Europe. We then got together for some afternoon snacks, where we openly conversed with them; and tried to separate them when a particular dialogue escalated into a fight. All in all, they are all lovely kids despite the very different mannerisms and interests we have due to our distinct circumstances. It made me happy that whenever they experienced a sense of achievement, they suddenly became a lot more engaged with the topic, and with learning in general.

Dalma Vatai

When I finally had the chance to go to Gyöngyöspata I had no clue what to expect from the volunteering. I have already heard stories from other members of our society, but they were not even close to the real experience itself. It was a rainy day when I have got into Tamás Léderer’s van with Feri, and we headed straight to Heves County. In the van Tamás told us our tasks, we had to teach the children an English poem. We only got this single task because we were not expecting too many children to attend due to the rain. At first glance it seemed pretty easy to teach somebody a short poem with only four lines, but later on I had to realize that it was not a piece of cake. I have no teaching experience, and I have never thought about myself as a person who is suitable for transmitting knowledge to other people. But this is why this volunteering is such a great experience because it could push you to your boundaries, out of your comfort zone, and it could enhance several skills of yours. It was a pleasure when I was able to finally make my student learn and memorize the poem. I and my student put in lot of effort into the learning process during that afternoon, and it was such an amazing feeling to see that the time I spent with him was valuable, and he was actually able to successfully learn something from me. Moreover, it is not just the teaching you could really enjoy, but also the students themselves. From the start I was concerned with how I would get along with them, but all of my worries just disappeared during that day. All of them are very energetic, curious, motivated and ready to learn when you give them a reason to study. In my case I have promised them to speak in Chinese if they could memorize the poem. Every one of them learned the poem properly and had the inner motivation to achieve their goal, the most important thing is to set a goal for them. All of the kids were really wonderful and awesome people despite their living conditions. After the visit I rethought my life and I realized how fortunate I am. I believe these children all deserve to have the same opportunities in life as many of us in Milestone and I hope with this volunteering programme we can make their lives a little bit better.

Jia Qi Lin

The first time I heard about Napsugár Tanoda, I became very motivated to travel to Gyöngyöspata and to get to know those children. Alongside with Lin, our vice president, I met  Tamás (The leader of the tanoda) on a rainy day at Blaha Lujza Tér. After an hour of travelling we arrived at the tanoda. We took a quick trip around the house where the teaching takes place, and our first pupil arrived, we introduced ourselves and right after, his friends came along well. After a quick discussion, we started to work. We organized into two groups. We were teaching a short english poem while Tamás taught IT next door. Amazingly, we  could work really easily, despite that we never had an experience of teaching somebody else. After two hours of hard work, they studied the poem perfectly and we had time to teach a little about Chinese culture. They were very interested, and they couldn’t stop asking Lin for saying chinese words. All the children were amazing and it was a mind-opening experience. After our hard work, we took some pictures and Tamás rewarded us with tasteful chocolates. On the way back to Budapest we had the realization, that we are so fortunate to have all those opportunities that they deserve as well. With this cooperation with Tamás, we would like encourage the children from Gyöngyöspata to work for their dreams and to never give up.

Ferenc Oláh