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Our Italian volunteer Mariasofia Toraldo, who went to India within our ESC Humanitarian Aid project “HAND”, funded by the European Commission and hosted by our Indian partner, Orissa State Volunteers and Social Workers Association (OSVSWA), completed her 9-month volunteering service in India.
She co-founded and implemented the SAFER Odisha project – Securing Agriculture from Environmental Risks in rural areas of Kakatpur, Puri district. Her team and Mariasofia engaged with many local farmers and actively participated in numerous fieldwork days. They crafted a climate change adaptation plan through a community-based approach. This experience confirmed to her that all the development projects should be based on a bottom up approach, to assure that they are community-led. It also showed the importance of supporting the beneficiaries of the projects as main actors, responsible for their own future. She engaged with the farmers through meetings, focus groups and surveys to establish what really matters to them and what sort of problems they are facing in their villages daily.
The whole experience helped her change her perspective, considering new points of view and ideas. She gained better communication skills with people from very different cultural backgrounds. From a personal point of view, she improved her flexibility and adaptability to new environments. She learned a lot about climate-change related problems from the local communities. We would like to thank Mariasofia for all her dedication in her work.
